EASY FREEZE RECIPE READY VEGGIES!! NO MORE CASH IN THE TRASH!!

A couple years ago I posted a video on how to freeze and save green onions or scallions from the trash. Seeing as how I always was tossing them because we didn't use them quickly enough. Well that video really resonated with people and as a result is one of my most popular videos. I have received a lot of questions on that video. Mostly, what else can easily be frozen and used in recipes. Today I am addressing these questions and hopefully you will be inspired to freeze some of those veggies and keep them from the trash. Prolonging their useability and saving you money at the same time!

Today we are focusing on celery, bell peppers, onions and fresh spinach. These items freeze very well after just washing and chopping. I have cut my veggies in the way I would use them the most. Sliced celery, cut the peppers into sticks or "julianne" and fine diced the onions. These three veggies I would use in my chicken and sausage gumbo or in my chicken lettuce wraps or in any number of recipes. This is also a great way to have onion and bell pepper on hand for making eggs or your favorite wester omelette. Just toss those in a skillet with a little butter and you're good to go!

I would like to emphasize that this method is meant to preserve the vegetables for later use in hot or cooked applications. They are never going to eat like a fresh vegetable because the freezing process is going to break down the cellular structure of the vegetable and make them go soft. But they are still useful and flavorful for things like soups stews and stir fry. A great way to bulk up the veggie content in things like chili, spaghetti meat sauce and sloppy joes.

The process is simple. Wash your vegetables. Chop or cut in the way you like best and then pop into a zip lock bag, sealed with all the air removed or in an airtight container with a tight fitting lid such as a plastic keeper of some sort or even a mason jar. I am putting mine in freezer bags and then placing them in a larger airtight container in an effort to help my freezer from smelling and tasting like onions and peppers. Once these are frozen you can just break them up and take out what you need.

In the alternative you can "pre-freeze" the vegetables by laying them out in a single layer on a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer and allow them to freeze for a couple of hours or overnight, then putting them into the bag or container of your choice. Pre-freezing emulates the commercial process of "Quick freezing" wherein the item would be cleaned, sprayed with water on a conveyer and flash frozen and prepared for packaging.

This is an effort to save us money by saving us from tossing vegetables that we most likely paid a premium for and don't want to waste. Every penny counts especially in these times. We never want to waste if we don't have to and even though freezing bits and bobs of celery, peppers and onions may seem a little over the top it really isn't. When you go to make something and you realize you don't have the fresh counterpart you will feel good knowing you can reach into your freezer and grab what you need for your dinner.

I have also shared how to freeze baby spinach. I buy the bag at the store and put it in the freezer. These greens have already been triple washed and once frozen you can simply crunch up the bag and make spinach ready for smoothies, soups, stews, creamed spianch or tossed into scrambled eggs. This will also work for other tender greens as well like kale, turnip greens and more. Avoid freezing lettuce or cucumbers though they will be plain awful.

One thing I did not mention was zucchini! This abundant summer squash can be grated and popped into portion sized bags and frozen, ready to toss into your favorite zucchini bread, cake, muffin or soup.

Let me know if there are other vegetables or even fruits you would like me to address with regard to freezing methods. There are more things than you think that you can just wash and freeze. Surprisingly I am still learning a lot about what you can and cannot do with certain produce items. More often than not you can do this method. Even if you don't think you can!

I hope you give this a try and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

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