“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” [State of the Union Address January 11 1962]
― John F. Kennedy
Any seasoned AIPer knows that sticking to any sort of healing protocol is about planning and preparation. And, when it comes to an anti-inflammatory and nutrient dense diet, your freezer can be your best friend.
Of course, cooking in bulk and freezing meals is a great way to make use of your freezer. To be honest, I have a fairly lackadaisical approach to using my freezer for ‘fully formed’ dishes – in other words – excessive leftovers that won’t be eaten in a few days get portioned up and popped into my freezer, but I don’t actually do a lot of cooking meals specifically for the freezer.
What I do use my freezer for is preparation. Things to make my AIP cooking life easier.
Of course, bone broth features heavily. So do pureed soups, which freeze particularly well. I freeze liver pâté in individual ramekins for an easy lunch on the run. Things like Tomato Passata Replacement and pureed pumpkin are frozen in individual portions. Ditto for portions of raw cauliflower rice.
There all sorts of little freezer tips and tricks that can make your life simpler.
Today, I’m sharing my flavour bombs with you.
When people first embark on a healing diet, one of the most common things we hear is how much time they are required to spend in the kitchen. And, yes – it’s true. It can mean that you spend more time than you were used to in the kitchen.
Preparing whole foods from scratch can take a paradigm shift…
I’m all about adding nutrients in the least fussy way. Especially for those nights when you come home and just can’t face cooking a complicated meal for the family.
Enter: Flavour Bombs!
These babies are my answer to adding herbs and spices to your cooking when you just can’t be bothered finely chopping the herbs or garlic or ginger… For the middle of winter when you haven’t had time to venture out to the store to restock the pantry.
All you need is some happy fat + your herbs and spices of choice!
These babies are parsley, coriander (cilantro), rosemary and dill in homemade lard
Making flavour bombs couldn’t be easier. All you need are your fresh herbs and spices of choice and some ‘happy’ (read: healthy fat).
This is a great way to preserve an abundance of herbs from your garden, or take advantage of spices like fresh turmeric and organic garlic when it becomes available at the markets.
Here’s how I make mine:-
Steps for preparing your flavour bombs:
- Select your fresh herbs and spices. Don’t be afraid to play with different combinations – you’ll soon establish your favourite
- Chop and dice and slice to your desired consistency.
- Pop spoonfuls into the receptacles of ice cube trays – mine are double sized silicon numbers. Fill to 1/2 – 2/3 full.
- Unless you are using olive oil (or another liquid fat), melt your fat of choice carefully before puring over the herbs and spic mix until covered.
- Cover and pop into the freezer.
- Once frozen, remove the frozen cubes and pop into labelled containers or baggies.
These babies are fresh turmeric, ginger and garlic in coconut oil*
*perfect for my version of bullet proof bone broth. Just heat a cup of bone broth before whisking in one of these flavour bombs.
This recipe features in the Phoenix Helix Recipe Roundtable
Oh, Joanna!
These are a great way to preserve herbs that don’t grow year around in our neck’o the woods (Pacific NW).
And to purchase fresh or dried organic out-of-season gets spendy fast.
You always come up with such gorgeous gastronomic AIP love!
Thank you ever so much:)
Bless your cotton socks! – I love that there’s somebody over there in the Pacific North West who thinks I come up with ‘gorgeous gastronomic AIP love’. BEST comment!
Have a GREAT day, Marla!
Looks like a great idea. But how do you then use them? I’m thinking about how the fat might or might not go well in some things. So would you just melt them over a grilled chop? Add to soup? Or are there other more creative ways that you use them?
Melanie – I use them as a flavour-base for soups, braises and skillet meals. They are a great time-saver!
i do the same thing. But i just use water to freeze the herbs. Then I can use them with or without fat in the recipe. Just froze a bunch of cilantro today!
I do that with spinach and chard, Mary. I blanch it and then freeze… 🙂