The Plan:
Day 1: Potato and sweet pepper soup, Apple muffins
Day 2: Baked salmon with pesto, Tomato and chickpea salad (may be my last garden tomatoes!)
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Tossed salad
Day 4: Grilled ribeye steak, Roasted Delicata squash, Steamed green beans
Day 5: Sesame noodles with totsoi
Day 6: Eggplant pizzas, Muskmelon chunks
Day 7: Broccoli soup with cheddar toasts
Pantry Shuffle:
Out of Storage:
- Ribeye steaks from Mastadon Valley Farm
Into Storage:
- Apple muffins: store in zippered freezer bag
- Potato and sweet pepper soup: double the recipe and save half in a gallon zippered freezer bag
Notes: Freezer storage accident!
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My freezers are stuffed to the brim with food right now! I’ve been sharing what is going in and what is going out each week. I also try to share how I store that food, and today I want to talk a little bit more about this topic after we had a freezer incident this week. Unfortunately, a bag of homemade broth leaked out onto a pan of eggplant parmesan, dripped down onto bags of tomato soup and then, thankfully, made its way to the brat bin where the rest of the mess was contained. Check out the accident in the picture below. Not a total disaster, but difficult to clean up!
To that end, let’s chat about the best freezer storage options. What works for me is a combination of plastic zippered freezer bags, aluminum pans, and reused Talenti gelato containers. However, the plastic bags have their flaws (hence the accident above) so I have been transitioning slowly to silicone bags which are much stronger, preserve food longer, easier to reuse (dishwasher safe) and more environmentally friendly. This is a slow process for two reasons: first of all they are more expensive and secondly, I’m not about to waste the bags I already have. My favorite silicone sealer bags are from Net Zero Company and they have a slide closure that allows you to get most of the air out to keep your food fresher. We also LOVE Stasher bags, but tend to use these more for packing lunches, storing cheese in the fridge, and dry goods.
What doesn’t work for me? Glass containers. I’ve heard of using Mason or other repurposed glass jars to freeze liquids. I have tried and failed at this method twice and the result is glass and mess all over my freezer. If you have had success with this please share your secrets! Pyrex for casserole or lasagna storage works, but is way to expensive for me to invest in a bunch for my freezer. Aluminum pans are much easier for that purpose.
How I use plastic freezer bags: I’ve told this story before, but I’ll tell it again anyways. Back before I started learning about the environmental harm from plastics, I came across a super deal at Costco on the most famous brand of zipper freezer bags. They were practically free so I ended up with about 200 quart sized bags and 150 gallon sized bags. About 2 years into using these I made the connection between single use plastic items and plastic pollution. So I started washing out and reusing my bags. Fast forward about 5 more years and I am a little over halfway through my original purchase. Here is my process for reusing plastic freezer bags:
- Make sure you are using freezer bags, NOT sandwich bags or other more flimsy plastic bags. They don’t work to keep your food fresh.
- Hand wash with warm, soapy water. Sometimes it helps to flip the bag inside out.
- While I wash, I look for holes. If there is a leak, it is time to toss the bag (One must have slipped by me recently!)
- I use a wooden bag dryer to air dry the bags.
- Once completely dry, I roll them up and place them in bag of the same size for storage. That way there is no rummaging through a pile of bags trying to find the right size
- When you are ready to use, wait until your food is cool before putting in the bag. This will prevent yucky chemicals from leaching out of the plastic into your food.
- Pour your soup, broth, or other meal into the bag and use your fingers to squeeze the zipper shut on one side then slide them across the top of the bag to seal it, leaving about 1 inch at the end. Sit the bag upright on your counter and press down on the top until most/all of the air is out then seal the remaining inch. Squeeze and slide all the way across the seal again to make sure it is shut tight.
- Double check for leaks before you send it to the freezer
- I like to lay my bags flat in the freezer until the food is frozen and then I can move to store elsewhere if needed.
No matter how hard you work to save food, there are always going to be some casualties. The key is to find the right storage system that works for you.
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- Oops, bag leak!
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- My bag dryer
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- Plastic zippered freezer bags
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- Silicone bags
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- Rolled up bags to reuse
CSA Breakdown: For those of you also using Crossroads Community Farm, here is a breakdown of how I will use each piece of produce this week. See the first CSA post from this season for details of how I structure the plans.
Kohlrabi (1.0 bulb): cut up for lunches
Pepper, Bell – YELLOW (1.0 count): cut into sticks for lunches
Eggplant, Globe (1.0 count): eggplant pizza
Broccoli (FUNKY! Use it for Soup!) (1.0 head): broccoli soup
Tatsoi (1.0 head): sesame noodles
Basil (1.0 bunch): eggplant pizza, pesto
Muskmelon, Infinite Gold – Large (1.0 count): cut into chunks to serve with eggplant pizza
Beans, Green (1.0 bag): steamed and served with steak
Onion, Yellow (1.0 count): soups
Pepper, Red Sweet Carmen (2.0 count): potato and pepper soup
Delicata Squash (1.0 count): roasted and served with steak
Lettuce Head, Red Leaf (1.0 head): tossed salad
Pepper, Red Bell (2.0 count): tossed salad
Garlic (1.0 count): potato pepper soup, sesame noodles, eggplant pizza, pesto, broccoli soup
