Preserving Food

With the economy the way it is, we have to pinch pennies wherever we can, including the food bill. Not hard for me at this time, since I don’t really have money often for food at this point.

I have been visiting the food cupboard lately, out of necessity, and come home with a lot of produce that must be eaten quickly or will perish. I can’t seem to eat it all within just two or three days, so I am preserving some.

I am also preserving other foods that I come across, like the strawberries that we picked at Tate’s.

These methods are also work well for produce that you ‘forget about’ and have been left in the refrigerator.

Below I will share with you my methods for preserving food.

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Strawberries:

I purchased these, after hand-picking them. I sent some home with my sister for my nephew, ate a bunch fresh, and froze the rest. Here is how:

I cut off the tops, rinsed them all well, then patted them dry. I then packed them into quart size freezer bags, about 2/3 full. I have three bags in the freezer, labeled, that can be used for smoothies, shortcakes, or to top ice cream with during the winter months.

** I will make a regular post whenever I add something to this page.

Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce: (Learned from my mom)

1 can tomato sauce

tomatoes that are starting to go soft

First, I boil the tomatoes just until the skin splits a little. I then plunge them into cold water until I can handle them with my bare hands. I then take them and peel the skin off. I chop the tomatoes and put them into a pot with a can of tomato sauce. I can use more than one can if I need to.

I let this cool and pour the mixture into sandwich bags, putting a bunch into a gallon size freezer bag, filling them about 2/3 full. Sandwich bags are a lot cheaper than freezer bags.

These are also labeled, and I will add herbs/spices when we reheat the sauce for pasta or rice.

Zucchini:

I only use it shredded in things like breads, muffins and cakes, so I do this quickly and easily.

I rinse the zucchini well and cut off the ends. I do not peal it, though. I grate the zucchini, then I put it into quart size freezer bags in one cup measures. This makes it easier to take out what I need.

Apples, Peaches, Plums:

I make sauce out of these, that can later be eaten like applesauce, used in baking, or warmed and served over ice cream.

I peal, core and chop these coarsely. I have never mixed them, but you can experiment if you like. I add them to a pot with a little water.

This is time consuming, as you continue to cook them down. Keep adding a little water when there is little left. Toward the end, you should be able to mash the fruit to help it along. I do this right in the pan while cooking it all down. Some people will like the chunks, others won’t. Do whatever you prefer. I add spices when thawed, rather than before freezing.

To freeze, pour into sandwich bags, then add the bags to a gallon size freezer bag and label.

Eggs:

These are easy. You have to break the yolk in each egg. I do this by cracking the egg into a bowl, piercing the yolk and giving a couple quick beats with a fork, then pouring the egg into a snack size baggie. If you knew that you would be using more than one egg at a time, you could freeze these in bigger batches. I can fit about 2 dozen of the snack size baggies into a gallon size freezer bag, which prevents freezer burn.