Simply The Best Way to Freeze Seasonal Fruit and Veggies

We still aren't eating seasonally 100%. We are close, but not quite there. One thing I love about summer (maybe the only thing I love about summer living in what feels like, the Sahara Desert-Redding, Ca) is the vast abundance of fruits and veggies that grow during these months. Our family loves berries, peaches, cherries, tomatoes, zucchini, etc.. You know all the great ones that only grow in those hot summer days. Winter time doesn't leave a lot for tradition growing foods. You have to be more creative in the kitchen if you want to eat seasonally in the winter. Or you can still buy them in the grocery store. Have you ever wondered WHY and HOW you can buy tomatoes in December if they naturally grow and are in season during the summer months??? Well, that is another blog. Google it if you just have to know now.

This blog is about preserving those amazing fruits and veggies in a way you can still eat in the winter months. Not as fresh as picking them off the tree or the vine, but you can still make a killer pie or delicious smoothie. As easy as 1, 2, 3. Freeze!!!

The best and most efficient way I have learned to do this over the years is this. Take your fruit or veggies that you want to save for the winter. Lay them out on a tray covered in parchment paper. Do NOT wash the fruit or veggies or they will become a soggy mess. This is why it is important to buy/pick fruits and vegetables that are NOT sprayed with pesticides. Sometimes, they wont look as pretty as store bought, but trust me-they taste just as good, if not better! Ok-rabbit trail (I do that a lot).

After spreading the produce out so it doesn't touch each other, put the tray in the freezer until it is

completely frozen. Once frozen, remove from the freezer. I then use my food saver to seal them up for a good freeze. I usually store them in 1 quart bags. They freeze great this way. You could use freezer bags too, but they do tend to get freezer burnt over an extended period of time. Store in your freezer.

Now come December, and you are craving a good peach pie, pull out a bag and bam! You have a fresh, in season, peach pie on your table for dessert. Enjoy! And your welcome ;)