I’ve been learning a lot about food. Since turning *cough*forshy*cough* I’ve been more interested in gardening (not yet successful, but there’s still hope), organic and local foods, and more recently bulk buying and food storage.
My freezer is my new best friend. How I didn’t realize this before is beyond me! But hey, we have to wake up sometime.
Since learning about the 10 components of a healthy diet, I’ve been conscientiously making choices to eat within those guidelines. Buying fresh in bulk and storing takes six of the 10 into consideration: eating local, natural, clean, seasonal, fresh, and nutritious.
I’ve started buying, or been lucky enough to be gifted, fresh herbs. And, I’m a little late the table, but the difference between fresh and dried herbs when cooking is not even in the same universe! However, when I’d buy fresh herbs, it would be for one recipe and then the rest, where I had good intentions, would end up spoiling in the fridge and then go to the compost.
A friend recently told me she freezes her herbs. I said what about blanching? No, she said, just straight into the freezer. So I tried it, and you know what? I use them more now! Because I don’t have to worry about them spoiling, there’s no pressure. And because they taste SO AMAZING, I remember to use them.
I found a BIG bag of mint at the grocery store. Advertised for making mojitos, which I don’t drink, but I figure, mint is mint right? I hope so, it tastes the same. So I bought the big bag, washed it and dried it in the salad spinner, allowed it to time to dry and then popped it in a freezer bag, pushed the air out and tossed it in the freezer. Guess what? Mint is now a regular ingredient in my lemonade drinks.
My friend gave me so much fresh dill from her garden. Sure it took it little while to remove the dill from the stalk, but the smell of it made that experience worth it. Tossed it into a freezer bag and into the freezer. Fresh dill is hands down the best thing ever. I add it to everything I can think of. Just open that bag out of the freezer and that wonderful scent hits you every time. I drink it in. Yeah, I love dill and that’s an understatement.
I’ve also done the same with fresh store bought basil and rosemary. I intend to continue this trend, because there’s nothing like fresh!
So I encourage you to buy fresh, wash them, dry them, prep them how you would use them for cooking, and toss them in your freezer for future use. No waste, and pure amazing flavour.
A Flexitarian Journey 