How to freeze carrots {my simple tutorial}

On Tuesday, I peeled, chopped, and blanched 3.5 pounds of carrots. Oh yes, it was fun! :)

I have gotten carrots for free recently at Walmart with $2/2 Earthbound Farms coupon (on Recycle Bank) and the $1/1 Earthbound Farm printable coupon (this one was printing again earlier this week). While we do eat carrots regularly, it's just the two of us now, so we'd never eat all of those carrots.

We only have a small over-the-door freezer in our two bedroom condo now, so understand that I do not have a lot of freezer space. By packing the freezer very strategically and creatively, I am able to freeze plenty of food for the two of us.

However, I do not recommend that you come over and try to find anything in my freezer. It's very likely that items will fall on your toes. We've had a few near misses. Leave the "search and find" missions to me!

Lest you think I am some sort of expert when it comes to freezing vegetables, let me assure you that I am not. I used these directions to help me freeze my carrots.

Here's a short tutorial about how I froze 3.5 pounds of carrots on Tuesday:

Step 1: Peel all of your carrots.

Step 2: Chop all of your carrots (I cut mine like coins). As the original directions state, you can cut them how you want, but keep in mind that you will need to adjust the times later for blanching if you do that.

A small, cute dog is not necessary when freezing carrots, but it helps. He is very good at picking up chomping down on the carrot pieces that you fling on the floor while you're furiously chopping carrots.

Step 3: Blanch your carrots. I did mine in two separate batches, so 1.75 pounds (approx.) each time. For diced carrots (like coins), you will blanch for only two minutes.

How to "blanch:" Once your water is at a rolling boil, add your carrots. Begin counting your time as soon as you put the carrots in. After the carrots are in the boiling water for two minutes, you will move to Step 4.

Step 4: Cool your carrots.

Drain your carrots out of the boiling water (I used a colander in the sink for this). Then put your carrots in a bowl of ice water. Leave your carrots in the cold water for the same amount of time that you blanched them (so in my case, my carrots were in the cold water for two minutes).

Step 5: Allow your carrots to dry before packing them up for the freezer. If they're dry, they won't be so likely to stick together in the freezer bag. After they have dried for 10-15 minutes, you can put them in freezer bags. If you have a vacuum sealing machine, you could use that, too.

*Word of warning about vacuum sealing the carrots: I tried this...and it backfired on me. Carrots are too juicy to freeze as is. It should work better if you "flash freeze" the carrots for a bit before vacuum sealing them.