whats the best frozen veg?

VfM4meplse

SpottedLeopard wrote: »

A good question; does anyone else do this? Do you have to prepare the veg in any way?

I tend to cook them first before freezing; soups or curries are best .

rinabean

Eenymeeny wrote: »

You've got me thinking now...I've been buying those stew packs which contain swede, parsnip, onions etc to make soup but find that I don't use everything in the pack. I'm thinking that I could prepare and freeze the leftover veg ready to use at a later date. Would I need to blanch them or could I just peel, cut and freeze please?

I take it there's not room in either the pot or the freezer to just cook extra soup? Lots of vegetables benefit from being blanched before freezing, so it would depend what you're using. I find gardening/allotment sites good for advice on preserving vegetables - they'll have all the precise blanching times you might want. However, what I'd do is brown all the vegetables, put half in a container for the freezer and continue making soup with the rest. They would go a little mushy and the flavours will blend together but that will just save time making the second soup. I've done this a few times before (I have very little freezer space or I would do it more often.)

ALIBOBSY

From what the op has said they are buying veg from the supermarkets (mr t perhaps). We eat ALOT of fruit and veg but we simply could not afford to do it if I used tesco or one of the other stores. I find tesco massively expensive for basic items particularly f and v and all the "offers" seem to be on processed rubbish.

Definately look at aldi and lidl we love aldi and the super 6 is great-you can buy stuff like celery dirt cheap (think it was 39p a bunch last time) then chop and freeze yourself. We also use the local farm shop where we can get for example fresh locally produced maris piper spuds for £2.50 a SACK full.

But defo think frozen veg is good and frozen fruit makes fab ice creams/sorbets/colis/smoothies/cakes etc.

Ali x

Eenymeeny

rinabean wrote: »

I take it there's not room in either the pot or the freezer to just cook extra soup? Lots of vegetables benefit from being blanched before freezing, so it would depend what you're using. I find gardening/allotment sites good for advice on preserving vegetables - they'll have all the precise blanching times you might want. However, what I'd do is brown all the vegetables, put half in a container for the freezer and continue making soup with the rest. They would go a little mushy and the flavours will blend together but that will just save time making the second soup. I've done this a few times before (I have very little freezer space or I would do it more often.)

Thanks Rinabean. I have back trouble and find that standing preparing all of those vegetables is difficult. (I know, sit down then!) Will give that a try but so messy when I am doing it! I was thinking that I could split it into 2 operations but think that if I have to blanch, brown etc I might as well make the soup! (I just chuck it all into the slow cooker and make a 'soup concentrate' which saves room in the freezer) Thanks for the advice

Linda32

Eenymeeny wrote: »

You've got me thinking now...I've been buying those stew packs which contain swede, parsnip, onions etc to make soup but find that I don't use everything in the pack. I'm thinking that I could prepare and freeze the leftover veg ready to use at a later date. Would I need to blanch them or could I just peel, cut and freeze please?

Hi, Yes no problem with this at all, I used to buy these but we are very lucky to have an allotment now.

You can peel and cut the parsnip and swede or any other root veg for that matter, pop in a bag and in the freezer. I never bother to blanch first although alot of people do.

Then you just take out however much you want (just as if you have a bought frozen bag of veg from supermarket) and cook as you normally would from frozen.

You can also freeze the onions chopped up and will be fine for cooking with, not so great for sandwiches though.

Also, I oftern notice these packs on the whoopsie shelfs when they are near to their sell by date, grab them and freeze when you get home :money:

cleggie

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

From what the op has said they are buying veg from the supermarkets (mr t perhaps). We eat ALOT of fruit and veg but we simply could not afford to do it if I used tesco or one of the other stores. I find tesco massively expensive for basic items particularly f and v and all the "offers" seem to be on processed rubbish.

Definately look at aldi and lidl we love aldi and the super 6 is great-you can buy stuff like celery dirt cheap (think it was 39p a bunch last time) then chop and freeze yourself. We also use the local farm shop where we can get for example fresh locally produced maris piper spuds for £2.50 a SACK full.

But defo think frozen veg is good and frozen fruit makes fab ice creams/sorbets/colis/smoothies/cakes etc.

Ali x

Thanks for the the reply.
i dont have an aldi near me, so it woud cost more in petrol than i would save on the f+v, but i do have a Lid, so will definitely be checking out their prices. I just think that at £1 for a massive bag of broccoli/sweetcorn (in farmfoods etc) etc, its got to be cheaper than any other source of veg.
Fruit i will buy from Lidl though, so thanks for letting me know.

also, the local farm shop poses a bit of a probem for me. They sell massive bags of stuff, which is all good, but there is ony me and the kids to feed, so a lot of it owud go to waste/go bad by the time we got around to using it. Good ideas though, thanks!

hmc

how long do you do frozen stuff in the steamer? eg mixed veg. or broccoli etc thanks

Ben84

Buy some small packets first and see how you like frozen. It gets pretty mixed responses. Personally, I really don't like frozen vegetables. I know they're cheaper and convenient and can save waste, but they just aren't the same. None of it seems crisp or crunchy.

Omar_Little

I'm another one that has recently returned to using frozen veg, it's quick convenient & long lasting. I still buy fresh mushrooms though, the frozen ones aren't so good, also aubergines & courgettes which we only really eat in the summer time (mixed together and baked in olive oil & garlic).

I also recently discovered frozen garlic & ginger in the Indian frozen food section at Asda. It's unbelievably cheap - something like £1 for a large bag, frozen in small individual blocks.

More vitamins & goodness in fresh veg than frozen? Surely this is a fallacy, the difference must be negligable, and who really has a vitamin deficiency these days unless totally avoiding a certain food type?

Eenymeeny

hmc wrote: »

how long do you do frozen stuff in the steamer? eg mixed veg. or broccoli etc thanks

I have a microwave steamer and just give the veg a minute at a time and keep checking and stirring. 3 minutes would probably be the max to still have them crunchy but cooked. HTH.