Tuesday, July 28, 2015

From Field to Freezer: My first time experiences in freezing fresh corn + How to Steps!

It's hot and humid here in Indiana and produce its growing like crazy! Last year I took a dip into the canning world by canning my own green beans that were fresh out of my Grandma's garden. The idea of serving my family fresh food that I had canned gave me a sense of pride as a wife and mother in knowing that I knew exactly where those green beans had came from! This year I decided to jump on the bandwagon of freezing corn! (Fun fact about me: I do not eat green beans or corn!) My grandparents freeze corn every year and this year was going to be like any other so I jumped on the opportunity for them to teach me their techniques so I can start my own yearly tradition! Last night was the night! I bought 3 dozen ears of corn from some of our family friends and headed to Mamaw and Papaws with both kiddos! 

This is how my oldest stayed entertained!


Here is the step by step method I learned:

1. Shuck the corn. We took all the husk and hairs off the cob being sure to cut off any bad or rotten parts of the corn.


2. Boiled the cobs using a large outside deep fryer filled with water. Once the cobs came to a boil, we boiled the batch for 3 minutes. (It's a messy job, we did everything outside on the back porch!)

3. Using the blanching method we removed the corn and put it directly into ice water that we had in coolers until the corn cobs were cool.

4. Once cooled, we removed the corn from the cooler and took the corn off the cob using tools like this...




5. After we had blanched all the corn and cut it off the cob. We added the ingredients and began bagging. Below is the receipt we used.

2 cups corn
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup of water (we used the water from the fryer that we had boiled the corn in to add more flavor.)

6. After we combined the ingredients we put them in a quart size freezer bag, sealed the bag, and flattened it out for freezing! (Since I do not eat corn, leaving only my husband and 1 year old to share the bag, I did smaller bags and put a little more than half of each batch in each bag so that we don't waste any!) 



7. Done deal! Stack in the freezer to freeze! Don't forget to put date your bags!;)

Over all it was a fun experience and the best part of it all was making memories that will last a lifetime with my grandparents and learning new traditions that I can someday pass to my littles! If you have thought about canning or freezing your own foods but are like me and just not sure it's worth the hassel, I'm here to tell you it is a lot of work and a messy job but the reward is so much more! I encourage you to try it at least just once! And maybe some day I will be brave enough to put out my very own garden...probably once my littles are big enough to help!! Hehe! 

Enjoy your day!
Ashley




Monday, July 13, 2015

My New Life With A Toddler & Newborn

On June 17th, 2015 we welcomed the fourth and possibly final member of the Bohall family into this world. A beautiful baby girl, Eleanor Reid Bohall. 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long with a head full of dark hair<3 

Our family feels so complete with this special tiny addition! 

Our sweet Sawyer is in love with his new baby sister! The love they share fills my heart with more joy than you can even begin to imagine!

Now that we are just shy of her forth week here, life as we know it has surely changed! Being home with a toddler and newborn has its challenges (as you see I'm just now writing this post almost FOUR weeks after her birth!) for sure but being able to spend my ever waking day with two of the greatest accomplishments I have ever made, make my heart explode inside! In one of my previous post, I questioned how it would be possible to love another baby as I love Sawyer and I'm here to tell ya'll your heart grows just like everyone says it will! It's unexplainable! 

They say a pictures worth a thousand words so here is a glimpse into our new life as a family of four!















These two bring us more joy than we could have ever imagined! I can't wait to continue watching them grow up!

Xoxo-
Ashley