Friday, November 10, 2006

Freezing Carrots and Celery...


Today Mr. U and I went grocery shopping. We grocery shop on or around the 10th of the month because that is when he gets paid. I like to buy the majority of my groceries for the month on that one day. I do go back later during the month to buy more fresh veggies (such as lettuce or raw spinach) or if I need something to make a special dish if we have friends coming over or an event at church.

One thing that I’ve had a problem with is carrots and celery. I’ll buy huge bags of them on our monthly trip and then I forget about them!! There is no way I’ll use that huge thing of celery or a two pound bag of carrots in a month. I’ve lost PLENTY of these great tasting veggies to forgetfulness on my part. I’ll open the drawer to use them and voila! They are soggy and brown. Sigh.

So, I’ve decided that as soon as I buy them, I’ll immediately chop them up and freeze them!! This has worked WONDERFULLY well!! Whenever I need them for recipes, I just pull out a handful or two and toss it in the pan!! While it does take some time to chop them all, it is great to have them all ready to use at a moments notice!!

What about you? Have you ever lost veggies to spoilage/ forgetfulness?

Note: While this does work well for using in all forms of cooking, if you are going to eat carrots or celery raw, freezing is not the best thing to do with them. When they thaw, they are not the same texture as they are raw- they get kind of mushy. You are better off buying fresh if you are eating them raw.

7 comments:

Tammy said...

That's a great idea! I am ashamed at how much produce gets wasted at my house!

Mary Ann said...

I do this with carrots, celery, green peppers and onions. I have never chopped the carrots, though, just shredded for use in carrot cake. I'm guessing the chopped ones would be ok for soups and casseroles. I was finding too, that I would forget about the produce and end up throwing it away! This is a great time-saver, and also cuts way, way down on waste.:-)

Lean Not said...

I freeze bananas when they start to get too mushy to eat so that I have plenty in the freezer when I want to make banana bread. I used to freeze them with the peel on, but then I got smarter (finally!) and peeled them before freezing them.

theups said...

Tammy, I can completely relate!! I had this problem BIG TIME until I discovered that I could freeze things. :)

Mary Ann, I forgot that I freeze peppers, too!! I haven't tried onions yet, though. I'll have to remember this!!

Leannot, I would LOVE to freeze bananas, but they are never around the house long enough to even go bad!! Around here, if I want to make banana bread, I have to buy bananas that are already going bad!! LOL!!! We are serious banana eaters!! :)

Do any of y'all happen to know how I can get fresh cilantro from going bad so quickly???

His,
Mrs. U

Anonymous said...

Sigh--- I'm also ashamed at how much stuff I waste. Thanks for the freezing idea. I see where this would help a lot in my situation.

Two weeks ago I had 1/4 cup of mixed veggies left over and would've normally thrown it away because I think it "is too small to save" but froze it instead. Last week I made a chicken pot pie and it was good to have the leftover veggies to add! Every little bit does help, after all!


Trixie

The Tiquehunters Wife said...

Great idea! Your blog has inspired me to be more creative in my cooking! Thanks Mrs U!

rachel said...

I've done this with peppers and onions before, but I have yet to try it with carrots. Thanks for the tip.

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