One of my fave things about the local Flea & Farmer's Market is the produce vendors that have "buck a bag" specials. Frequently they are not as pretty as the other produce, but they're delicious and cheap! More often than not, the selections in those clear plastic bags are local Florida produce.
Only one problem with my money saving stash of veggie goodies - they have a reduced "shelf life" or a few bumps here and there. Bumps I can cut off, no biggie. The price is so low, and I get quite a bit, so a bruise here or there is acceptable.
The short time until spoilage is a big deal.
Years ago when I tried to do this with fresh green beans from my organic, naturalized garden, it went horribly wrong. I rinsed and cut up my fresh green beans, drained them and put the cut up pieces in a zip freezer bag. Little did I know, that is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG! Why?
When you go to thaw them in the fridge before cooking, the bugs come crawling out ALIVE! Yuk. YUK!
When you freeze fresh produce without proper prep, the bug eggs you can't see come to life upon thawing and hatch in the fridge. Eeewwww......
I had to find a better way. I didn't like the idea of going from freezer to boiling water either, not after seeing what was in those green beans! The basic "how to" I learned from my neighbors back then, long before the days where I could look it up on the internet.
This became my adaptation over the years:
Easy NO Canning Preservation of Green Beans
1--Wash and cut up beans, removing bad areas if any. 2--Cut up in edible size sections. 3--Boil enough water in the microwave to cover the cut up green beans. (I usually use a 2 cup microwaveable measuring cup for this.) 4--Pour boiling water over green bean sections. 5--Let stand for 5 minutes. Beans will initially "bubble" a bit.
6--Carefully pour hot water off green beans and re-boil in microwave.
7--Again carefully pour re-boiled water over the green beans. The beans will not bubble this time. 8--Let stand for 10 minutes. 9--Drain green beans and reserve green bean stock for later use. Refrigerate or freeze stock. 10--Freeze cut green beans in a zip bag, pressing as much air out before sealing as is possible. Too much air in the zip bag will lead to ice crystals followed by "freezer burn". (I usually put 1/2 the green beans in the fridge to cook and eat the next few days, and the other 1/2 I freeze).
I know the frozen beans will last a month. I usually eat them by then. For those who like raw foods, and I eat quite a few foods raw, these are great straight from the fridge, skip the freezing! (The short cooking we did, also known as "blanching" can kill the bad stuff, but the beans will still be very, very crisp.)
Please leave me a message below and let me know how this worked for you! Any ideas? Suggestions? Leave a message - do share!
Rose Marie is an urban apartment dweller, seeking a simpler & more affordable life, through minimalism, frugality & urban homesteading, all while living in a 360 square foot apartment home with her trained cat companion, the ever affectionate Valentino.