Hi Annie - you mentioned that you freeze the enchilada sauce without the cream. I made some chicken and wild rice soup a couple weeks ago that contains heavy cream and froze a couple quarts of it. Is there a reason that foods with cream shouldn't be frozen? I didn't much care for the soup anyway so not a big deal if I need to toss it.

Thanks Annie. Yea, I was thinking that the wide mouth canning jars would probably be okay for the green beans. I like to steam cook them frozen, and I wasn't sure they would come out of the jar very easily. Have you ever frozen green beans in those jars? The jars would sure take up more space than the plastic bags....but I'm trying to do the right thing.

Jack, I tried freezing it with the cream added but it separated and it only has a tablespoon of cream so it confuses me a bit. Dairy products sometimes don't freeze well as the texture can suffer but that small amount shouldn't be a problem. It still tasted fine, but wasn't as "pretty". I think maybe the various vegetables just have too much liquid and the freezing breaks that down, making the sauce watery. Maybe the tomatillos are too juicy, I don't know. It separates without the cream too, but I can just thaw it, give the jar a good shake and it smooths back into a sauce, then I can stir the cream in. Truthfully, sometimes I don't have cream and I just leave it out but it's better with it in. Sorry about your soup, though. I do know that things like cheese thaw better in the refrigerator, that helps the texture.

Catherinet, I have never frozen green beans in the jars because I'm one of those odd people who actually like green beans better canned. I have found that using stackable baskets in my freezer helps with keeping the jars "corralled", I have a chest type freezer and things can migrate to the bottom in no time.

Annie

My suggestion is to use different plastic. I like the square freezer containers. They come in different sizes. The new ones are bpa free. I still do not thaw in the microwave or cook in them. You wash and reuse,

Food Saver bags are bpa free. Ziplocks are NOT and I will be getting rid of them. I, for sure, will not reuse them anymore.. The longer you reuse the more they shed.

The glass canning jars, the lids still contain plastic as well as freezer paper.

I already have hundreds of canning jars with rings and I can reuse the flats for freezing when I can't reuse them for canning. I will not go out and buy more containers when I can just use the ones I have. I'm assuming that Catherine is in a similar position but I really shouldn't assume that just because she posts on "Harvest".

Now, if you have to go buy canning jars to freeze things then you can decide whether to spend that money on jars that you can use for canning and freezing as well as storage of dehydrated food items, or you can spend more money on more plastic. It depends on what you want to store and how often you would use the respective containers.

I can't/won't get away from all plastic food storage because I raise beef and that comes from the processor all vacuum packaged in plastic. It's far better and retains freshness much better than the old white freezer paper and tape, so there is plastic in my freezer too.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with a couple dozen of those old freezer boxes that I used when I cooked for Mother. They never worked very well, everything got iced up and sometimes the lids came off and leaked. My granddaughters took some to store beads in, but I still have more. I guess I could fill some with water and use them as ice blocks for the cooler...

Annie

Thanks everyone. I guess I should have said why I'm avoiding plastics. It's because of plastics effects on the planet/seas, etc. And now there's the plastics that get into the brain. I did change to the hard plastic containers that are BPA free and (hopefully) recyclable. I guess that would be an option for the frozen beans, rather than the plastic bags I'm using now. It's really hard to care about the effects of things, when those are the most available and least expensive.........but for me, the earth comes first. But it can definitely be a challenge. Thanks for all your input!

Just leave a good two inches of headspace so your jar doesn't pull a "pipe bomb" stunt in the freezer. Wide-mouth Kerr or Ball jars are the gold standard for this because they won't hold your beans hostage when you're ready to cook. If you're worried about the weight just think of it as a free forearm workout every time you want a side dish.