General Food Talk

[prhoshay]

The thought of mayo alone makes me vomit...same with yogurt and sour cream. I'm kind of weird like that, and it sucks because I should be eating some yogurt in order to get more calcium in my diet.

Me??? I'm eating ice cream for my calcium!!!

[doxie]

We got some Lemon Gelato at Whole Foods over the weekend and ate it with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Yum!

I would love some hints (or site suggestions) on freezing summer fruits and veggies. We don't have a ton of freezer space, but I'd like to be able to freeze some berries, peaches as well as the 'maters and okra (which I think we are going to have a TON of) from our garden. Can I just slice most of this and freeze it? I am not about to try canning anything - I'd blow something up or poison us - - but I would like some ideas on what freezes well and the easiest (laziest) way to do it! Thanks!

[queenb]

Doxie, you can put the berries on a cookie sheet, freeze them, and just dump them into ziplocks, and they won't be all stuck together when you use them. We always froze peaches mixed with some sugar, for pies and things, but I've
seen them cut up and frozen like the berries as well.

[MRD]

I don't know about tomatos as I"ve never tried feezing them, but the okra, I would blanch and then freeze like the berries Queenb said, then put in baggies and they are good to go. Blanching helps keep it's color in the freezer, otherwise it turns brownish.

[coltnlasma]

And before snapping closed the end of your baggie zipper, you can tuck in a straw and suck out the last bit of air... kind of like a poor-girl's vacuum sealer. unless of course you already have a FoodSaver which would be much more dignified

[prhoshay]

Did I mention that July is National Ice Cream Month???

[inthegarden]

We got some Lemon Gelato at Whole Foods over the weekend and ate it with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Yum!

I would love some hints (or site suggestions) on freezing summer fruits and veggies. We don't have a ton of freezer space, but I'd like to be able to freeze some berries, peaches as well as the 'maters and okra (which I think we are going to have a TON of) from our garden. Can I just slice most of this and freeze it? I am not about to try canning anything - I'd blow something up or poison us - - but I would like some ideas on what freezes well and the easiest (laziest) way to do it! Thanks!

I freeze most of our fruits and veggies. I have canned, but prefer freezing. I'm all about easy too.
Ball Blue Book is a good book for canning and freezing.
I freeze my berries like queenb.
For cobbler or pie peaches I peel, remove seed and slice, put in freezer container and pour light syrup over them and freeze.
I also take some of the peaches peel, remove seed, slice and dip in Fruit Fresh lay on a cookie sheet, freeze and then put them in freezer bags.
I puree some, put in freezer bags, for ice cream and frozen yogurt.
I'll post the syrup recipe in the recipe thread.
Apples same as above.

Tomatoes, I peel, remove some of the seeds (mr. ing can't eat the seeds) cut up and put them in freezer bags. If you put the tomatoes in a hot water bath, they peel easier. Sometimes I make tomato sauce and freeze that in containers.
Okra, for frying, I wash and let drain. In a large bowl, I mix up Cornmeal mix, salt and pepper, then take the okra cut off the stem, slice to the size you like to fry, drop in the cornmeal mixure and stir until coated lift out to remove the extra cornmeal mix and put in freezer bags and freeze. I don't blanch it, it makes it to slimy.
Whole Okra, I wash cut the stem close, but leave some on, blanch and let drain on paper towels and put in freezer bags. I use small pods, no longer than 3 inches. I use this for roasting, steaming.

[inthegarden]

The low fat has more carbs because they add sugar. It's good to read the labels because often the low fat products are high in sugar which isn't necessarily better for you.

And Sodium or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

[queenb]

Just for a heads-up, also check the serving size on the 'healthier oil' versions of some products. I have seen some that have amazingly lower calories for the only difference being a different oil, then noticed the serving size listed is half what's on the regular version!

[Lil Bit]

I've noticed that with some sugar free items. For example, Snickers Ice Cream Bars with sugar have less calories that the generic sugar free brand.