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Do you ever catch yourself saying, “I hate buying fresh food because it always goes bad before I can use it all”?
Well, you won’t have to worry about that any more with your fruit! Last summer I was on a mission to waste not a single bit of seasonally ripened fruit that came into my home and now I’m going to share with you exactly how to do it!
How to Freeze Berries
I absolutely refuse to waste any berries because they are expensive and their shelf life can be shorter than I need it to be. When berries are super-duper ripe and just about ready to get moldy, I’ll remove any stems and such (including any soft or bad spots), rinse them well and then freeze them on a waxpaper-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, place them in a freezer ziplog bag. They’ll stay just fine for up to 6 months!
One tip regarding fresh mulberries — When I rinsed my first batch, a bunch of tiny whitish worm-ish things came out from between the sections of the berries. I found from doing some internet research that this was typical with this type of berry and that you had to rinse them very well, multiple times until you no longer saw any of these little guys moving about. Then you can freeze them as I described above.
Use them in smoothies, baked desserts or anything else that you’d need berries in. They’re just awesome!
How to Freeze Bananas
I don’t generally buy bananas very often. Sometimes my husband likes to have them around, but he’ll let some over-ripen to the point that he’ll no longer eat them. Instead of throwing them away, I’ll peel them, put them into a freezer bag and pop the bag into the freezer. These bananas will freeze perfectly and stay fine for a few months.
Perfect for smoothies (be mindful of how much you use as they are rather high in sugar) or for making ‘ice cream’ in your food processor.
How to Freeze Peaches, Pears & other Fruit
Wash fruit and cut it with a knife into your desired sizes. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and place fruit pieces so that they are not touching each other. Place sheet in the freezer until the fruit is frozen and then move fruit to a freezer bag. Just like you would do with the berries!
Easy, right???
Do you have any other tips that you use to save your fruit that you can share?
Thanks for this post Jennifer, it was the push that I needed to freeze more fruit than I currently do particularly as where I am the fruit is seasonal. Currently we are in the middle of the mango season and I love them. Using the waxed paper is not something I’ve done but I can imagine it preserves the freshness. The problem with throwing out fruit is something many of my clients complain about, especially in these times of financial constraint. I am constantly advising them to freeze their fruit and some vegetables where possible, so I’ll be passing along your tips to them.
My daughter taught me a great little trick. Take your fresh berries, and rinse them in a bowl of water, where you add one tablespoon of vinegar. The vinegar kills whatever creates the mold. Your fruit will remain fresh for much longer. Oh, don’t rinse off the vinegar, it actually does not affect the taste of the fruit at all. My strawberries lasted a week in the frig, and they could have lasted longer, but I ate them.
Thanks Friede!
I have a feeling I can guess who your daughter is! 🙂
I’ll have to try it… this is more geared toward people who buy extra and intentionally want to save it… as I do.
Thanks for the info on freezing fruit. Ididn’t think you can do this as sometimes I have fruit in the refrigerator as it get pushed to the back and gets frozen then it never tastes the same. Will this happen when you freeze it?
The fruit is not intended to be eaten after it defrosts. You need to do something with it… like cook it, blend it, etc.
A diet involving regular amounts of fruit will provide your body with antioxidants to help prevent free radicals from attacking the body. Eating vegetables and fruits rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss. Different fruits contain different proportions of different vitamins, so by consuming a rich mixture of fruit you can be sure you are getting a nicely balanced vitamin supply.