tips on freezing, storing, etc...

[veggie val]

I heard of freezing chopped up onions and green peppers. Freezing leftover waffles and pancakes. What about veggies, fruits, cassaroles, etc...

[emilycat]

My grandmother freezes TONS of vegetables and fruits, because she and my grandfather live on a farm and otherwise, everything would go to waste before they could use it.
With vegetables, the key is to blanch them for several minutes in boiling water, and then freeze them. She stores them in Ziplock freezer bags, and gets all the air out by using a straw, so that they don't get freezer burn. We've done okra, yellow squash, corn,all kinds of peas and beans collards, turnips, rutabegas (Can you tell we're from the south? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif ) With fruits, cooks some and then freezes them, like pears, and apples. Peaches she slices and then freezes, bluberries just go straight in the bag, strawberries are mashed and then frozen (she makes jam or shortcake with them later). Everything always tastes wonderful after it's thawed, and if you freeze things after you cook them by blanching, you allow the max amount of nutrients to be retained.
Hope this helps!
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Em