How to Blanch your Green Beans for Freezing

Why blanch?  All fruits and vegetables contain enzymes and bacteria that, over time, break down and destroy nutrients and change the color, flavor, and texture of food during frozen storage. green beans require a brief heat treatment, called blanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroy the enzymes before freezing. Blanching times for beans is 3 minutes (the duration should be just long enough to stop the action of the enzymes and kill the bacteria).
The great thing about blanching your beans is that you can freeze them and eat fresh tasting green beans all winter long.
First get some green beans.  Mine came from my garden but you could use store bought.  Refrigerate them if you aren't going to use or freeze  them immediately.  Don't wash them until you are ready to use them.

 Wash them off.

Cut off the ends

Then cut them to whatever  size fits your fancy.

Boil a pot of water and them drop them in.  Boil about 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the beans.

Pour off hot water and put them immediately into ice cold water.  My pictures of the beans in ice water (yes put ice in the water) didn't turn out but I'm sure you can picture it.  Keep the beans in the ice water for the same amount of time that they were boiled.  So in my case 3  minutes.

Then I pour off the ice water and dry the beans off on paper towels.

Then put them into labeled freezer bags and freeze making sure to lay them flat until frozen. The get all clumped together if you don't. If you have a food saver that would be awesome to use.  I don't so I just use freezer bags.