5 Reasons to Buy Frozen Fruits and Veggies

[Kaido]

Article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/reasons-buy-frozen-fruits-veggies/story?id=20683879

In particular:

They're mature - in a good way!

The minute a fruit or veggie is picked, it begins to lose nutrients, so exactly when it's plucked, and how long after harvesting you eat it impacts its nutritional value. Because most frozen fruits and veggies are frozen shortly after they're harvested, they're allowed to fully ripen, which means they're chock full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and freezing "locks in" many of their nutrients. On the flip side, much of the fresh produce in your supermarket was reaped over 1,500 miles away, and had to travel by truck to get there. As a result, it may have been harvested before it reached its nutritional peak, then artificially ripened during transport.

This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, especially with things like tomatoes, which now taste like water (bland) & have no flavor. They gas foods like tomatoes & bananas with ethylene for ripening (ex. pick the bananas green, transport, gas, then stock on the store shelf). While that's a neat idea for getting produce out there, it's also pretty lame in terms of flavor in a lot of things.

They're just as nutritious (or even more so) than fresh

The differences above may be why frozen produce has been shown to be just as nutrient-rich, or even superior to fresh, a fact supported by two new independent studies. Scientists from Leatherhead Food Research and University of Chester, carried out 40 tests to measure nutrient levels in produce that had been sitting in a fridge for three days, compared to frozen equivalents. They found more beneficial nutrients overall in the frozen samples, in everything from broccoli to blueberries. In fact, in two out of three cases, frozen fruits and veggies packed higher levels of antioxidants, including polyphenols, anthocyanins, lutein, and beta-carotene. This conclusion supports previous research, which found that freezing produce does not destroy its nutrients. In one report, the vitamin C content in fresh broccoli plummet by more than 50% with a week, but dipped by just 10% over an entire year when frozen.

This was very interesting to me; I always thought that frozen veggies lost nutrition. Turns out they are just as good, if not better (especially over time) as the fresh equivalents. That's awesome news!

They're additive-free

Because freezing preserves food, no unwanted additives are needed in bags of frozen goodies, like spinach and strawberries. In addition, "naked" produce (e.g. no added salt or sugar) is the norm, so it's incredibly easy to find fruits and veggies with single word ingredient lists--simply the fruit or veggie itself. To be sure, always check the ingredients, but I bet you'll find at least a dozen varieties in the freezer aisle with absolutely nothing added.

Also a Good Thing - additive-free frozen veggies & fruit! So they're frozen ripe, nutritious, and free of additives. That's a pretty compelling argument for using frozen plants! I was always under the impression that they weren't as good for you.

 

[MongGrel]

You can grow them too.

I want nothing to do at all with a frozen Tomato.

That or learn canning, my wife has no clue as I met here after I moved to FL, most of my relatives in the Midwest can or have been doing freezing in a basement fridge for a very long time.

Frozen as in homemade frozen, though for some things it is still better and I've gotten her in the habit to buy a lot of veggies at the market that way.

 

[sandorski]

I prefer fresh, but have been using frozen simply to avoid spoilage. I do recognize that "Fresh" is very relative. What's in the Fruit/Vegetable section at the grocery store pales significantly compared to what's in one's Garden.

 

[Kaido]

I've also been experimenting with a lot of off-the-shelf canned meat:

1. Tuna: Water is much better than oil to my palette.

2. Chicken: This can vary in quality; the only kind I really like so far is the kind from Sam's Club. The rest has been fairly disgusting.

3. Turkey: (from Hormel) Surprisingly awesome, especially with mayo. I thought this would be the grossest of them all, turns out it's totally good!

4. Salmon: Not bad, not great. I haven't found a recipe I like yet. With canned chicken/tuna/turkey, I just throw in some mayo & garlic salt and it's ready to go in a burrito wrap...with canned salmon, not so much.

5. Beef: I haven't come across any of this locally yet, but the reviews say it's actually pretty good. There's canned roast beef (chunks) & just canned shredded beef; I can see the shredded kind being pretty good in a burrito with some salsa on top.

