What To Do With All These Veggies -- Need Ideas and Quick!

[Kinguk]

Hi There;

I'm in heaven as my mom is here for a week and has brought me all her produce from her fridge also my neighbour just downloaded tons of stuff from her garden on me.

An opportunity like this don't come a long everyday and I don't want any of it to go to waste. I have one weekend and a grocery shopping trip to plan what I'm going to do with all of this goodness.

I will be sharing some with friends but I am wondering what I can do with way too many:

~ red, orange and yellow peppers,
~ 4 heads of broccoli
~ fresh sage (I'll dry what I don't use)
~ lots of white mushrooms
~ a lifetime supply (hehe) of green leaf and iceburg lettuce and other salad greens
~ cherry tomatoes
~ oodels of fresh cherries that I won't be able to get through in time
~ 2 cucumbers
~ a zucchini squash
~ 2 very ripe avocadoes (how long can you keep guacomole for? I think I'll just eat them today...my tot loves them as well)
~ plus the stuff I already had in my produce drawer!

I love salads but as a single mom to a toddler, can't stand the time it takes to chop everything up.

I always save the scraps for veggie stock.

I am big on freezing and making things ahead of time.

I have pretty much all the staples (rice, flour, potatoes, beans, spices, etc...), or can just run out and grab something if I need to

Help! What can I make!? I don't want any of this to go to waste!

[Snowflower]

Stir fry? We used to make a 22 veggie stir fry when it was time to clear out the fridge. like Every veggie that exists!, i swear!

[lil_earthmomma]

Oh I am so jealous!!!

This is what I would do:

~ red, orange and yellow peppers,

I would roast a bunch of these babies in the oven and freeze for roasted pepper sauces, dips, soups etc. :

~ 4 heads of broccoli

blanche and freeze what you can`t eat.

I love cream of broccoli soup, or crepes with turkey, broccoli and cheese.


~ fresh sage (I'll dry what I don't use) sounds great!

~ lots of white mushrooms

HHHmmmmmmmmmm.... mushrooms don`t freeze great, but I have had wonderful success with cooking them, blending them up and freezing. Then I thaw and add them to sauces, mushroom gravy, homemade mushroom soup etc.

For the fresh ones, saute them in butter with garlic, onions and broccoli or asparagus. Drizzle red wine vinegrette over it and toss with some of those salad greens.

~ a lifetime supply (hehe) of green leaf and iceburg lettuce and other salad greens

You can use any sturdy greens to make ''cabbage rolls''.

Make lettuce wraps!!! Treat the lettuce like a tortilla. So yummy!

~ cherry tomatoes
~ oodels of fresh cherries that I won't be able to get through in time

Cherries are so yummy to eat frozen. I pit them and freeze them on a cookie sheet overnight, then thow them in bags. Your little will LOVE them like that. They are great frozen for throwing into smoothies too!

You can also dry them for using in baking etc.

~ 2 cucumbers
~ a zucchini squash
~ 2 very ripe avocadoes (how long can you keep guacomole for? I think I'll just eat them today...my tot loves them as well)
~ plus the stuff I already had in my produce drawer!

I love salads but as a single mom to a toddler, can't stand the time it takes to chop everything up.

My favorite salad with what you have would be a cucumber tomato salad. I just quickly chop the cucumber into large chunks. (Nothing fancy or time consuming) and throw the cherry tomatoes in. Green onion or purple onion sliced thin (do you have a food processor, I always use mine for onions) and ginger dressing. mmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I always save the scraps for veggie stock.

I am big on freezing and making things ahead of time.

I have pretty much all the staples (rice, flour, potatoes, beans, spices, etc...), or can just run out and grab something if I need to

Help! What can I make!? I don't want any of this to go to waste!
__________________

[LeahBoo]

I'd make veggie fajitas with the peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini. Maybe throw some diced tomatoes and guacamole on top.

[Alyantavid]

Salads, stir fries, fajitas or just add them to anything you'd normally eat.

~ red, orange and yellow peppers - you can chop and freeze these and then add them to dishes later
~ 4 heads of broccoli - blanch and freeze
~ cherry tomatoes - you can roast and freeze these or just freeze them to put in soups or other dishes
~ oodels of fresh cherries that I won't be able to get through in time - I'd pit those and freeze too
~ a zucchini squash - you can shred and freeze this for zucchini bread all winter

[cristeen]

~ red, orange and yellow peppers, - I'm in the roast and freeze camp, too.

~ fresh sage (I'll dry what I don't use) - I actually prefer to freeze my fresh herbs - they don't lose their potency that way. Pick the leaves off the stems, and lay the leaves out on a cookie sheet, freeze until solid then bag them up.

~ lots of white mushrooms - either saute them down (to get the water out of them) and freeze them, or you can pickle them

~ a lifetime supply (hehe) of green leaf and iceburg lettuce and other salad greens - not sure what you can do with these, lettuce does not freeze well

~ cherry tomatoes - cut them in half, drizzle with oil, oven roast, freeze

~ oodels of fresh cherries that I won't be able to get through in time - pit, toss with a little bit of sugar and freeze. Great for pies, jams, smoothies, pancake topping, etc.

~ 2 cucumbers - again, these don't freeze, but they can be pickled

~ a zucchini squash - these can also be pickled, but not frozen

~ 2 very ripe avocadoes (how long can you keep guacomole for? I think I'll just eat them today...my tot loves them as well) - these can be frozen, but if you only have 2 of them, I'd just eat them. If you had a whole bunch, then I'd work on freezing.