So, we went to a local farm stand. As we were pulling in, the farmer was unloading fresh green beans from his cache. So we grabbed a few lbs of green beans, a few white peaches, and other miscellaneous fresh produce, paid and were on our way.
I had investigated various methods of freezing green beans before our excursion, and was considering the blanching method, when I came upon this website for freezing beans without blanching: http://www.anoregoncottage.com/the-easy-way-to-freeze-green-beans-no-blanching/. There were a number of comments on the site praising this method, so I decided to give it a try using the beans we purchased.
The process was easy and fairly quick. The site indicated that I didn't have to wash the beens first, but I was more comfortable washing them. I let them dry thoroughly overnight, cut them into edible sizes the next morning, and put 2 handfuls into each vacuum-sealable bag. My husband took the air out of each bag, and we dated them and popped them in the freezer. We'll build up a quantity that we can use throughout the winter, bringing a harvest freshness to our meals when winter sets in.
Savings?? Of course we could have saved more money had we grown the beans ourselves, but the status of our garden this year didn't include green beans. Hoping to get there next year.
Try this out for yourselves this year - or next year, and checkout the 'anoregoncottage.com' website. Lots of good tips and techniques you might enjoy:-)
Happy Fall!
Andrea
