I am loving strawberries right now and am so sad when they are out of season. I was reading through an old Simple and Delicious Magazine and ran across an article that gave tips on how to freeze fruits and veggies. So I decided to give it a try!
Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries
Just wash and place fresh berries on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Freeze until frozen. Then transfer to heavy-duty freezer bags that have been labeled and dated for longer freezing.
Veggies:
You have to blanch the veggies first.
How to Blanch:
Fill a large saucepan with enough water to cover vegetables. Boil the water. Add veggies; cover; and boil for the time listed in the chart below.
Begin counting as soon as you place veggies in boiling water. You'll want to set a timer for accuracy because over blanching can cause veggies to lose flavor and color.
After boiling, drain and immediately place veggies in ice water (for the same length of time used in blanching) to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel, then place veggies in a single layer, without overcrowding, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze. Place frozen veggies in a heavy duty freezer bag. Label and date the bag and freeze for up to three months.
How Long to Blanch
Corn on the Cob: 6-9 minutes
Whole Baby Carrots: 5 minutes
Broccoli Spears: 5 minutes
Onions: 3-5 minutes
Asparagus: 2-4 minutes
Spinach: 2 minutes
Cauliflower: 1-2 minutes
Summer Squash: 1-2 minutes
Sugar Snap Peas: 1-2 minutes
Cooking Frozen Veggies:
Cook the same way you would cook a fresh. Because they were blanched, you'll need to cook them for slightly less time.
I froze strawberries, corn, spinach and asparagus. All worked out perfectly!
You may also like these frozen meals:
Thanks for the usefull tips! Love blog you have! Have en nice evening.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post! I gotta pin it so I can refer back to it when the veggies out of my garden are done :) Thanks for the great tips!
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ReplyDeleteThis is such great info - especially the blanching part. Every time I want to do this I have to look it up all over again, but now I'm bookmarking this! Thank you. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome and came in perfect time because I have some blueberries that need to be frozen. Thanks!
ReplyDeletegood idea-I use baking trays to freeze blackberries, too.
ReplyDeletethanks for the useful tips these will come in very handy come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com/2012/05/chocolate-coffee-cheesecake-with-mocha.html
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