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What I Do With *Aging* Veggies

Have you looked in the crisper of your refrigerator lately? Last week it was definitely time for a little fridge clean out at my house. When I got to the crisper I found some *aging* bell peppers and celery.

You see how the peppers aren't bad yet, but they're starting to get that *wrinkled* look. And the celery is getting sort of *soft*. This means that they don't work so well for salads or snacking, etc. and if you don't use them quickly they'll definitely go bad and you'll have to throw them out. Don't let that happen!

Go ahead and chop them up, getting them ready for all of those soups, casseroles and whatever other dishes you like to use them in. Then pop them in the freezer and they'll be ready whenever you need them! I always keep frozen peppers and celery in my freezer and I can't even tell you how handy they are. I just take out what I need and put the rest back for another time.

If you have items that you like to keep handy in the freezer I'd love to hear about them!



Visit 5 Minutes for Moms for more ideas on Tackle It Tuesday!

Comments

Sharon said…
Hi Lora
That is a great thrifty idea. I always feel so bad when I have to throw food out. I have a student from Brazil staying with us for 6months so it is a bit of a challenge to come up with new meals. She only eats chicken and fish but not spicy food. I will have to check out some of your recipes and others and get organized.She is doing year 12 here and today was the first day of school for the year and I spent the day with her at school and so I am very tired.(All that concentrating) Blessings Sharon
Gene and Annie said…
Awesome tip and now I won't be wasting any veggies from here on out!! Thanks so much!
Tanya said…
I can't believe I haven't thought of doing this before! Thanks for the great idea. :)
Do I know about this!! Today I am giving CPR to a cauliflower and cutting some little black spots off because I think it is still 90% just fine! Cute and informative post.
Roberta Anne
Susie said…
What a great idea! Awesome tackle:-)
Kari said…
Remember those peppers in Mom's freezer? lol!
Lisa said…
What a great idea, Lora! I will definitely have to start doing this. When I bake a ham, I trim off all the *leftover* meat and put a handful in ziplock bags to put into beans for flavoring. It comes in very handy!
Lisa~
I have leftover (Christmas) ham in my freezer right now, too, just for that very purpose!:)

Kari~
I definitely remember those poor shrivled peppers. You can tell Mom doesn't cook quite as often anymore. lol!!
Jamie said…
Great tip! I have tossed plenty of celery before...I never even thought to freeze it.
Betsy Brock said…
Onions do well like this! And I heard over ripe bananas can be frozen if you can't bake bread right away. I have some in my freezer now, but haven't used them yet to see if it works.
Betsy~
I've heard that about onions...I just never have leftover onions, instead I'm always running out of them:)
I'd love to know how the bananas turn out. I'm terrible about letting bananas ruin--this could be my solution!
Michelle said…
I do this with green peppers and with cayenne peppers. It's such a time saver. I've never done it with celery though, but now after reading this, I plan to give it a try. Thanks for sharing. :)
Anonymous said…
Just stopped by and saw the great tip about the celery and bell peppers. The question about the bananas-it works. My husband and son like them almost green, but not ripe-which is when I like them. You'd think this would solve the extra banana problem, but it doesn't. I just throw them in the freezer.

At Christmas, I used bananas that had been in the freezer for several months to make banana bread and they tasted fine. It wasn't quite as flavorful as they would be if I hadn't waited so long, but they were still good.

It's really easy to use them-just let them sit out for a little bit to thaw out some. You then just cut the top off the skin and squeeze the banana out of it. I just put them in the mixer since they are pretty well mashed already after being squeezed out.

So, don't trash the bananas, freeze them and use them for banana bread, smoothies, whatever.
Niki Jolene said…
Great post! I save so much doing this.

Anything that is about to "go" in our house gets put in a freezer bag and gets tossed right into the chest freezer.

:)
Great tip! I hadn't thought about doing that with celery. I think I have some wilting in the fridge right now! :)
Sarah said…
Great tip! One of those why didn't I think of that moments!!! Thanks for sharing!
Sharon said…
Yep! We do this with aging veggies and bananas as well. Great tip!!!
Maria said…
Brilliant! I've been tossing them in the compost bin, but your idea makes much more sense. :)
'Becca said…
Frozen kale is one of my favorite convenience foods! Click my name for lots of ideas on how to use it.

I also freeze anything that's about to go bad, like you. We get a CSA (crate of random produce every week from a local farm) each summer, and if we're busy it's hard to eat all the veggies in time! When I'm REALLY organized, I freeze them as soon as we get them, to maximize vitamins. I love being able to eat things in winter that aren't in season, like zucchini, without paying high prices.

I also keep orange peels in the freezer for use in cranberry bread and such. Whenever we get a batch of oranges that have nice thick peels, I wash the outside of one of them before peeling and then save the peels.

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