I've also messed around with throwing beans in stuff. So basically, do a simple wrap (either with a flour/water mix or just a green-style wrap with iceberg/romaine/kale/collared greens) and fill it with a tuna-salad type of mix: canned meat, mayo, beans (ex. black, cannellini, etc.), and steamed frozen veggies (microwaved in a bowl of water for ~3 minutes). You can spice it up with mustard, salsa, spices, etc. Simple to make, quick to eat, long-term storage, no much effort involved. Nice.

I'm always looking for ways to speed up cooking because, while I do love cooking, I don't like to do it all the time. I'm not quite sure how canned meat compares to the supposed healthiness of bagged frozen veggies; I know BPA used to be a concern, and that sodium levels can be high, but beyond that people seem to survive on canned stuff just fine.

 

[Kaido]

You can grow them too.

I want nothing to do at all with a frozen Tomato.

That or learn canning, my wife has no clue as I met here after I moved to FL, most of my relatives in the Midwest can or have been doing freezing in a basement fridge for a very long time.

Frozen as in homemade frozen, though for some things it is still better and I've gotten her in the habit to buy a lot of veggies at the market that way.

I was just using tomato as an example, because I think everyone has eaten a tasteless tomato that looked great in the produce island, but was disappointing on a sandwich!

Yeah, this is my first year growing food. I'm doing the self-watering planter method. Some people at work brought in their excess produce last year and I was so blown away by it (especially the tomatoes) that I decided that I was going to try it this year!

Canning is another thing I'm getting into this year, actually food storage in general. I have bad food allergies, so it's easier for me to make all of my stuff at home than do a diceroll on package food or eating out. I just picked up an excellent DVD on canning:

http://www.amazon.com/Sensible-Food-...dp/1608610896/

Basically, the key to the whole thing is using a pressure canner (note that this is different than a pressure cooker & can be very expensive, up to $400 for a big one) & glass mason jars. Some things that you can are able to last like 10+ years, which is amazing! And the lady reviews canning meat in particular, which is really interesting.

 

[Kaido]

I've already started on her base system - basically using a FoodSaver vacuum sealer with a jar-lid attachment; you can suck the air out of the glass jars to make stuff last longer, even chocolate chips! I did an experiment last month with strawberries: the ones I left on the counter in the little plastic container started bruising within days, but the ones I vacuum-sealed lasted over a week, and the ones that I vacuum-sealed & stored in the fridge tasted even better. So that's pretty cool.

I've also gotten into salad-in-a-jar recently. Basically, vacuum-sealing greens in a jar can make them last up to 7 to 9 days. My greens (like lettuce) usually start browning before I'm able to finish them all, so it's a pretty cool system. The basic idea is here:

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/salad-in-a-jar

A good procedure for stacking ingredient is here:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-pac...-a-jar-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-192174

I've actually found that some take-out restaurants are doing this now too. I snagged one from a local vegan restaurant the other day that had steamed quinoa, marinated chickpeas, salad, and a little jar of dressing inside. Just dump in a bowl & eat! SUPER good!

http://i.imgur.com/g5AjxEk.jpg

 

[MongGrel]

Canning is very good, once you get the hang of it you can put up a large amount of fresh grown food.

If you do it old school with ball jars, food can last years and be fresh.

Though on principle it was usually eaten over the course of one winter, Jelly, green beans, pickles, etc.

Sweet corn, Black Berries, several things you could process in bulk and put in freezer bags, and just leave them in the freezer with the meat we had at the time.

Had a few cousins with dairy farms that you could go in with 4 people or something just to buy a cow for steaks hamburger later on.

They would going in the freezer too.

Porterhouses and steaks and fresh burger frozen much better than canned meat

Unless you're squeamish about things like that, or stop eating meat I guess.

 

[Kaido]

I prefer fresh, but have been using frozen simply to avoid spoilage. I do recognize that "Fresh" is very relative. What's in the Fruit/Vegetable section at the grocery store pales significantly compared to what's in one's Garden.

Yeah, for sure. When I can, I like to hit up the local farmer's market with my buddy's & load up on local product. You can get an amazing amount for not a lot of money! Downside is spoilage, especially with greens.

