Tuesday, July 31, 2012

What to do with Cabbage

Believe it or not, cabbage can be frozen! It works similar to beans. Once you freeze it, you will not be able to use it for things such coleslaw and sauerkraut. But there is a recipe for freezer coleslaw!
If you are going to to make things that require crunch cabbage, make those first, then you can store what is left for use in soups, stews, stir-fry and other things where the crispness isn't required.
First dump your cabbage in a pot of salted boiling water, allow to cook till it starts to look limp, dump in a colander and let cool. Then spread it out on a cookie sheet and pop in the freezer, uncovered. Allow a few hours to freeze then pull it out and pop in a freezer bag and into the freezer. Just pull some out for any cooked recipes that call for cabbage.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

How do I use all these dry BEANS!!!!

No matter what package you get, your pretty much going to get beans..
One problem with dry beans... You have to plan ahead to use them! I know I need the protein and iron and all the other good stuff beans do for you but planing ahead is not really my strong suit.. So I kinna cheat. There are a couple of ways to handle the bean overload.
1. Sprout- yep you can sprout the beans and then cook them. This is supposed to activate a bunch of stuff in the beans and make them easier to digest.
Rinse, drain in a colander with a paper towel.. Daily until they sprout. Then cook the suckers.
2. Pre-cook: This is actually how I handle it. I dump 6c of water in a large pot and 1 whole bag of bean. Yep the entire thing. Crank up the heat to high till you get a rolling boil. Now move the pot to the sink and dump about a tablespoon or two of baking soda in there and STIR! The first time you do this you will see why it needed to be in the sink... Dump the beans in a colander and rinse them. From here I put them in my crock-pot and cook them on low overnight. You could also put them back in the rinsed-out pot and simmer them for a few hours.
In the morning I use a slotted spoon to scoop the beans and fill a muffin tin or two, although I sometimes use a colander to get the last ones out. Once they cool I pop them on the freezer for a few hours. I pop them out of the muffin tin and dump them in a freezer bag. From there they are ready to be dropped in any recipe that calls for canned beans (1 1/2 cups of cooked beans = 1 can).
You can take the liquid left over and either freeze it (ice cube trays) to use in place of water in recipes, to keep the nutrients. Or just dump it out.
3. Plant: yep, actually did it once to see if I could. Worked.
4. Play: great for easy-to-clean sensory play for toddlers. I usually put mine in clean kid pool with a plastic shoe box of beans. I give him a few measuring cup and just let him have fun. You can also use rice.. But it is harder to clean and easier to cook.
5. Stockpile: doesn't really help.. Just what ends up happening.