If it has frost in the bags, then there are several issues. 1. A self-frosting freezer is much harder on food storage and the life of whatever you freeze is shorter. 2. The packaging isn't sufficiently airtight. As far as the food is concerned, it's totally up to you whether it's salvageable or not. In most cases when it's severely frosted and/or freezer-burned it's lost nutrition, texture and taste. But sometimes foods can be used or "disguised" if you want to give it a try. For example, blueberries in smoothies, winter squash in breads or soups, zucchini and cabbage in soups. There are no food safety issues so you get to assess the palatibility. Carol

I didn't think zucchini or summer squash plants split off but I think they are capable of putting down more roots. Maybe that's what happened. Blaketaylor, I'm sorry about your plants. Do you know what happened? My first 3 plants were started indoors but got touched by that late frost in May then stressed by the long cold spell. I always use fish emulsion when I transplant and use it if a plant looks like it's ailing. After mixing it up I pour the mix all over the foliage, not just around the base and roots. The plants looked so bad I decided to plant 6 more hills, 3 each of two different varieties. Eventually, the sick plants got healthy and all plants started producing at the same time. Last weekend I shredded a large zucchini in my food processor then made a recipe. I put the rest of the shredded zucchini in the frig. It has kept nicely and doesn't take long to mix a batch of cookies or muffins in the morning while it's still cool. Borrowed my DIL's mandolin so I can try a refrigerator pickle recipe and a summer squash and potato gratin. BTW my vegetable beds are a combination of lasagna gardenings and square foot. I am very happy with the lasagna method since it made it much easier to start a veggie bed on old sod. You don't have to remove any grass. I think the loose texture of the soil and the higher level of dirt compared to grassy paths has helped make my garden healthier than some neighbors during the awful cold, rainy spell we had. I know people who just gave up. We had areas of the yard with long standing puddles (also have a high water table). I thought I would have trouble this year because last fall we topped the two new beds with a thick layer of fresh from the barn steere manure. In spring it was hard and hadn't composted well. Since I planned winter squash in one and zucchini and tomato plants in the other, I decide to just dig a shallow hole, add some better compost so the seeds could get a start. Things have done well. I did not use a lot of compost or lasagna method in the beds by our kitchen porch. I don't like the soil texture at all. It seems packed down. I plan to add grass clippings, etc this fall to improve the texture.

Here is another idea for you. I made these a couple of months ago and will probably make them again soon. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Stuffed Zucchini ================ Hollow out Zucchini. Saute onions and garlic, add the ground pork, the inside of the zucchini, Arborio rice, season with dill, parsley, lemon zest, seeded and chopped tomatoes and chicken broth. Cover and simmer until the rice is almost cooked and the broth reduced. Stuff the zucchini. Place stuffed zucchini in a pan with a little chicken broth, cover and simmer until the zucchini is tender. Avgolemono Sauce Rather than make the traditional Avgolemono sauce enriched with eggs, I make a sauce using: 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour 3 cups of chicken broth Salt Pepper Juice of one lemon Lemon zest optional Make a roux using the butter and flour. Add the chicken broth and when the sauce is cooked add the juice of one lemon and the zest if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve over the cabbage rolls.

I seldom stuff zucchini, although sometimes I slice them thinly and roast them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Elery did make some stuffed with cheese, tomatoes and bread crumbs. Everything Elery makes is stuffed/sprinkled/rolled/grilled with cheese, LOL. My favorite recipe needs fresh tomatoes too, so if you have those, you're good to go. And it does take some cheese. (grin) Gratin of Zucchini and Tomatoes (Eating Well) 3 cloves garlic, crushed ⅔ cup fresh basil leaves 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 2 cups fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs, (see Tip), divided ½ cup finely chopped sweet onion, such as Vidalia 3 large ripe tomatoes, diced 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar ¼ teaspoon salt, divided 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 3 medium zucchini, (about 1¾ pounds total), sliced on the bias about ¼ inch thick Freshly ground pepper, to taste ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions 1Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (or similar gratin dish) with cooking spray. 2Place garlic, basil and thyme on your chopping board; mince well. Spread half the breadcrumbs evenly in the prepared baking dish. Strew onion over the breadcrumbs. Distribute half the diced tomato over the onion, then sprinkle with half the garlic-herb mixture. Sprinkle with vinegar and ⅛ teaspoon salt. 3Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a third of the zucchini; you want it to saute, not stew, so don't crowd it. Saute, turning the pieces once, until golden and not quite tender, 1 to 1½ minutes per side. When the slices are done, use a fork to transfer them to the gratin, overlapping the slices. Cook the remaining zucchini in two batches, each time using 2 teaspoons oil. Strew the remaining tomatoes and garlic-herb mixture over the zucchini. Season with the remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt and a grinding of pepper. Toss the remaining 1 cup breadcrumbs with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle over the gratin. 4Bake the gratin until bubbly hot, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with Parmesan. Annie