Our backyard harvests begin to roll in proper across the time when all the pieces else must be achieved – escaping our worrying lives for our long-awaited summer season trip, purchasing for again to highschool garments for the youngsters, and internet hosting our sister’s enjoyable and rowdy household for his or her annual go to.
No surprise it’s onerous to make meals preserving a precedence.
Mix this with the widespread false impression that the one technique to protect meals is by canning (who has time for that?!) and you find yourself with a miserable pile of rotting greens staring you within the face each time you open the fridge door.
What if I instructed you there have been loads of time-saving meals preserving ideas for placing up your summer season harvest that had nothing to do with lengthy canning classes in a scorching kitchen sweating your little gardener buns off?
One of many best time-saving strategies is freezing greens as an alternative of canning them. With canning, it is sensible to attend till you have got a considerable amount of one vegetable, however with freezing, you possibly can work with no matter amount of greens or fruits you have got available that day. And sometimes, you possibly can prep veggies for freezing in as little as 10 minutes.
Why mess with canning when you possibly can simply freeze a lot of summer season’s bounty?
Time Saving Meals Preserving Ideas for Freezing Backyard Harvests
Freezing greens is a reasonably simple course of. The next time-saving meals preserving ideas will enable you put away just a little style of summer season to make use of in tasty meals on lengthy, chilly winter nights.
#1: Work with what you have got.
You don’t want to attend for a giant pile of greens with a purpose to begin freezing them. Begin with no matter is popping out of your backyard this week.
One of many biggest benefits of freezing is that you may work with small portions and slowly construct up your pantry over time. And, processing in small batches takes much less time so it’s a lot simpler to squeeze into an already hectic schedule.
#2: Deal with preserving greens you’ll be excited to eat later.
Regardless that you need to work with what you have got, it’s necessary to take a position time and vitality into preserving greens you’re truly going to eat this winter.
Take into consideration your cooking, consuming, and grocery purchasing habits.
- Which greens all the time find yourself in your cart on the grocery retailer?
- What meals and snacks are common options of your loved ones’s food regimen?
- Are you able to freeze any of those substances?
Learn extra about considering strategically right here.
The solutions to those questions ought to inform your meals preserving priorities. In the event you by no means eat frozen broccoli, then don’t fill your freezer with it!
#3: Know the prep wanted for every vegetable.
Some greens like peppers might be frozen uncooked. They require minimal prep, simply deseeding and chopping, earlier than they’re prepared to enter the freezer.
However, different greens like broccoli and corn want to be steamed or blanched for a couple of minutes earlier than freezing.
Getting clear on the steps required to freeze every vegetable will assist you realize whether or not you have got time to deal with that specific one within the time you have got accessible.
Unsure what every vegetable wants earlier than it goes into the freezer? My e-book breaks all of it down for you.
#4: Multitask whereas prepping.
The analysis tells us that after we attempt to multiple factor at a time we’re much less efficient. However, I’m undecided chopping peppers falls into this class.
Means overdue for a telephone name to your older sister? Can’t wait to look at the brand new episode of your present present? Arrange a chopping station on the eating room desk and put in your earbuds to talk along with your sis, or open up your laptop computer and be entertained by the final storyline when you prep.
#5: Put money into a chest freezer.
You may actually retailer your frozen greens in your kitchen freezer, though you’re prone to run out of room shortly. The benefit of a chest freezer is that it doesn’t have a pure defrost cycle, so it stays at a relentless temperature, sustaining the standard of your greens for as much as a 12 months.
Chest freezers are comparatively cheap, don’t use plenty of further vitality, and are available plenty of totally different sizes. In the event you strive freezing and fall in love with it like I’ve, a chest freezer will really feel like a worthy funding.
My Favourite Backyard Greens to Freeze
You could find the entire greens you possibly can freeze, with step-by-step directions, in my e-book, Tremendous Simple Meals Preserving.
I’ve additionally written many articles on this web site about freezing my favourite greens.
Freezing greens doesn’t require fancy gear, massive quantities of produce, or a complete day with nothing in your schedule.
With a couple of strategic investments of time (and these time-saving meals preserving ideas!) in the course of the harvest season, you’ll have a freezer filled with flavorful substances you possibly can function in scrumptious meals all winter lengthy.
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