This month, I'm experimenting with eating food storage foods - frozen veggies, canned meats, and canned beans. So basically I'm doing like 4 wraps a day made with different ingredients. Preparation basically involves cooking all of the burrito wraps (I do one with quinoa flour & one with chickpea flour, and the rest with greens) and making the tuna salad-style fillings with chicken, turkey, tuna, etc. And throwing in some beans & steamed frozen veggies. A little repetitive, but you get a different flavor with each wrap and it's basically no effort during the week - just spoon the filling into the wrap, spend 2 minutes eating, and you're done. Super healthy, high protein, low-carb, blah blah blah.

 

[Kaido]

Canning is very good, once you get the hang of it you can put up a large amount of fresh grown food.

Yeah, that's my long-term plan. And there's stuff like leaf lettuce that you can keep growing all year round, especially if you invest in some grow lights (they come in LED flavors now) to keep them sprouting during the wintertime.

 

[sandorski]

I was just using tomato as an example, because I think everyone has eaten a tasteless tomato that looked great in the produce island, but was disappointing on a sandwich!

Yeah, this is my first year growing food. I'm doing the self-watering planter method. Some people at work brought in their excess produce last year and I was so blown away by it (especially the tomatoes) that I decided that I was going to try it this year!

Canning is another thing I'm getting into this year, actually food storage in general. I have bad food allergies, so it's easier for me to make all of my stuff at home than do a diceroll on package food or eating out. I just picked up an excellent DVD on canning:

http://www.amazon.com/Sensible-Food-...dp/1608610896/

Basically, the key to the whole thing is using a pressure canner (note that this is different than a pressure cooker & can be very expensive, up to $400 for a big one) & glass mason jars. Some things that you can are able to last like 10+ years, which is amazing! And the lady reviews canning meat in particular, which is really interesting.

Most Grocery store Tomatoes are such a disappointment for me. Especially Field Tomatoes which are often shipped in the California or Mexico. Just tasteless wastes. Growing up we often had gardens, tomatoes right off the vine are so deliscious that they are good not only as part of a sandwhich, but as the sole contents of a sandwhich.

Fortunately there is a fairly big Hot House industry here, so some tomatoes are available year round that are of a great quality.

 

[alexhere]

i read all this, i cant help but wonder-
what about to growing processes of those fruits n veggis?
these are filled and sprayed in pesticides and unnecessary growth aids

so how much of the peach or tomato, that im gonna
eat is really good for me? or more important- my kids?

 

[SP33Demon]

i read all this, i cant help but wonder-
what about to growing processes of those fruits n veggis?
these are filled and sprayed in pesticides and unnecessary growth aids

so how much of the peach or tomato, that im gonna
eat is really good for me? or more important- my kids?

I always buy organic frozen. Usually fruits (strawberries, blueberries, broccoli etc).

Kaido, have you tried vacuum sealing vs canned? The vacuum sealer looks a lot easier to do.

 

[Kaido]

Kaido, have you tried vacuum sealing vs canned? The vacuum sealer looks a lot easier to do.

I have a FoodSaver vacuum sealer - the older ones work better than the newer ones, and people love offloading them like old exercise equipment I also get my bags off eBay...you can get commercial-grade triple-thick stuff in rolls (cut to your own side) for a LOT cheaper than FoodSaver's bags. I have small rolls & large rolls, depending on what I want to bag up.

I also have a FoodSaver mason jar attachment, which sucks the air out of the jar. Works awesome. Hard to get it to fit on right, I usually have to do it a few times since I end up mis-aligning the lid when I put the top on to seal it, but once you get it, it's sealed pretty good. My next adventure will be in pressure canning, but that's a bit down the road since the big canner is like $400 (and if I'm going to can, I'd rather invest a little extra & do a truckload at a time due to my busy work schedule & limited at-home hours).

This year, I'll be experimenting with doing frozen vacuum-sealed berries. I live not too far from some berry farms; my friends usually pick 40 pounds a season & freeze theirs, so I think I may go that route since I have a few rolls of vac-seal bags to use up. You basically just freeze them on a cookie sheet, then seal them in a bag. I've read that you shouldn't wash them before freezing them either.

 

[Kaido]

i read all this, i cant help but wonder-
what about to growing processes of those fruits n veggis?
these are filled and sprayed in pesticides and unnecessary growth aids

so how much of the peach or tomato, that im gonna
eat is really good for me? or more important- my kids?

