Ingredients

• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
Tools needed:
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• 3 bowls for your prepared veggies
• Pot of boiling water
• Bowl of cold water and ice
• Colander and slotted spoon/scoop
• Cookie sheet or plate
• Food Saver System or Freezer style Ziploc bags and a straw

Instructions

1. Fill a pot half way or just over half with water. Place on stove and get the water boiling while preparing your veggies.
2. Peel your carrots and cut into slices. I think mine were about 1/8th to 1/4 inch thick. (You don't want them paper thin or too thick) I happen to have a crinkle cutter so I used that on my carrots. You can use a regular knife. No need to get fancy. Set aside in a bowl.
3. Wash your cauliflower and broccoli and cut into pieces. I used more of the florets then I did the stems. Set each aside in a bowl of their own.
4. Once your water is boiling add a combination of how many carrots, cauliflower and broccoli you want in your pack of veggies.
5. Boil for 4 minutes. This is blanching your vegetables and helping preserve them for freezer. You will notice that your broccoli will turn a pretty green in color. The carrots will sink to the bottom of your pot.
6. DO NOT OVER COOK YOUR VEGETABLES! They will become too soft and mushy.
7. Scoop out your veggies and place them in the bowl of cold water and ice. Doing this will stop the veggies from cooking and allow them to stay crisp.
8. Leave them in the ice water for 4 minutes. A trick I have learned from canning and vacuum packing is that however long you blanched your veggies in the boiling water, to leave them that long in the ice water.
9. Remove from the water and pat your veggies with a towel. You want to remove as much water as you can before putting your veggies up for the freezer.
10. Lay your veggie mix on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 30 minutes, (It was COLD {below freezing} here when I made my packs up so instead of putting them in the freezer, I took my cookie sheets outside and placed them on a table I had on my front porch and let them set out there for 30 minutes. If my neighbors were watching me, they all probably think I lost my marbles!)
11. Once your veggies had a chance to dry out and freeze a bit in the freezer, take them out and bag them. If you have a Food Saver process your bags like normal. If you don't have a Food Saver, fill your Ziploc freezer bags with the amount of veggies you want. Start to zip the bag closed but before you close it all the way, insert the straw and suck out as much of the air as you can then finish zipping it shut. The less air in the bags means less of a chance for freezer burn and water crystals to build up on your veggies.
12. You are now set to place them back in the freezer and have some beautiful packs of veggies await the time that you use them with a meal.