What produce freezes well?

[srhs]

I've been buying a lot of produce when it hits rock bottom pricing, and I find myself wondering what else I can successfully freeze. So far, I've been able to flash freeze and then bag:

blueberries
strawberries
baby carrots (steamed)
sweet potatoes (baked as fries)
green beans (steamed)
tomatoes (When I had a garden, I would boil these, then remove skins, then freeze for use in sauces and such.)

WHAT ELSE? And what tricks do you have? I know I froze bananas and avocados for baby food, but I'm not thinking anyone over 10 mos is really going to think those taste good?

Can I freeze mango? Probably not melons, huh? Peaches, pears, plums? What other veggies? Peppers, corn, etc. are all sold frozen. Will they be any good if I freeze them? TIA!!!

[alien_host]

Peas? I think corn would be fine (off the cob?).

I've frozen small chunks of bananas for smoothies, but after a while they get brown and yucky looking, I wonder if the Food Saver would help.

I think melons are too watery to freeze, but I'm not sure.

I think mango or peaches might be OK....definitely good for smoothies.

I'm curious to see the responses.

[hillview]

How do you flash freeze?
/hillary

[larig]

My mom's family used to "put up" bushels of corn every summer from my uncles' farm. She and her sister would cut it off the cob before cooking--the first time around the cob you cut down the cob, about 1/2 through the kernels, then after that round you go around again and scrape the cob (with the non-sharp part of the knife). Then they cooked it (not long, mostly to heat and get bacteria killed), then put it in freezer containers. then to cook it mom would pull out a frozen corn thing, put it frozen into a container on the stove, and let it thaw over the heat, stirring continuously to prevent burning. A pinch of sugar and some butter when cooking to serve was how my mom always made it.

[srhs]

How do you flash freeze?
/hillary

Ok, well that's embarrassing :...I think I am not using that phrase correctly. That's what I thought it was called when you freeze them flat on a cookie sheet (so they won't stick together) for a bit and then put them into bags so they are individually frozen rather than large clumps.

[Nyfeara]

I've bought frozen chunked mango and frozen sliced peaches before - so that works.

I think I remember reading that it's best to blanche some veggies for a few mins, cool them, & dry them prior to freezing (green beans, broccoli, and zucchini come to mind). I think I'm going to try making zucchini sticks with the breading and then freezing them. I know you can prepare stuffed peppers and then freeze them for later - so I'm sure you could do something with peppers as well.

We have done frozen corn on the cob before using a foodsaver. We put any seasoning in there (butter, chili powder - whatever you want to try); then froze 2 cobs in each bag. We would just boil the bag in water when we wanted to eat - it was already buttered & seasoned, just cut it open & eat. I think it gets a little tough if it's frozen for too long, but you could definitely freeze now for winter, once you hit late spring/early summer it seemed to not taste as good.

I do believe that I've seen frozen bags of mixed fruit in the store that included cantaloupe and melon.

[zoestargrove]

I freeze corn the same way pp mentioned. It's AMAZING eating fresh corn in the middle of winter! It's never lasted past December in my house.

I throw ripened bananas in the freezer -peel and all. I use them in banana bread or smoothies.

I shucked peas from the garden and froze. (I hope I wasn't suppose to blanch them first.)

I chop (or grate) zucchini - depending on how I intend to use in the future and freeze in ziplock bags.

onions and peppers get chopped, thrown into ziplock bags and frozen. (jalopeno peppers the same way)

I've bought peaches and mangos already frozen- I can't seem to peel and cut a mango without a huge mess and lots of waste. Frozen chunks defrost nicely. I use in smoothies and salsa mostly.

Peaches, I would peel the skin and slice and freeze flat in a ziplock. I bet you could do pineapple the same way.

If you run out of time with tomatoes and don't want to process right away - you can just throw them in a ziplock, peel and all. When I wanted to use for sauce, I'd take them out. By the time they defrosted, the peel was usually easy to take off even before you put into boiling water.

Herbs - basil, cilantro, parsley. I pre-chop and freeze.

[boltfam]

I'm glad to see this thread. I'm trying to freeze more stuff this year, too. Thanks for the ideas, ladies