so i've mentioned my farm share before... but i also travel for work. and if i'm not traveling, i'm working really long hours. which means i end up throwing away more food than i'm comfortable with - it's embarrassing the amount of food waste i throw out! my goal this season is to NOT waste so much (you know, besides the black banana i just put in the trash).
we had a TON of zucchini and a bunch of green beans that we were not going to eat before i went to north carolina this week, so i decided to freeze them for later.
i cut up the zucchini into cubes, since that's the way i typically use it. and i washed and cut the beans into the size i prefer (about an inch long). then i blanched them - boil in UNSALTED water until al dente, then immediately place into an ice bath.
i just put a ton of ice in a measuring cup and used a slotted spoon to remove the veggies from the boiling water after about 3 minutes and into the ice bath. i used the same water for both batches - the internet said i could! - to save clean-up time. then the cut, blanched veggies went onto wax paper to cool a bit.
i put them in the freezer, exactly as shown. after a couple of hours, i transferred them into separate freezer bags (next year, i'll do glass containers - one step at a time to reduce waste!). freezing them spread out first eliminates the giant, icy clump that could happen and makes it easier for me to use a little bit at a time. which is better, since i'm usually cooking for one or two. i did the same thing for the blueberries - minus the blanching. i just washed, dried, and spread them on a cookie sheet. once individually (mostly) frozen, i switched them into freezer bags. this is really important for the blueberries, because i only use a few at a time: oatmeal, smoothies, baking, yogurt.
loving my adventures in home-making : )
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