crockpot cooking

This has been cooking in my crockpot all day….

portobello broccoli alfredo

whole wheat gobbetti pasta with broccoli & portobello and basil cream sauce

freezing basil

In a previous post, I showed my process of freezing squash & zucchini.  Freezing herbs, is a great way to preserve those beautiful fresh herbs from your garden.  I planted a bunch of herbs in one of my Mom’s flower gardens and the basil did INCREDIBLE.  The plant that I bought was so very small, so I didn’t think it would grow as well as it did. The red arrow below shows how small it was when I planted the basil.

My Mom sent me the pic below last month.  She trimmed it back after this and it doubled in size.

Below is the process I used to freeze basil:

freezing basil

1. wash basil in the salad spinner
2. place basil in food processor
3. add 1-2 T of olive oil
4. pulse until basil & oil have mixed together
5. spoon basil mix into ice cube tray and freeze

freezing squash & zucchini

Freezing is a great way to preserve produce from the summer.  It’s easy to let the extra zucchini & squash go to waste.  And with all the funny stories of people leaving bags of squash on neighbors doorsteps, why not just take a little time and freeze them for soups, stews and veggie chilis for the winter?
Here is a great link for more information on freezing produce.

…a few rules and tips to follow:

• you must blanch before freezing (this slows/stops the enzymes actions, if you do not do this, it will cause off-coloring, off-flavoring, and toughening)
• don’t over blanch!  each veggie has a specific amount of time to cook, view this link for specific times
• drain well
• using a blancher makes the blanching process easier, a multi-cooker that has the strainer inside the pot would also work, I’ve been wanting one of these!!

freezing squash & zucchini

1. cut squash/zucchini into bite-sized pieces
2. blanch squash/zucchini into boiling water for 3 minutes (blanching the veggies is essential for freezing, see above)
3. immediately put veggies into an ice bath, let veggies cool through for several minutes
4. drain well, very well
5. place onto flat baking sheet pans and freeze
6. take pans out of freezer, then place frozen veggies into ziploc freezer bags, mark date then put back into freezer

granola and sweet peach

breakfast this morning:  simple & delicious

herbs!

Well, the weekend flew by, and I didn’t have much time to get some things done that I wanted to.  I did spend all morning rinsing & freezing basil in ice cub trays.  My Mom brought me a big garbage bag full of herbs, mostly basil, but also lavender and lots of rosemary. Hopefully, I’ll make another blog post about how to (I) freeze basil.

bowtie summer pasta

Bowtie zucchini & tomato summer pasta, this was deliciously fresh!  The sauce was made by simmering red and yellow-orange tomatoes in white wine.  Seasoned with basil, salt, pepper, garlic and red pepper for a touch of heat.

butternut squash ravioli

I have always loved this dish.  Butternut squash ravioli sautéed in butter & sage.  I thought it would take forever to roast the squash in the oven.  So, instead of leaving the squash whole, I simply cut the squash in slices, drizzled with olive oil, salt & pepper and baked on 350˚ until tender.

I assembled the raviolis, cooked until soft and placed into a sauté pan of earth balance, garlic & sage.  Simple as that!  So delicious and savory.

tonight’s dinner

vegetable stirfry with asian noodles

fresh veggies thrown into my new beauty of a wok, finally no more spilling veggies on the stove

my lunch today

oh yes, pasta salad with fresh veggies and lots of flaxseed