Quick Fix: Freezing Bell Peppers

I am into preservation these days. Hardcore. I have canned the daylights out of every fruit and veggie I could get my hands on, and now I'm also onto freezing. I wanted to talk about bell peppers because they are currently in season. Bell peppers is one of those veggies I just LOVE.

But let's face it, they are soooo expensive at the grocery store, and it doesn't seem to matter if they are in season or not--they are pricey. As a result of this, I rarely buy them. This year, though, after getting a ton of peppers from our farmer for a premium price, and pickling more peppers than I would like to admit, I was ready for freezing....only I didn't know it.

My mother in law introduced me to this trick for freezing, and now I am addicted. I am nearly sure I have enough frozen peppers to get me through the winter. The farmer across the way from me sells bell peppers for a $1 a pound, making them a premium deal for me.

Check out these peppers bringing some serious color!! I think they are just gorgeous. 

They are all washed and laid out on a clean towel, ready to be sliced and diced and all preserved. 

When it comes to these peppers, I do them two ways (thanks to my mother in law who introduced me to this method, of course!) One is by cutting them in half. The bigger, more symmetrical peppers are great for this. This way I can pull these out of the freezer, and stuff them with rice and meat and bake them in the oven. YUM! 

I have taken out the seeds and the stem and all that jazz. 

The other way is to cut them into nice strips that can be used for stir fry or other cooked dishes, like fajitas! 

Also I wanted to mention (for clarity) that you don't need to cook these. We are freezing them raw. 

The trick is to lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze them BEFORE you package them. This is because when you just throw them in a bag and freeze them, they could all stick together, making a clump. If they are frozen individually and then packaged together, they can be pulled out individually and you can just use what you need as you need it. Neat, right?! 

Here I used my vacuum sealer to seal these peppers, but you don't need a vacuum sealer to freeze the stuff. I have some in my freezer that are in Ziploc freezer bags, and those work well too. 

Happy freezing everyone!!! 

Capture that taste of summer while you still can!!! (And save money doing it too!)