Cut Your Food Bills

I really struggled with putting this post in my money saving blog or my cooking blog.  I finally decided on the money savers blog since the purpose of this is to save money, not a new way to cook or season something.
I cannot take full credit for this tip; my nutritionist gave me this tip.  Buy veggies fresh from the market when they are on sale.  Then blanche and freeze the veggies.  Buy the veggies when they are on sale.  Most grocery stores and farm markets will put the veggies on sale the day they are supposed to go bad.  Buy the veggies then and blanch and freeze.  They are cheaper and the freezing process will make them last for a while.

All the veggies I got from the local farmers market.  Spent $6 on everything.

I will take you through the blanching process for the carrots.  It's very simple and easy to do.  

1.  Peel and slice the carrots.  Cook in salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes only! 

2.  After the 1-2 minutes of cooking time, transfer the cooked carrots to ice water.  This will stop the cooking process.  

Cooked carrots in ice bath to stop the cooking process. 

3.  After the carrots have cooled in the ice bath, transfer them to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to  remove excess water.  

Dry the carrots with paper towels. 

4.  Put the carrots in plastic bags to freeze.  Make sure to label the bags with a permanent market with the date and what is in the bag.  After your bags are filled, put in the freezer.  

Ready to freeze!

That's it!  That's the blanching and freezing process.  I spent $6 on veggies and it will last me about a month.  So much cheaper than buying frozen veggies from the grocery store.  

When you are ready to eat the veggies, just dunk them in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and serve.