Learning to Love Vegetables

In an attempt to eat healthier, my family bought lots of vegetables.  The problem with fresh vegetables is that they go bad before we eat all of them.  Celery turns into a science experiment in my refrigerator.  Solution:  freeze them.
To save time and energy after a long day, we decided to chop the vegetables before freezing them.  My husband and I like to cook and are fairly handy in the kitchen.  We cleared off the table, got super organized and decided to pre-mix the veggies for various "staple meals" in our house.

Bag 1:  celery, bell pepper, onion
-This is a good base mix.  Most casserole-type recipes start with this "trinity."
Bag 2:  cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots

-My kids love when I saute these in a little butter or evoo, salt, and mild spices that match the rest of the meal.  These veggies cook well together because they need to be steamed.  When working with frozen vegetables, ice forms in the ziploc bag.  This creates a good amount of steam for the vegetables.  Saute, cover, and steam.
Bag 3:  Stir Fry Mix
- red bell peppers, snap peas, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, onion
Bag 4:  carrots, onion, bell pepper, celery
Bag 5:  zucchini and squash

These have been used almost every night for the past week.  I highly recommend these to anyone who is too tired on the week nights to think about what vegetables should be prepped for that night's meal.  The work is already done.  Just throw it is a skillet and enjoy.

Oh.  One more thing... I love garlic, but don't add it to your prepped vegetable bags.  Garlic does not take as long to cook.  If you cook it too long, it will burn and turn bitter.  Mince your garlic and add it a few minutes after starting the other vegetables.