My Produce Freezer Plans

Here's my dilemnas.

1. I love fruits and vegetables.

2. Papa Sheppard hates them.

3. I don't want to waste money buying smaller, individual sized portions.

4. I don't want t continue buying things in plastic.

What's a frugal, organic-minded, veggie loving mama to do?

After extended research and thought, I have come up with several plans with regards to how I intend to maintain my collection of fruits and veggies in appropriate portions, with limited dependency on plastics and cans.

- Organic Tomatoes -- freeze whole. Run under hot tap water while frozen to peel. Use for soups, stews, sauces, casseroles.

- Organic Potatoes -- boiled, mashed; freeze in paper muffin cups in 1/2 cup portions. Stack in plastic container.

- Organic Broccoli and Cauliflower -- buy raw; blanch and freeze on freezer paper, then in plastic bags.

- Organic Spinach -- can be frozen, used for soups only.

- Organic Berries -- buy raw, freeze whole in muffin cups in 1/2 cup portions.

- Organic Peppers -- wash, deseed, cut up; freeze on cookie sheet; wrap in paper, store in bags.

Buy and store in fridge:
- apples
- avacados
- onions
- garlic

There are several excellent resources that deal with how to keep produce without the use of plastics. I am excited to try them out and to add more as I go along.

Also check out Fake Plastic Fish's guide to produce and Pick Your Own for further information.