We all have different priorities. Some of us hate cooking but love health, so we choose to spend more money on healthier convenience foods. Some of us love baking but hate the taste of alternative sweeteners, so we bake everything from scratch but use white processed sugar. Some of us love canning, but hate gardening, so we buy produce in bulk instead. We all have different preferences, different skill sets, and varied amounts of time to devote to things like cooking and preserving.
Earlier this week in a guest post, I talked about how I’ve learned to feed my little family local produce on a smaller budget thanks to produce seconds, buying in bulk, and being a consistent customer at one small produce stand.
When I do these things, we usually end up with a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables than we can eat before they start to go bad. So I try to preserve a lot of it, stocking up for the coming weeks when we won’t have peaches and tomatoes available locally.
After researching different methods of preserving produce, I decided that freezing was the easiest and most frugal way to go for us. It doesn’t require purchasing many supplies (you can do it with only freezer bags and a cookie sheet), the fruit and veggies retain a lot of their nutrients, and it’s an easy, simple process for even a beginner cook.
At one point, I decided that if we ended up with more produce than I could fit in my freezer, I would learn how to can things. However, that hasn’t happened yet, so for right now freezing works great for us.
Not all fruits and vegetables handle freezing very well, so between my research and my experience, I’ve made a list of fruits and vegetables that I regularly freeze and how I freeze them.
Most of these are summer finds, but some of them are simply veggies I have on hand all year around.
1. Tomatoes
After washing the tomatoes, I cut out the base of the stem and any bruised parts. Then I freeze them on a cookie sheet balanced precariously in the freezer. After a few hours, I place them in a freezer bag and stash them back in the freezer. This method is called flash freezing.
I use these for dishes like tomato soup, chili, etc., after allowing them to thaw enough for me to easily chop them. I’ve found that since most of these recipes call for canned tomatoes, it helps to cook the flash-frozen ones a little longer.
2. Peppers
Coarsely chopped and flash frozen like the tomatoes, I use them in chili, as topping on pizza, and in other dishes that use cooked peppers.
3. Zucchini & Summer Squash
I shred these with a cheese grater and toss them in a freezer bag that lays flat in the my freezer. The shreds will stick together, but if the bag is lying horizontally it won’t be too thick to break off chunks to thaw.
I use squash for zucchini bread or soup, chili, sloppy joes, or any other one-pot meal that it might taste good in.
4. Corn
This gets lightly steamed, then cut off of the cob (standing the cob up on end and cutting down toward the cutting board) and packed in a freezer bag.
5. Peaches
These are pitted, coarsely chopped, and flash frozen like the tomatoes and peppers before being stored in a freezer bag. I usually use these for smoothies, but they’re also baked in cobbler or pureed and used in muffins (my mom’s idea).
6. Berries
This is a classic. Strawberries are usually chopped and flash frozen, while other varieties are simply placed straight into the freezer bag.
7. Onions & Celery
Chopped and frozen in a freezer bag. Leaves and other parts that are usually discarded get packed in another bag and used for making stock or broth (see number 10).
8. Cantaloupe
Chopped, pureed, frozen in a bag, and used in Sunshine Bread.
9. Greens
I steam green leafy things (spinach, kale, swiss chard, etc.), then puree them in the blender with water, freeze it in ice cube trays, and then pop them into freezer bags. I use these in smoothies, soups, chili, etc. These little guys add a little bit more veggies, but don’t mess with the flavor of the dishes too much.
10. Leftovers, Stems, Etc.
The onions and celery, other things get used in stock – like kale stems, carrots peels, etc.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
These are some of the more simple methods of preserving produce, but I know there are many more. What do you do?
Cheers,
8 comments
Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy
09/09/2011 at 5:53 AM (UTC -6)
Great idea about freezing tomatoes! I’ve never done that, but since almost the only thing I ever do with them is make tomato sauce or soup, I think it would work very well. I can’t freeze too much because I have a super small freezer, but I freeze what I can. And canning is really very easy, and you don’t have to have a lot of equipment, but the equipment helps. I just recently got my first real canning pot, and I’m so excited to use it instead of my stock pot:)
Steph
09/09/2011 at 5:56 PM (UTC -6)
Anne – Woo hoo! That’s great. I’ve heard canning is pretty easy, but I guess it’s a new realm of the kitchen I’ve never ventured into by myself. I’m sure I’ll try it out one of these days!
Barefeet In The Kitchen
09/10/2011 at 7:07 PM (UTC -6)
These are great tips, Steph. I’m all about freezing produce anytime I can get a great deal on it.
(Side note: I had the chance to work full time from home for a couple weeks and the month just ran away from me! I haven’t checked my reader or read many blogs at all in the past few weeks. I’m finally getting back to the real world and you should see something in the mail this week!!)
Steph
09/11/2011 at 7:28 AM (UTC -6)
Barefeet – oooh! I’m excited!!!
Jess @ The Budding Budget Foodie
09/10/2011 at 8:00 PM (UTC -6)
Thanks for the run-down of what/how you freeze produce! I’ve been trying to do this myself, so this info really helps. Any ideas on freezing carrots? ps- LOVE the idea for the greeny ice cubes! Sounds like a great way to sneak in extra nutrients
Steph
09/11/2011 at 7:30 AM (UTC -6)
Jess – I know with carrots you have to cook them real quick. I haven’t bothered freezing them yet since we eat them pretty regularly. However, I do make a sweet potato and carrot puree that I’ve used both for baby food, and as a nutrient boost tossed into things like pizza pr spaghetti sauce (inspired by The Sneaky Chef) and even oatmeal!
Peaches
10/27/2011 at 9:28 AM (UTC -6)
I grate carrrots before freezing them in 1 or 2 cup bags, which is what most recipes use. I like the looks for soups. I find that most carrots frozen in chunks go kind of rubbery.
Steph
10/27/2011 at 11:31 AM (UTC -6)
Peaches – Good tip on grating them! I think when freezing whole carrots, you’re supposed to blanch them, so I’ve never bothered. But next time I need to preserve some, I might try running them through the food processor to grate them! Thanks.