What are you doing with all that food?  Here is some helpful information that will keep you from loosing the contents of your bags to the natural process of decomposition and on those rare occasions when it is unavoidable, please remember to recycle.  Compost please!

"Once you get into the habit of food preservation, you may find that you prefer one method over the other.  However, freezing is found to retain more of the vitamin C in vegetables and fruits more so than canning.  Freezing, unlike canning is not a method of sterilization although blanching does destroy many microorganisms and molds retarded during freezing.

After foods have been blanched and frozen, it takes only 1/3 the usual time to cook.  Corn-on-the-cob is the only vegetable that should be thawed before cooking and it is best not to boil it for the best flavor.  You can roast it as you would a baked potato or steam it without putting it directly in water.

Blanching and freezing food was introduced as a way to preserve home grown foods more than 70 years ago.  Blanching stops the enzyme process, helps food retain its color and flavor and prevents odors from developing in the food while it is frozen.  Today however, the number of people growing some of their own food is dramatically lower than it was 70 years ago and people find it easier to just go to the supermarket and buy commercially processed frozen foods.

Other benefits of freezing food are: 

1. freezing saves time compared to canning
2. frozen vegetables and fruits will last up to 12 months in your freezer
3. freezing some of your own food will save time and money by not having to go the supermarket every time you need these foods

The process of freezing food is relatively simple.  Most vegetables will need to be blanched first.  Blanching is simply putting the vegetables in boiling water.  Tomatoes only require a few seconds to blanch before freezing while other vegetables require 2-3 minutes.

Fruits can be frozen in two ways.  1) They can be frozen whole as they are, 2) they can be frozen in a simple syrup made with sugar and water or honey.  If you use honey, make sure it is a very light flavored honey so it will not change the flavor of the fruit.  To keep your fruit from turning dark you can use fruit pectin or dip the fruit in diluted frozen orange juice.

Vegetables and fruits that can be frozen whole are tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, most other berries and plums.  For best results, first freeze them on a cookie sheet then put them in freezer bags.  This will prevent them from sticking together."               

                                                             ~ Anne Muhammad (Muhammad Farms)

          www.muhammadfarms.com

Glazed Carrots

3 cups Sliced Carrots

2 Tbsp Butter

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

Cook carrots in water till tender. Drain carrots. In a pan melt butter and add in the other ingredients.  Stir until the sugar is blended.  Add carrots and stir until they become glazed.