Making it Last

I have had such great feedback from everyone going to pick up some of the AMAZING deals at Buy Low. Remember, if you can't make it there but you are near a Walmart PRICE MATCH! Along with everyone sharing their great deals, comes a lot of questions about how to make that food last as long as possible at prices like these. So, in response to all your questions about freezing and canning food I became overwhelmed with all the great tips out there, so I am going to talk about a few fruits and vegetables every week, until we cover them ALL. This week we will talk about yams, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, radishes and green onions! All those items were on sale this week at Buy Low!

Yams: Yams are a GREAT source of vitamin A. One yam has as much vitamin A that is required in 3-4 days. To freeze yams whole, scrub them, grease them and bake them in the oven at about 400 degrees for 15 min- 20 min. Let them cool and then wrap them individually in tin foil. Store them in the freezer in a Ziploc freezer bag. When you are ready to eat them you can put them in the oven or microwave to reheat!

You can also boil and mash the potatoes and store them in the freezer. Boil the potatoes, peel and then mash them. After you mash them it can be helpful to mix in a little acidic solution to prevent browning. I little bit of lemon and water or orange and water solution would work great! Pack the potatoes in air tight containers with 1/2 inch space. You can place a piece of freezer paper on top to keep it sealed even tighter.

The last way to freeze yams, is in your favorite candied yam recipe!

Yams would make great sweet potato pie, mashed baby food, sweet potato fries, pumpkin pie, the possibilities are endless!Radishes: Freezing radishes is not a great option because they are high in water content. If you do decide to try, they won't be as crisp and the texture will be different from a fresh radish. Make sure you clean them, cut the tops and bottoms off and then cut them into little pieces. Freezing them whole would cause the outer skin to crack. After you cut the radishes into small pieces blanch them by putting them into boiling water for 2-3 min and then ice cold water for a few min, Drain the water and then place the radishes in Ziploc bags and freeze them
A better option to freezing radishes is dehydrating them and then storing them.Green Onions: Flash freezing is recommended for green onions. This way you can pull out just the desired amount instead of an entire clump of green onions. It probably isn't a good idea to use previously frozen green onions in a salad because their texture would be tough. So just slice, freeze flash and put into Ziploc bags and freeze. Simple enough for me!
Carrots: It is best to freeze carrots after they have been cooked. You can blanch baby carrots in boiling water for about 5 min and strips or slices of carrots for about 2 min. Cool them in ice water. Drain and then store in Ziploc bags. You could also mash them up to make a great homemade baby food.

Watermelon/ Cantaloupe: I was surprised to find that freezing melon works great! You need to cut the watermelon away from the rind and make sure the seeds have been cut out. Slice or cut it into wedges, cubes or balls. You can then flash freeze it and store it in Ziploc bags. I learned that eating it frozen is amazing, but if you let it thaw out its not so great. You can also freeze the melon in a syrup to retain it's sweetness. Here was a great website I found that had a great syrup recipe.