stocking up for the winter (zucchinis, eggplants/aubergines and squahes, oh my)

[coldagain]

I want to be more prepared for this coming winter than last year (when I ended up eating potatoes, beets, cabbage and beets as the only vegetables available on the somewhat-farmers market) so I've decided to stock up the freezer with some cheap-ish seasonal veggies. My problem: I'm not sure how well these freeze, or what can be done with them when

Comments

[beadylady]

I can't comment a lot on just preparing the veggies and then freezing them. We tend to make up little batches of soups or stews that can be microwaved later. I think I've heard that flash-freezing is the best way to do some of this. Have you a copy of The Joy of Cooking or Putting Food By? I think both of them have some great advice.

Good luck!

[conscience]

This...freeze half of what you make as a meal, and you have ready-made, long preserved food through winter. Just make sure to mark what it is, and the date frozen...

[coldagain]

I don't have a microwave and have gotten tired of thawed meals in my uni days when that was a whole food group, but it's still good advice so I'll rethink things.

Oh, I do have a copy of 'Joy of Cooking - All About Vegetarian Cooking' which I've only glanced through so far, I'll give it a good read. Thanks for the tip!

google is a wonderful tool

[kokoronagomu]

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09330.html

Re: google is a wonderful tool

[coldagain]

That looks like a great page, thank you! Though it does seem overly fond of blanching everything...

Re: google is a wonderful tool

[kokoronagomu]

i noticed that too -- i know you don't have to blanch tomatoes, peppers, onions... i think you don't have to blanch a few others but it's been a long time since i've helped my mother freeze and can things.

[dodecahedron]

Not 100% on topic, but I've found this website really helpful in food storage techniques. It's made a real difference in how long I've been able to have my food last:

http://www.stilltasty.com/

[coldagain]

That looks like a great site, thank you!

[veganjill]

Not all canning requires vinegar. Sugar also acts as a preservate. However, if you have a pressure cooker, the point is completely mute. Pickling is the only canning method i know that actually adds acid.

[coldagain]

All the canning methods, or rather, putting food away in jars methods I know involve either sugar, vinegar, lots of salt, or a preservative (which tends to come in prepacked with one or more of the former) which is why I'm not a fan; I can't stomach vinegar, don't add sugar unless absolutely necessary and always in minimal amounts, don't use salt (I have soy sauce which is salty, plus every store-bought savory food is plenty salty these days) and don't want to start using preservatives when everything I buy is packed with them, anyway.

I'm not sure how pressure cooking would help preserve things? I can kind of understand the principle of cooking a good veggie stew in it, then putting it in a clear jar, sealing the jar by bringing the stew in it to a boiling point, but I do now that in practice without any preservatives it wouldn't keep nearly as well as it seems it would? Or am I missing something?

[veganjill]

I should have said pressure canner (which is similar to a pressure cooker). Actually, it is the canning itself that preserves, not the sterilization method. Acidic and sugary foods as less hospitable to bacteria, so can be processed at a boil. Low acid foods need high temps above a boil, so that is were the pressure cooker/canner comes in. Most canning recipes include salt only for flavor, so it can be lowered or omitted. Pretty much only things like pickles require salt, and that is only for drawing out the moisture. This gives some basic info on pressure canning here are some basic recipes and here is some info on salt and sugar free canning.