Reading and Freezing Lists

Lists, lists and more lists. Lately my lists have been in disorder... again. Hoping to restore some order today while I do some laundry, follow up on some correspondences, take care of the needs of the little people, work on home projects and you know on and on. The two main items on my my mind the most are books I hope to read and fruits and veggies that I plan on freezing this week. I know two completely unrelated topics but both require my attention.

Luckily I have been doing quite bit of reading during breakfast, while waiting at an activity and before bed (that's only for a few minutes zzz...). I have been on the look out for more books at the thrift stores and getting some good books my friend recommends. Here's what's new to my library.

Back When We Were Grownups By Anne Tyler

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

Paper Daughter by M. Elaine Mar This book looks interesting.

Searching for Caleb by Anne Tyler

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
To Kill A Mockingbird (from my birthday) My favorite book growing up.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

Leaving Cold Sassy by Olive Ann Burns

I have to admit I have had lots of freezer thoughts lately. With all the produce in my kitchen they are mostly destined for the the freezer to be enjoyed later.

• A friend and I recently disovered that bananas can be frozen. Yes! There 3 spotty bananas just sitting there that won't last another day. So I sliced and placed them on a cook sheet and into the freezer they went. After they froze I put them in bag to be used later for smoothies or if needed a baking recipe


• We have a large quantity of apples waiting for us. So far I have made couple of batches of applesauce and fruit sauce and froze them in containers. The fruit sauce is a mixture of sliced apples, strawberries, some blueberries and raspberries. It can be any any combination I'm thinking for next time maybe apple, peach, and strawberry for another batch. I'm not much of a canner so this is all going to be frozen.


• Apple crisps and apple pies are a family favorite and I had actually considered freezing some pies but just can't wrap my brain around it. I googled something and came across these comments where people just freeze the filling. The individual would use a tin foil pie plate put saran wrap on it, then pour the apple pie filling and freeze. Once it was frozen the pie filling is a solid piece frozen piece and would go into a freezer bag. :)) They stack nicely and don't take up as much room as a pie. I thought brilliant I need to give that a try.


• Well that idea led me to conversation with my friend Lucy (she's my baker buddy) about freezing filling for apple turnovers. We were thinking of freezing small amounts of apple filling for turnovers in muffin tins. Once they are frozen pop them out and put them in bags. We haven't tried this yet but I'm hoping it will work. I don't know if I need to spray the muffin tin or saran wrap it. If anyone has any recommendations I'd love to know.


• The last item on my freezing list I just picked up yesterday at my mom's house are green peppers. My brother said that my mom was going to stuff them and freeze them. I immediately thought I've got to try that! This is my plan today steam peppers for 5 minutes and let them cool down. Sometime later today make my turkey burger recipe. Once the turkey burger cool down mash them a little and stuff the peppers. Line the peppers on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once they are frozen into the bag they go. A future frozen meal ready.

Ok that's a lot of freezer talk and I hope I'm not being too overzealous today. I'm hoping to have a lot of helpers. We'll see how progress goes.

I also want to thank everyone for your wonderful comments about the art studio. We all enjoyed reading them. Thank you :))