Freezing tip: If something is frozen at the peak of freshness, rather than right before it goes bad, it will freeze better and taste better when thawed. Yes, this sounds like common sense. However, putting it into practice is harder than it sounds. I've made it a priority. I want my fruits and veggies to come out tasting fabulous, never hum-drum.
Today I'll give a little tour through my deep freeze. But before I show you what's in my deep freeze, allow me to tell you what's in my top o' the fridge freezer. Aside from the store bought, easy foods, I also have a pot pie, shepherd's pie filling, and two kinds of breakfast burritos. I made two pot pies and shepherd's pie--we ate one and froze one. Then I made forty breakfast burritos (20 ham & cheese and 20 sausage & cheese). I thought they'd make a good breakfast for my hubby when he has to be at work by 6 (yes, am). They just need to be microwaved for a few minutes, and they're good to go.
Now, on with the tour. The first item in my freezer are frozen grapes. My mom gave me this idea (the white stuff's sugar). Once they're frozen through, they'll go into a freezer bag until time to eat them.
On the next shelf down, we have frozen peaches and berries. Again, once the berries are frozen through, they will go into freezer bags. A friend told me recently that if you put parchment paper down on the baking sheets the berries don't stick AT ALL. I fully intend to try that next time!
On the inside of the door is peach butter (like apple butter but made with peaches). I'm pretty excited to try this! By the way, these little jars are made by Ball for canners who are also interested in freezing. Woo hoo for this piece of brilliance!
On the shelf below the berries live my breads. I have five batches of breadknots and a loaf of zucchini bread. Soon to live on this shelf are rolls and mashed potatoes!
Here are a couple of close-ups of my berries--black and blue from the farmer's market.
I've been measuring these into freezer bags in one cup increments to use for smoothies.
We've been on a smoothie kick for about a week and a half now. Here's the basic recipe:Put the following into a blender:
1 C berries
1 banana, sliced and frozen
3/4 C apple juice
1 individual container of yogurt
Blend until smooth.
These are really good, and they're good for us. The berries can be whichever variety you prefer: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, mixed, whatever really.
Lingering thought of the day: I will never, ever, ever get behind on laundry again. Playing catch up is no fun. I refuse to let it go this long ever again!
