Many people, including me, enjoy freezing produce at it’s peak quality to use throughout the Winter months. In order to keep the highest quality for the longest period of time there are a few things to keep in mind.
First is to make sure your freezer is set at 0 degrees F. Warmer temperatures will keep food frozen and stop the growth of microorganisms but quality will be lost more quickly resulting in a shorter retention time.
The second thing to keep in mind is to blanch foods when recommended. Blanching inactivates enzymes. Always blanch for the appropriate time and make sure blanched foods are cooled down completely before putting them in freezer containers or bags. Do not allow moisture to form on the lid or sides of a package from hot steam. This will help promote quick freezing once inside the freezer.
Fast freezing is the third thing to keep in mind when freezing foods. The faster water in food gets frozen, the more protective for quality. It is helpful to use small package sizes and spread the packages out in the freezer until the food is frozen. If you know you are going to be freezing a large quantity of food at one time you may want to turn your freezer temperature down a couple days ahead of time. Fast freezing will help preserve your food’s quality and promote energy efficiency as well.
Freezing food is a quick way to preserve the nutrients, color, and taste in your Summer produce.
When I was in the grocery store recently I ran across kiwi berries in the produce section. I had not seen them before and was interested in finding out more about them. They are at their peak in the Fall, mostly September and October.
July was National Ice Cream Month, August 8th was National Frozen Custard Day and August 19th National Soft Ice Cream Day! It seems there are more and more choices in the frozen dessert aisle these days which got me wondering what the difference is among the different types of frozen desserts. U.S. law classifies ice creams by their percentage of milk fat content. By that federal law, ice cream must contain at least 10% milkfat. It is made with more cream than milk so because of the higher fat content, up to 50% of the volume of the ice cream consists of air that has been churned into it. As you know, it is much easier to whip air into cream than into milk.
My sister-in-law is interested in purchasing an air fryer. It is a new concept to me so I decided to do some research on it for both she and I. The basic premise is you can fry foods in air rather than oil. I think we would all agree that if we could enjoy our favorite fried foods without all the extra fat calories from the oil we would be very interested in doing that!
Green beans are a popular home-grown garden vegetable and are really producing right now. They produce so well we often end up with more than we can eat or share. Many people turn to canning the green beans to enjoy at a later date. Just like with any other home-canned food, it is important to ALWAYS use tested recipes/recommendations and proper procedures.
Summertime often means picnic, beach, and car trip time for us! We often take a cooler with us in the car for snacks and beverages. It is important to keep foods cold and that is best achieved with a full cooler. If your cooler is not full you may want to consider adding extra ice cubes to fill it up. If your cooler doesn’t have a thick well-insulated lid you may also want to consider packing a thick towel on top of everything under the lid. If you can chill your cooler ahead of time that will help keep cold foods cold longer. If you do not have time to chill it, room temperature is more helpful than packing a warm cooler you have just retrieved from your garage or attic.
We were lucky enough to be gifted a new gas grill last Summer. We are thoroughly enjoying it and with all the warm weather we have been having lately it is especially nice to use it and not have to heat up the kitchen. With several months of grilling ahead of all of us, I thought it was a good time to re-visit some grilling tips for safety.
I was recently visiting my daughter and she took me to a big new Whole Foods near her. I knew Whole Foods named “alternative pasta” as one of the Top 10 Food Trends for 2017 so I was interested in what they had as I am interested in cutting back on carbs and boosting my plant protein intake. Most people are familiar with eggplant lasagna using slices of eggplant in place of regular wheat lasagna noodles but now there are so many more options available. I found many spiralized veggies at Whole Foods that I could substitute for spaghetti – beets, broccoli, butternut squash, sweet potato, parsnips, etc. Spiralized cucumbers were available for salads. I think many of those are worth experimenting with for an added low carb, low calorie nutrition boost.
grams of fiber.
in the pan you are going to cook the chicken in if you want. Starting at the tail end, cut along both sides of the backbone with sharp kitchen shears and remove the backbone. You can save the backbone to make your own chicken stock. Open the chicken up, turn it breast side down and push on it to flatten it. Cook at 400-450 degrees until your meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the leg meat.
