Freezing Celery and Onions

I hate to buy a whole package of celery and only use one or two pieces.  The following sounds great and quite easy to do, freezing for a month or two and freezing for up to a year!

Step 1: Wash and dry your celery well.

Step 2: Chop into the desired size and shape. I like to cut my celery into the size I most often use for soup or stir-fry recipes so I don’t have to try to cut it later.

Step 3: Place the celery in a single layer on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer. This step prevents the pieces of celery from freezing together in clusters.

Step 4: Once frozen solid (usually 2-3 hours), transfer the celery to a freezer safe container to use within a month or two.

If you want to have your frozen celery good for up to a year, you will need to do a quick blanch on them. To do this, place slice celery in boiling water for 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Then follow the above steps for freezing it. Blanched celery will last for up to 12 months in the freezer.

Freezing Onions is practically the same:

Here are some tips for freezing fresh onions:

• Prepare the onions

  Peel, remove any brown or mushy spots, and chop or slice the onions. You can also dice them in a food processor.
• Blanch

  If you're freezing whole onion bulbs, you should blanch them first. Blanching time depends on the size of the onion, but should be long enough to heat the entire bulb, from the outside in. Small onions should blanch for three minutes, while larger onions should blanch for seven minutes.
• Freeze

  You can use one of two methods to freeze the onions:

  • Dry pack: Place the onions in freezer bags, removing as much air as possible. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet or metal pan in the freezer until frozen, then stack them to save space.
  • Tray pack: Freeze the onions in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with sides for about an hour, or until frozen. Then, transfer them to freezer bags, removing as much air as possible.
• Store

  Frozen raw onions can last up to eight months, while cooked onions can last up to 12 months. Store them in an airtight container, freezer bag, or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil