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Community Corner

Banish Your Beans to the Freezer

If your family is anything like mine, it has had its fill of beans for the season. Let me show you an easy way to clear out your fridge and save those beans for when you'll be happy to see them again.

 

We happily belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture), and also have our own vegetable garden that my husband tends to religiously, so I have been staring at bags and bowls of green beans for weeks now.

I decided recently that enough is enough - no more green beans for at least a few weeks - so I followed the quick and easy steps below to get them prepped for the freezer and out of my refrigerator. 

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Prepping Beans for the Freezer

  1. Wash your beans thoroughly. I like using a salad spinner.
  2. Trim them whichever way you're most likely to use them. Options include trimming both ends, just the stem end, and/or cutting them into one inch pieces.
  3. Blanch them in boiling water just until they turn a bright green (about two to three minutes).
  4. Strain them into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process (about two minutes).
  5. Lay them out on a clean towel and let them dry (about one hour).
  6. Seal them in freezer bags or containers and label them (name and date).
  7. Pop them in the freezer and forget about them for six months (some websites say up to 18 months, but that's pushing it).

When you want to use them, just throw them into your recipe as you would any canned or frozen beans from the store. 

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