Zucchini Bread Batter

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
4 cups zucchini, shredded
6 eggs
2 cups oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups brown sugar
6 teaspoons vanilla
6 cups flour
6 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts

For Baking:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:

1: Put all in a processor and blend well.

2: Line loaf pans (9x5) with plastic and fill loaf pan 2/3 full.

3: Freeze.

4: Remove from pans and wrap in plastic.

5: To bake, remove plastic and thaw out.

6: Add 1/2 tsp soda and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder per loaf.

7: Grease pan and pour in batter.

8: Bake at 350 approx 1 hour.

(Recipe from www.recipezaar.com)

Garden Veggies

I love this time of year because there are so many fresh, yummy veggies to eat. This afternoon my neighbor gave me some beans, carrots, and gigantic zucchini from their garden. Usually, I try to eat fresh veggies immediately, but since I have been doing research on freezing things I decided to learn how to properly freeze them. Sometimes I assume that everyone already knows all these things and I am the only one that is completely clueless. Just in case some of you are in the same boat as me, I am going to post what I learned today about..BLANCHING.

According to my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, blanching is a "heat-and-cool process". The point of which is to "stop or slow the enzymes that cause loss of flavor and color, and toughens the food." I am a visual learner, so I will use pictures to explain the process I used to blanch my beans.

Step #1: I removed the little strings from the green beans and cut off the ends. Then I cut mine into 1 inch pieces. You can leave them whole, if you prefer. Here are my beans, all chopped up and ready to go..

Step #2: Fill a pot with water and use a gallon per pound of vegetables. I had less than one pound, so I used one gallon. Bring the water to a boil...

Step #3: Add the beans, cover, and boil on high for 4 minutes. Start timing as soon as you put the beans in...

Step # 4: Immediately transfer beans to a colander and place the colander in a large bowl of ice water. Leave the beans in there for 4 minutes (the same amount of time you cooked them for)...
Step #5: Put the beans in a freezer container and make sure to leave 1/2 inch at the top.

Step #6: Store the beans in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can store them for 8-10 months. So, you can have all these fresh garden veggies all year round!

I ended up freezing all of beans and the carrots. Freezing the vegetables was a really quick and easy process. Here's a list of other veggies you can try and the blanching times:

Carrots: Blanch whole carrots for 5 minutes and cut-up carrots for 2 minutes.

Asparagus: Blanch small spears for 2 minutes, medium for 3 minutes, and large for 4 minutes.

Corn: Boil corn for 4 minutes. Cool quickly and then cut off the cob about 2/3 of the way through the kernel.

Peas: Blanch for 11/2 minutes for small flat pods, 2 minutes for larges flat pods, and 3 minutes for developed pods.