What to do with all that extra spinach???

Blanching and Freezing Leafy Greens: A Step-By-Step Guide

Leafy greens such as spinach, kale and chard need to be briefly cooked before they are frozen. Skip this step and you'll end up with black goo when you defrost your greens (yuck). The brief cooking halts an enzymatic process that would otherwise make the leaves continue to decay even in the freezer. Blanching is one of the simplest brief cooking methods and ensures your greens will emerge from the freezer with bright color and excellent flavor and texture. 

1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil, wash the leafy greens by swishing them around in a sink full of water.

2.  Strip away and discard (compost) tough leaf midribs and stems. Note: chard and bok choy have thick but tender and delicious leaf stalks, but they do not freeze well. Blanch and freeze the green parts of these vegetables and reserve the leaf stalks to use fresh in a recipe.

3.  Stir your leafy greens into a pot of boiling water. Let blanch in the boiling water for 1 minute.

4.  Drain the blanched greens in a colander. Immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Alternatively, plunge the blanched greens into a bowl of ice water.

5.  Squeeze the blanched and chilled greens hard to get out as much of the watery content as possible. Squeeze hard. You want to end up with a clump of compressed greens.

6.  Chop the clump of blanched greens.

7.  Pack the blanched, chopped leafy greens into freezer bags or containers. Label with the name of the vegetable and the date. Freeze.

Helpful freezing tips

Some information from The Householder's Survival Manual on freezing food.

If you choose the freezer for all or part of your 3-month supply this info may be helpful.

Meats
Re-wrap meats from a bulk package, cut the original label off and attach it to the new package so that you have weight and date of purchase.
Freeze raw or cooked meatballs on a cookie sheet, then when frozen transfer to a container, seal and freeze.  This will make using a few at a time easier.

Bread
Will dry out quickly in the fridge but freezes well for up to 6 months.  Wrap in plastic, then foil.
   * I've found that if I plan on using the bread fairly quickly (a few weeks) I can get away with wrapping store bought bread in it's original package and then in the plastic grocery sack and it's OK.  I wrap homemade bread in foil.

Fresh Berries
Wash thoroughly, pat dry and place on a cookie sheet in the freezer until berries are frozen.  Remove from cookie sheet and place in an airtight container.

Peaches frozen in the bag

Strawberries frozen on a cookie sheet and then transferred to a freezer baggie

Herbs
Some fresh herbs freeze well.  Parsley, chives and basil can be washed, shaken and patted dry then minced and frozen in a plastic container.  Fresh ginger root can be frozen in  plastic bag, then grated as needed.

Pies
To freeze freshly baked pie, cool to room temp.  Wrap in plastic and then foil.  If the pie has a sticky filling that is hard to wrap, freeze then wrap.  Don't forget to label, the type of pie and date.

Ice cream
To keep ice cream fresh, press plastic wrap onto the surface of the remaining ice cream.
 (I'm having a hard time imagining a world where ice cream stays in the freezer long enough to get stale - but I imagine someone out there needs this)

Freezing Food Storage: Time and Temperature

Freezing Food Storage:  Time and Temperature
Should be 0 degrees F.  To test the temperature of your freezer, place a refrigerator thermometer between packages of frozen food and leave it for 24 hours.  Measure, then measure again a few hours later, fluctuations of more than 5 degrees could indicate a problem.

Food	Storage time in months
Dairy Products
Butter, Margarine	6-8
Cottage Cheese, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs	Do Not Freeze   * see post
Hard Cheeses (Cheddar, Edam, Swiss)	6
Soft Cheeses (Brie, blue, Camembert	4
Milk	1
Fish
Lean fish fillets and steaks (cod, flounder, halibut, sole	6
Oily fish fillets and steaks ( mackerel, salmon)	3
Poultry and Meats
Bacon	1
Beef roasts, steaks	6-12
Chicken or turkey, whole or pieces	6-7
Cooked Meats	2-3
Ground beef, veal, and lamb	3-4
Ground pork	1-3
Lamb, veal roasts	6-9
Pork, roasts, chops	3-6
Sausage	2
Pies and Cakes
Unbaked fruit pie, unfrosted cakes	6-8
Baked fruit pie	2-4
Frosted Cake	2-4
Fruit
Apples, citrus fruit, cranberries, apricots, ripe bananas, (skin will darken), berries, cherries, avocados, melons, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums	Commercially frozen 12, Home frozen 8-12
Vegetables
Artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, eggplant, peas, peppers, radishes, spinach	Commercially frozen 12, Home frozen 8-12
Asparagus, cooked vegetables	Do not freeze
Beets, green and red cabbage, carrots, turnips, squash, corn	Commercially frozen, Home frozen 8-12
Lettuce, tomatoes, celery	Do not freeze

Information taken from Reader's Digest Householder's Survival Manual