Freezing strawberries

Freezing berries tends to remind me of making a deposit: banking the vibrant sweetness of summer against the gloom of winter.

Flash freezing is my go-to method of preserving berries. It involves little more than cookie sheets and some ziploc bags. Easy peasy. I left this batch of strawberries whole, to use in smoothies. Partially thawed, they also are a nice touch on cakes or in fruit salads.  Just don't let them thaw all the way or they can get smushy.

1. When freezing whole strawberries, choose the nicest looking, firmest ones
2. Gently wash, draining well
3. Remove the hulls
4. Place on a cookie sheet, making sure no berries are touching
5. Freeze for a few hours (or overnight), until frozen solid like so many strawberry marbles
6. Move into a freezer container or plastic freezer bag, removing as much of the air as possible to prevent freezer burn

Now wait until the weather turns cold and enjoy the reminder of summer!

Homemade refried beans

Since I learned how to cook and freeze dried beans we've pretty much stopped buying canned beans. So much cheaper and no worries of BPA nastiness. But it never occurred to me to make our own refried beans until another blogger mentioned it.

We gave it a try the other month and, holy smokes, I think I'm ruined for canned refried beans forever. Not only was it less expensive to make our own, but they tasted so much better. Now we've got a  few frozen batches stashed away and ready to go the next time burrito night rolls around. A pint container holds about the same amount as a standard can.

I'm still experimenting with some different recipes, but the one below is the one we are using at the moment. It's a mild, plain flavor, just like you want out of your basic refried beans. It suggests smashing the beans with a potato masher, but I like going at them with my immersion blender instead. Much more like the familiar texture of the canned version that way!

Now to figure out how to recreate the green chile and lime refried beans. Mmmm.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Freezing pizza dough

Homemade pizza has become something of a weekly tradition in our house. The kids love it and making it at home lets us have a dairy-free version for The Girl (hello, soy "mozzarella"!). It's a fair sight cheaper--and less greasy--than ordering it in, too.

After experimenting with some different healthier crust recipes, I settled on a favorite from one of my Moosewood Cookbooks.  It's low on sugar and oil, uses some whole wheat flour without tasting too "healthy," and incorporates rolled oats for a little bit of texture. I typically make it that day in our bread machine using the Dough setting. But when I have more time--or an antsy child who needs to work out some energy pounding dough--I make up a big batch and freeze it in dinner-size portions.

Mix the yeast with warm water and set it aside to do its bubbly thing. The recipe calls for a teaspoon of sugar, but sometimes I feed the yeast with a half-teaspoon of honey instead.

Now you get to make your own oat flour! Whirl rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they've become a coarse flour. I like to leave it pretty chunky for the texture it gives the dough.

By this point your yeast should be foamy and ready. Add the oat flour, whole wheat flour, salt, olive oil and enough of the white flour to make a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until stretchy and smooth, about ten minutes, adding more flour as needed. This is a great time to get the kids involved! Little fists are great for pounding on dough.


You know the drill: put the dough in a greased bowl, cover and set in a warm place until doubled in size.


Time to punch down the dough--The Boy's favorite step! If you're using it right away, roll out your crust and get your pizza on. If freezing, work quickly to wrap it up and pop it into the freezer before it starts to rise again. I wrap it in plastic wrap then put the frozen dough balls into a freezer zipper bag. If I pull the frozen dough out in the morning and leave it on the counter, it's ready to use by dinner time. If you were more on top of things than I am, you could probably defrost it overnight in the refrigerator instead. Frozen bread dough usually lasts just fine about three months in the freezer.

This recipe makes a little over a pound of dough, which makes a 12-inch crust (a medium at most pizza places). It's just a bit more than enough for one meal our family--the Girl puts away more pizza than I do!

Recipe below, or view a printable version here.

Cooking and freezing beans

Cooking and freezing your own beans is a double win: you save money and avoid the yucky BPA-lined cans. Woot!

It's simplicity itself--you just boil water--but, y'all, I still managed to mess it up the first time I gave it a go.  Seriously. I put way too much water in the cooking pot, things boiled over, and it was an absolute disaster to clean up. But I forged ahead! And it went much better the next time!

Now it doesn't take much thought at all. The basic formula: rinse, soak, cook, freeze.

Rinse: Pick through and remove any rocks or funky beans (split skins, discolored, shrivelled). Rinse with cool water.

Soak: Most beans need to be soaked before cooking to soften them up. The exception are some of the softer beans: lentils, split peas, black-eyed peas. Put into a large bowl and add enough water to cover the beans by 3-4 inches. Ignore for 6-8 hours.

(If you don't have 6 hours to spare, you can do a quick soak on the stove. Bring the beans and water to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.)

Cook: When the beans are happily soaked, drain and change out the water. For every one cup of dried beans you started out with add 3 cups of water. (Thirsty little garbanzo beans need 4 cups of water per one cup dried.) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer:

• Black-eyed peas - 30 min.
• Navy beans, pinto beans - 45 min.
• Lima beans - 1 hour
• Kidney beans - 1-1.5 hours
• Black beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas) - 1.5 hours

It's better to undercook them slightly, if you'll be using them in recipes. When they're finished (bite into one if you want to double check), drain and let cool a bit.

Freeze: Pack into pint-size baggies or freezer-safe containers. A scant 1 3/4 cups equals a 15 oz. can. The bean experts say beans keep about three months in the freezer.

Each bean is a wee bit different, but one pound of dried beans makes the equivalent of about three 15 oz. cans, sometimes four. Such a deal!