Why?
1. It's clean/organic eating
2. Ummm, hello. The taste!
3. It's practically free groceries after you pay for the seed or plant.
For the first time in MY LIFE my peas finally produced a lot of pods and are stinkin' yummy! It's kinda hard to just blanch peas and toss them in the freezer without making them mushy.
What do I do with 3 gallons of peas that we cannot possibly eat? Make baby food!
Out of some financial necessity and the love of gardening, my mom never fed me a single bite of purchased baby food. As a little nugget I ate all garden produce baby! I appreciate that wholesome start and I hope I can give that to my sweet Little Landmark that we're waiting for.
So I dub this Wednesday: Operation Baby Food- P.E.A.S.
Between some google research and a few pinterest ideas, I was able to make a TON of single serving peas! Here's how:
You Need
Peas
Big ol' pot and water to boil the peas in
Blender (Love me my vitamix)
Sieve/strainer
Measuring cup OR some sort of pitcher to strain the peas into and pour them out
Ice Cube Trays
Gallon freezer bag or other freezer container
Cup of coffee (I mean, why not?)
First things first:
Rince those babies! Peas have dirt, leaves, and other junk your baby doesn't need to eat. (Just think: if you'd pick it off to eat it yourself, you should pick it off for baby)
Next, Pinch off the end that was attached to the plant (it's pointy and sometimes still have leaves left on it) and pull down the pod removing the string that holds the pod together. That's a pretty tough part of the plant and won't soften or puree as well. Throw these peas into the pot as you get them ready.
Fill the pot with water until it just covers the peas. Cover the pot with a lid and let boil/simmer until the peas are soft. I may or may not have been writing out bills as I waited for this to happen so I don't have a time... I taste tested. OOPS! If you do this, beware: those babies are hot! hot! hot!
Once the pods are soft, blend them in a blender with about half of cup of the water they boiled in. I forgot to snap a shot of my wondrous blender in action! Puree as well and completely as your machine will let you.
From the blender pour your puree into a sieve with your measuring cup or pitcher or whatever instrument you find underneath.
It's kind of hard to see, but I promise my 4 cup liquid measuring cup is under that sieve.
After your mixture is sufficiently strained take the measuring cup and start filling up ICE CUBE TRAYS
After this, do the obvious, pop 'em into the freezer!
I let mine sit for about 8 hours and they are as frozen as can be.
I cracked each cube out of their tray and plunked them into a 1 gallon freezer bag to store until our precious Little Landmark is ready for them.
*Tip* If the trays are too stiff to be able to crack the cubes out, let them sit on the counter for 2-5 minutes (NO LONGER) and they should be loosened up enough to get out.
In keeping with the theme of not wasting some good produce; during this time of waiting for our baby, I don't want to waste my time. Until we are matched (Matched means a birth mother has selected us to parent her child and we will be over the moon!), and yet again until we have Little Landmark, I want to prepare for our new life in as many ways as I can. Lord willing, getting a baby this fall or winter means we will have a 6 month old before my garden is ready again next year and as different produce is ready that our baby can eat, I want to process it and save me a load of time next spring!
I also don't want to waste my time with my Farmer. (a.k.a. David, honey, lover, sweets, hubs, the hubs, my betrothed, husband, ect). Our marriage is the only reason we have been lead to the road of adoption! He is a God fearing, God loving, Christa loving man and without those key elements and his desire to follow God, infertility could have lead us down a path of brokenness instead of a path of joy, promise, and a future. Therefore, (I'm finally getting to my point) I want to treat all the time I'm able to spend with with as precious and I want to nurture our marriage to be stronger, better, and more Christ-centered so when we finally meet and bring home Little Landmark we are EVEN MORE ready than we feel now.
I try to remember this when I am tired of waiting. When my arms ache for Little Landmark. God's timing is perfect, and so is His plan for our life. I want to feel that in my soul.
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