Freezing Green Beans

Last year, before trying my own hand at gardening, my friend Melinda shared loads of veggies and herbs out of her beautiful garden.

She shared lots of delicious, fresh green beans. We ate many of them fresh, but I also froze some of them. This year, my garden is exploding with green beans so I’m freezing some again. It’s an easy process and there’s a great set of instructions here.

Here’s how I do it…First, start a pot of water to boil on the stove. Put the lid on the pot so it gets hot faster. While the water gets to boiling, sort through the beans and toss any that didn’t look so great.

Then trim off the ends. You can cut them with a knife or snap them off with your fingers.

Fill a large bowl with ice water.

Lower the beans into the boiling water in batches.

Cook them for a few minutes, until they turn a beautiful bright green. Then throw them into the ice water.

This process is called “blanching”. You dunk the beans in hot water for a few minutes to kill any bacteria and soften them slightly, then the ice water is used to “shock” them to stop the cooking process.

After they’ve cooled, fish them out of the ice water and drain them. I also pat them dry with paper towels.

Once all your beans are blanched, cooled and drained, it’s time to store them. You can put them in freezer bags, removing as much air as possible, and freeze. I have a food saver, so I use that.

Voila! Delicious garden green beans. These serve as a reminder during those long, Wyoming, winter months that summer will eventually come around again. Even if it seems so, so far away.

God Bless You & American Agriculture,

Liz

That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

“Bring them here,” he said. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children! – Matthew 14:15-21 (NLT)

Tags: food preservation, freezing vegetables, fresh green beans, vegetable gardening