How to Freeze Green Beans
The bathroom is looking good, but unfortunately, I am not prepared to write the post on that project yet. The wounds are still too fresh. Instead I will give you an update on the garden and regale you with the tale of my first foray into freezing green beans.
The garden is doing better than last year, although some plants are struggling. We have been eating a lot of tomatoes, and the pepper plants are starting to pick up production. The watermelons and honeydews are still alive, but the melons do not seem to grow very fast. This is the first time that I have ever kept the plants alive, so I am unsure if this is common.
On the other hand, the green beans are growing out of control. It seems that every day I harvest another bowl full. In years past, I have eaten all of the beans before they even made it into the house. This year, there are too many to even attempt that feat. We have been eating green beans with almost every meal, and there are still too many to consume ourselves. That is why I decided to freeze some.
It turns out that it is incredibly easy to freeze green beans. First, you want to cut the ends off and slice the beans into relatively similarly sized pieces.
While you are doing this, you can begin to boil a pot of water.
When the beans are cut and the water is boiling through in the beans for a couple of minutes.
As the beans boil, prepare a bowl of ice water and place the colander in the sink.
You will need to pour the beans into the colander to extract the water.
Next throw the beans into the ice water to bring down the temperature.
Then, back into the colander they go. Notice the lack of steam this time. They are now cool and ready to be frozen.
Lastly, place the beans in a labeled freezer bag.
So far I have two bags. These are going to be delicious at Thanksgiving!
How easy is that?! If you do not grow your own beans, I suggest you head to the nearest farmers’ market to buy some to freeze for yourself.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
You are so lucky to eat your own tomatoes… mine were beautiful, then I went to my friend’s wedding and when I came back, they were all brown from a tomato disease…
That is sad. 🙁 I wonder what it was.
YUM! We planted our beans too late and I’m not sure they will produce anything in time. 🙁 It’s our pea pods the don’t make it into the house!
Hopefully, you will get a few. I am wondering the same about my eggplant which was planted early enough but did not start production until last week for some reason. Peas are the best. I was not able to freeze any of those because we ate them all so quickly!
We had tons of beans this year also which Charlie almost always makes with sautéed sliced almonds. We don’t blanch them anymore before freezing on the advice of Jami at An Oregon Cottage, http://www.anoregoncottage.com/freeze-green-beans-without-blanching-video/, so it’s much easier and I think they taste a little better. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Ooooooh! It is good to know that we do not need to blanch them. That will be much easier. You just stick them in the freezer bag then?
I’m jealous – my garden is still a weed factory even though I’ve had all summer to sort it out. Oops!
Oh well there’s always next year.
There’s always next year is the mantra of my life! Thank goodness we get so many fresh starts.