that is awsome girlfriend :)

Fresh veggies are the best, they not only taste better, but you feel good when you serve them to your family. You put the effort into pulling the leaves back, squeezing them, smelling them and compared them to all the others on the shelf. So you get home and realize "there is no way we can eat all this before it goes bad". Its ok, I'm going to help you keep these veggies till your ready to eat them.
I recommend coming in and cleaning your veggies as soon as you get done shopping. If you have to wait, make a note to do it as soon as possible. While you are cleaning your veggies and have the knife out and the water running I suggest dicing up an onion to store in a container. Having all your veggies clean and ready for use saves time in the kitchen later in the week. If you have bell peppers you plan to use in a salad, slice them up and store them also.
Which leads us to this, how do I store them? Different veggies need to be stored different ways, and I will get to that after I explain how to blanch.

These were so fresh it was hard not to pass up buying two of everything.

Cut the ends off, I cut about 1/2 - 1 inch

Blanching is the scalding of vegetables in boiling water or steam. Blanching slows or stops the action of enzymes. Up until harvest time, enzymes cause vegetables to grow and mature. If vegetables are not blanched, or blanching is not long enough, the enzymes continue to be active during frozen storage causing off-colors, off-flavors and toughening.

As soon as blanching is complete, cool the vegetables quickly and thoroughly to stop the cooking process. To cool, drain the vegetables in a strainer, then plunge the vegetables into a container of ice water. Cool vegetables for the same amount of time as they are blanched.

Drain thoroughly and freeze

Different veggies require different kinds of attention. Here is a site that tells you all about the personality of each of these veggies.

GARDENGUIDES.COM

Subwich or Stew

Yesterday I spent 5 hours in the kitchen. I created a fabulous dish that I recommend trying called, Kielbasa Pepper Stew with Potatoes. I also whipped up some homemade subwich buns. So grab some Roast beef, salami, cheese, oil, vinegar, onions, banana peppers, salt and pepper and create a subwich, or if it is 12 degrees like it is here cook up some stew.


INGREDIENTS

• 1-6 oz can tomato paste
• 2 cups water
• 1-14.5 can stewed tomatoes (I used tomatoes in garlic and onions)
• 1-16 oz Package Polska Kielbasa cut into 1/2 circles
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper cut into strips and then cut in half
• 1/2 Green Bell Peppers cut into strips and then cut in half
• 1 large onion sliced
• 3 small new potatoes cubed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp crushed pepper corns
• 1 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 tsp MrsDash Tomatoe Basil Garlic
• 4-5 dashed Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup rice

DIRECTIONS

1. In a stock pot, add tomato paste and 2 cups water, and stewed tomatoes.
2. Heat on Medium and add sausage, peppers, onions and potatoes.
3. Add salt, fresh ground pepper, beef bouillon cube, MrsDash, Worcestershire sauce and pepper flakes. Stir well and continue cooking for an hour.
4. Add Rice and cook another hour. Simmer to stay warm till everyone is ready to eat.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm. If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions They should be a little larger than a golf ball. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. You may want to oil your hand first. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5. Place in over fand bake for 15 minutes