[cloddopper]

 I too have a wrecked back  plus an arm and a knackered knee & could not reach deep into the chest freezer, .  So I filled the first foot or so of the floor of our deep ice cream , lollipop chest freezer with rigid polystyrene slabs  to take up space and fill in the difference in height at the motor area.
 This means our chest freezer working cavity capacity is now only 400 mm deep 600 x 1200 ,, .
Being a an ex commercial freezer it has two thermal efficient sliding glass panels for the lid arrangement instead of a lift up  lid , that helps stop air currents warming things when the top is opened
 
 I vac pack & heat seal then freeze a lot of food in 3 person packs for Alison .
having set it up & using it like this  has meant that the free solar power is put to good use as I've turned the temp setting down to minus 23 oC and put the freezer on a time clock set for the best daylight generating hrs ie 10.00 to 15.00 hrs   .

[Rupert the bear]

If you start to factor in costs of electricity to blanche and freeze or even costs of seals and boiling etc then for one or two people it's hardly worth the bother apart from 'a good feeling'

"a good feeling" tastes better because it is better

[darkbrowneggs]

I used to use courgettes instead of aubergines in Moussaka and instead of pasta in Lasagne.  Made in huge batches in my biggest Aga oven pan.  Cut into squares and freeze in individual lidded freezer boxes.  Easy to warm either in the Aga oven or a pan on top, or (didn't have on then) microwave.

[devonlady]

Especially for Herdygirl, A recipe for bloody courgettes without bloody garlic!

        Courgette pie
Pastry  225g plain flour
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
water
Put flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. add the oil and stir well with fingertips until well mixed, add water until dough is soft, not sticky.Do not knead, cut in half.
Filling
450g courgettes
1 lge onion, finely chopped
1 egg beaten
100g strong cheese
Roll out half pastry and line a well buttered 20cm pie dish.Fill with grated courgettes, onion, beaten egg and cheese (you could put cream in as well) Cover with remaining pastry and prick with a fork.
Cook at 200c for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves 2 greedy guts or 3 moderate eaters.

[Womble]

Any recipes for bloody courgettes without bloody garlic?

I don't think there's a 'without bloody garlic' section Herdygirl, but I recommend this book even just for a laugh (think of her poor family when she was writing that one!):

[Fleecewife]

I freeze lots of produce although not courgettes (most of mine turn into marrows anyway) - things such as fruit (after I've made more than enough jams and chutneys to last us at least two years - we now have no more beds to store jars under  ) and beans.  My biggest problem, especially with frozen fruit, is that I forget to eat it and it gets less and less tasty as the years go by.  Last year I left any spare for the birds, unpicked on the bushes.  Fruit is so prolific.
I tend to have loads of ideas for using up all the stored stuff whilst I'm preparing it for storage, but it just doesn't happen once the winter comes.  What a waste of growing and produce 
My Mum used to store loads of fruit in Kilner Jars, then line them all up in a cool pantry.  because we could see them all the time, they were always used up.  Buried in a freezer under layers of hogget and kippers, so much gets lost.

[pgkevet]

pickled french beans - easy winter side dish and perfect with a schnitzel and spud salad come spring. Don't forget that 'proper' spud salad includes capers..

[Caroline1]

I have just diced courgette in a bolognaise mix and then used it for lasagne and also layered it with sliced courgette as well. Uses up a lot of courgette without tasting just of courgette  Can't wait for tea.

[Herdygirl]

Any recipes for bloody courgettes without bloody garlic?

I don't think there's a 'without bloody garlic' section Herdygirl, but I recommend this book even just for a laugh (think of her poor family when she was writing that one!):


 
Thanks Womble that looks like a good read 

Especially for Herdygirl, A recipe for bloody courgettes without bloody garlic!

        Courgette pie
Pastry  225g plain flour
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
water
Put flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. add the oil and stir well with fingertips until well mixed, add water until dough is soft, not sticky.Do not knead, cut in half.
Filling
450g courgettes
1 lge onion, finely chopped
1 egg beaten
100g strong cheese
Roll out half pastry and line a well buttered 20cm pie dish.Fill with grated courgettes, onion, beaten egg and cheese (you could put cream in as well) Cover with remaining pastry and prick with a fork.
Cook at 200c for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves 2 greedy guts or 3 moderate eaters.

Thanks Devonlady you are so kind 
might give that a try, only prob is I can't see the point of eating courgettes either! no taste at all but the OH might be tempted as it has cheese in the recipe, he will eat anything with cheese

[Lesley Silvester]

I too have that book. It's great.

[devonlady]

Herdygirl, I just knew you were going to say you don't care for courgettes either (you'll have to imagine a grin here, I can't get the emoti-thingys up since Microsoft made important changes!)
Come the end of May my mouth waters at the thought of the first courgette! Gently steamed and eaten on it's own.

[Herdygirl]

The one thing I long for is the first home tomato, on a sandwich with salt.   
And I just knew, that you knew that I didn't care for courgettes even though kind people give me loads of the things each year cos they cannot understand why I don't grow them? (blindingly obvious to me).
 
I have given your recipe to my lovely stepdaughter who loves them, so it wasn't wasted