Farmer's market finds

We found such amazing deals at the farmer's market this week!  Paul and I had talked about freezing some summer produce if we found any great deals but were not prepared for the large amount of fruits and veggies we found.  We bought over 70 lbs of fruits and vegetables!

Tomatoes were $10 for a 25 lb. box.

Peaches were $25 for a 25 lb. box.

Bell peppers were $5 for a box that weighed in at 17lbs.  That is about 40 bell peppers!

This 67 lbs of yumminess was destined for our freezer.  We also bought sweet potatoes, nectarines, onions, grape tomatoes, and zucchini to eat this week.  We had a hard time getting it all to the van!  We had to make multiple trips with the stroller loaded down.

Once we got home I got right to work processing the food.  The bell peppers were very easy.  I just washed and dried them, diced and sliced, flash froze, and put into freezer bags.  I diced and sliced them so I have options when cooking. The diced peppers can go in casseroles and omelettes while the sliced peppers will be perfect for stir fries.

The peaches were pretty easy too.  I wanted peaches in every form possible so I decided to freeze some and dehydrate some.  First I washed and peeled the fruit.  Then I removed the pit (buying freestone peaches makes this easier) and started slicing.  Sliced peaches were dipped in orange juice and laid on a baking sheet to freeze. The o.j. helps retain the "normal" peach color.  I also pureed some peaches and froze in ice cube trays to add to iced tea.  Finally, I pulled out the dehydrator.  I diced the peaches and laid them on the trays.  I also put a bit of leftover pureed peaches on a tray to make peach fruit rollups.

The tomatoes were a bit more time consuming.  I washed them and peeled them.  To peel them, cut a little 'x' on the bottom and drop into boiling water for 1 minute and then plunge into ice water to halt the cooking process.  Then you can rub the peel off with your hands.  I decided to make some a lot of tomato sauce.  I didn't really follow a recipe, just winged it.  Hopefully it comes out okay.  Has anyone ever made sauce from fresh tomatoes?  It takes a long time to simmer - like 4-5 hours!

It is a little crazy how happy this freezer full of summer yumminess makes me!  I just love saving time and money while feeding my family healthy meals.  A little time in the kitchen now will save me a lot of time later.