It's a matter of ...an abundance of berries!

(photo courtesy of http://fashionablyfoodie.blogspot.com/

I love this time of year with so many berry choices so readily available. LRH has posted how she has made jams and has done some dehydration with these berries. Today, we will discuss "Flash Freezing" food. This is almost a misnomer as the commercial process to Flash-Freeze food is quite complicated. However, in the "home" sector, this term is used to describe the following process:

1. Clean the berries, drain well
2. Place the berries (or food) in a single layer on a cookie sheet
3. Place it in your freezer.
4. When it is frozen, remove the berries/food from the cookie sheet and place in a container for freezing. I have used Freezer Ziploc bags, or Plastic ware.

This is such a simple process that saves not only time and money, but it also allows you to know how your food was prepared. Imagine in the deep of winter, having berries in muffins, pancakes, or making a yummy smoothie with these fruits.

Also, the LRH's philosophy is that you need to have more than one method of storing food, just in case one method fails. If this occurs, you still have one or more other methods of food to access in time of need. For example, when LRH lived in Hurricane Alley, we were without power for a week. Our freezer couldn't sustain itself that long, and I had most of my food storage in there! So, although we ate very well for that week, and gave food to our neighbors, we didn't have the food available for a long period of time should we have needed it. So, I now have food that is canned, dried, Freeze-dried, and frozen. Just some "food for thought".

Try Flash freezing today! It works not only for berries, but also for other foods like meatballs, meats and poultry, and certainly vegetables (which you may need to blanch first. More about this later). Enjoy!