Sunday, April 27, 2014 / 23 Comments
How to Freeze Bell Peppers and A Visit to the Oklahoma Food Bank
My mom and I used to always buy bell pepper pieces at the grocery store to have in the freezer during Winter for our stir-frys and other yummy dishes. Sometimes though they would get really expensive for barely even a cup of the stuff. In my quest to lose weight and become healthier I am determined to be better at preserving our own home grown food so we have an abundance of veggies when we need it and it save a FORTUNE in gas to drive 25 miles round trip to the grocery store. Yep, 25 miles.
All you need to do is wash your bell peppers and cut them into bite size pieces or strips.
Next, lay them out on a clean stainless steel cookie sheet and place in your freezer overnight or a few hours at least.
All you need to do is stick them in a Ziploc baggie and place them in your freezer, it's that easy. Try to press as much air out of them as possible.
I wanted to share with you some pictures from an incredible conference I was asked to go to as a delegate for our local senior center, to the OK Food Bank, to a conference on hunger.
The food bank has their own greenhouses and gardens. They are attempting to educate people, especially in urban areas, that they can stomp out long term hunger if they help grow their own food. Look at this strawberry system. It's so sophisticated. It took everything I had in me not to pluck one off and into my mouth to eat. The food they grow here goes to one of their local after-school programs for kids.
The elementary kids are educated on where their food comes from so they can help to break generational hunger. I think it's incredible. Different volunteer groups come in to learn how to plant their own community gardens for their food pantries and help to maintain these gardens for a good cause.
It's an incredible experience and I highly recommend you taking a tour if you live in the Oklahoma area and if you don't visiting your own local food bank.
My heart and head tells me that diseases and hunger can all be ended if we get back to the basics of gardening.
What do you think? I'd love to hear?
Met Monday
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My mom freezes lots of bags of bell peppers each year for us. So handy to be able to pull a few pieces out and throw in meals.
ReplyDeleteMy parents used to own a restaurant and we used to freeze bell peppers. I think it's great that more and more children learn about where their food comes from.
ReplyDeleteThat strawberry system is utterly fantastic. Seems like something that would be cool to replicate (on a much smaller scale, of course).
ReplyDeleteI love bell peppers.Great tips on freezing them for later use.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought to freeze my bellpeppers! This is great!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I have always bought frozen bell peppers already made. But we want to start growing our own, and now I know how to freeze them!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Sounds like you had a good time ☺️ thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I can't tell you how many bell peppers I have thrown away because they have gone bad.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that getting back to growing, harvesting our own food is a great way to end hunger. Teaching people how to garden and preserve foods is just plain smart. Our local food pantry has a great gardening program!
ReplyDeleteThat's great it's so easy to freeze bell peppers. I love that they're teaching people to grow their own food to help put an end to hunger. At our old church, all of us that had gardens brought our produce to church to share with others.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could freeze bell peppers. I will have to do this.
ReplyDeleteSo cool, there are gardens at food banks in Texas too. I think it's pretty awesome.
I never thought to freeze bell peppers. Also pretty amazing to see the work of the food bank and how they are educating the community.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think to freeze my peppers! I usually don't freeze my veggies because to me they taste like they lose their flavor, but I'll have to try this!
ReplyDeleteOh wow I didn't know you can freeze bell pepper like that. How I wish I knew this before. I am definitely doing it this year, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know it was that easy to freeze a pepper! I just recently started eating them more often. I love that the food bank has there own garden! Of course it's great to encourage to still grow your own. But space is limited and finding a plot are hard to come by in some areas.
ReplyDeleteI love bell peppers. I've never tried freezing them, but I'll give it a whirl. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteBeth || www.TheStyleBouquet.com
Teaching kids the basics of gardening is a good idea and must start at home Here in the Philippines, we do gardening at home and basics of gardening (and sometimes farming) are included to our academic curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI've never frozen veggies! I'm always afraid of losing nutrients. That said, I throw away a lot of mushy produce. Maybe it's time to try your tip!!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome to know!!! I always like stocking up on things when I see a sale, so I will have to remember this now!!!
ReplyDeleteLove bell peppers and love the tips about freezing them. I know I've tried freezing them whole and it definitely didn't work out as well.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that we can freeze bell peppers! Thanks for the tips Valerie! Now, I'll also preserve it!
ReplyDeleteI am going to try this I am vegan and I buy too much from Costco. I usually waste them. This will save my veggies. Love bell peppers. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreat read! My step mother taught me how to freeze bell peppers years ago and now I do it all the time
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