Pepper season is fast approaching!

I truly believe that the produce section of my local market is my favorite section of the store. I love the way the fruits and veggies are stacked together, getting the occasional spritz from an overhead mister and coming across something Ive never seen before.

I don't fret over the price of bananas or lettuce because I'm among those who feel that food is an investment. But I will say that I am always curious about the price of peppers. I find it very interesting the way peppers flux in price and how a single green pepper is consistently above $1 in price. If I wanted to make stuffed peppers it would be cheaper to just go to the freezer section and grab a Stouffer's instead of doing it myself! In addition, if I want to make something and it calls for a green pepper I may not have one handy or it may have already gone bad by the time I get around to cooking it.

I am blessed to have a mother who is a horticulturist by trade. More and more as I have been cooking I have taken additional interest in gardening, canning and preserving food. Last summer, my mom had a reasonably large yield of green & purple bell peppers. I hate wasting food, especially when peppers are on the higher priced end of the market.

So what did we do?

We decided to freeze them! Freezing fresh vegetables maintains more nutrients than any other way of storing food (including processing). We sliced half of the peppers into long fajita-style slices and diced the rest. Each sliced pepper was stored individually and the diced peppers were stored in 1 cup portions. And if I decided to make stuffed peppers, I will know ahead of time so I wont waste the store bought!

It didn't take long to start dipping into the packages of peppers and I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh and flavorful they still were! Plus, the added convenience of having them every time I needed one was great!

I purchased my own Seal-a-Meal in March for around $40. It comes with a few bags, but the rolls are only around $10 and last awhile! I have used it a lot for portioning meat and it will be used again very soon to stock up on peppers for the next year!

My Lovely Seal-A-Meal:






The amount of peppers Mom and I froze was about the amount of two plastic shopping bags (before cutting them up). I took about 2/3 home and they lasted me almost a full year, which was something else I wasnt expecting! At the time I was hoping they would last til December! :) I do use peppers quite often in my cooking, so this was a pleasant surprise to both me and my pocketbook!

Please keep in mind freezing your surplus veggies as opposed to throwing them away! They taste great and are incredibly handy!