Planning ahead and freezing food

I think it started when I read Diana's latest post, about Mabon.  I don't celebrate any pagan holidays... heck, I barely celebrate secular ones.  And I was a little surprised when I realized her post was about acting like a squirrel and not about eating one.  The idea of putting away food now, and being grateful for my foresight later, really touched me.  I don't can or dehydrate, but I do have plenty of freezer space.  I have cooked and frozen some meat recently, but I've been slacking on the vegetables.

So here's what I made last night:

Herbed Squash and Fennel

• 4 bulbs fennel
• 1 red kuri squash (also known as a hokkaido or potimarron)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• sage
• thyme
• rosemary

Peel and chop the squash.   Slice the fennel crosswise into about 1 inch slices.  Put in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, and mix.  Roast at 375 for about 45 minutes, until the squash is tender.

I liked it.  The fennel stays rather firm when roasted (it was my first time cooking it that way) but it's sort of a nice contrast to the softness of the cooked squash.  It tasted very autumn-y.  =]  I'm not sure how the squash will turn out after freezing... I've seen mention of it being frozen in chunks, but I've only ever frozen mashed/pureed squash before.

I didn't get a photo until after we had eaten.

Closeup!

And here it is ready to go in the freezer for later.

I also roasted the rest of my tomatoes to turn into tomato sauce, since some of them were getting a little soft.  I've got plans to blanch some green beans and freeze those, too.  My bag of veggie scraps is getting awfully full, so I need to make some stock.  And tomorrow when I pick up my share from the CSA, you better believe I'll be thinking, "which of these things do I want to freeze for later?"

Pretty multicolored tray of tomatoes.

I also just wanted to share this picture because it makes me laugh every time I walk in the kitchen and see it.  We had a visitor last weekend and decided to restock our liquor collection, since we were down to one tiny bottle of rum.  (I say "we" but my husband really doesn't drink.)  I think we bought enough to last us about 5 years.  We then took a wine tour, where I bought a few bottles along the way, including two of my favorite Bellwether ciders.  Now I can't figure out where to store it all.  =P  It looks pretty, for now, anyway! (Thanks to Kia and Toyota - we paid for all of this using the cards they send to my husband for selling cars.)

Shiny!

I've got a plan in the works to photograph and post an entire weeks worth of meals.  And I mean EVERYTHING I eat, which has been 3 meals a day recently.  I'm not sure if I'll start tomorrow (Saturday), Sunday, or Monday.  But stay tuned.