You know, that's a difficult question to answer. No one is required to list anything as far as growth agents, pesticides, commercial fertilizers, GMO's, cleaning agents (like the chlorine baths that frozen berries & chicken goes through), etc. Even "organic" doesn't mean what you think it means.

And it really depends on the person. GMO's are getting a bad rap, but we've all been eating them since the 1990's, and 100% of people do not have cancer. Human bodies are pretty resilient things. Everyone has to draw their own line at what they are willing to put into their mouths...some people give up fast food & processed items. Some people give up meat & go vegan. Some people give up GMO'd food & only eat organically-sourced food products. Some people grow their own food.

The only way that you'll ever be 100% sure of what is going into your food is if you grow it yourself. And even that's no guarantee...you'll have to buy heirloom seeds, where are not genetically-modified. You'll have to use natural fertilizers & soils instead of the manufactured stuff, and use natural pest control methods.

But does that mean everything is bad? I don't think so. I have some hardcore food allergies, so a lot of foods bother me - corn, in particular, is in everything on the planet. Apples used to make me sick until I found out that they coat store-bought apples with shiny wax sourced from corn, so as long as I peel the apple first, I don't get a stomachache. Go figure. But I grew up in the 80's & 90's around microwaves, TV dinners in plastic trays, all kinds of mass-manufactured junk food, etc. and I don't have cancer or tumors anything else like that.

So the question of what to eat really boils down to you on a personal level. I don't think you can ever get truly 100% clean from stuff like GMO's these days, there's too much cross-contamination & not enough tracking that goes into the history of the production of the food you're eating. So, pick a line and go from there. I eat a lot of my meals out plastic TV dinner trays that I pack at home. And I microwave them. Are plastics bad for me? Probably, but they don't make me sick and again, I don't have any major health issues yet, so I'm willing to take the convenience of eating self-packaged healthy foods over that risk.

 

[SP33Demon]

I have a FoodSaver vacuum sealer - the older ones work better than the newer ones, and people love offloading them like old exercise equipment I also get my bags off eBay...you can get commercial-grade triple-thick stuff in rolls (cut to your own side) for a LOT cheaper than FoodSaver's bags. I have small rolls & large rolls, depending on what I want to bag up.

I also have a FoodSaver mason jar attachment, which sucks the air out of the jar. Works awesome. Hard to get it to fit on right, I usually have to do it a few times since I end up mis-aligning the lid when I put the top on to seal it, but once you get it, it's sealed pretty good. My next adventure will be in pressure canning, but that's a bit down the road since the big canner is like $400 (and if I'm going to can, I'd rather invest a little extra & do a truckload at a time due to my busy work schedule & limited at-home hours).

This year, I'll be experimenting with doing frozen vacuum-sealed berries. I live not too far from some berry farms; my friends usually pick 40 pounds a season & freeze theirs, so I think I may go that route since I have a few rolls of vac-seal bags to use up. You basically just freeze them on a cookie sheet, then seal them in a bag. I've read that you shouldn't wash them before freezing them either.

Nice, can you PM me a link to the ebay bags that might be cheaper? Also, you mentioned that the older foodsavers are better. What should I look for regarding an older version, i.e. is there a cutoff model (like model F and above) to not buy? Last, are the foodsaver foods when frozen less susceptible to freezer burn? My organic berries seem to get a bit of freezer burn by the time I finish them, I was thinking that maybe I could Foodsave half of the big bag to keep its freshness.

 

[Kaido]

Nice, can you PM me a link to the ebay bags that might be cheaper? Also, you mentioned that the older foodsavers are better. What should I look for regarding an older version, i.e. is there a cutoff model (like model F and above) to not buy? Last, are the foodsaver foods when frozen less susceptible to freezer burn? My organic berries seem to get a bit of freezer burn by the time I finish them, I was thinking that maybe I could Foodsave half of the big bag to keep its freshness.

Sure. From what I've read, the older FoodSavers had more power. I'll say that with 2 caveats - 1, I only have an older model to compare (inherited from my mom), and 2, that was on the last-gen of FoodSavers a couple years ago when I got more into it. There is a new line out that may be better. iirc the vertical ones had some power issues, so as always, do you due diligence in reading reviews, watching Youtube videos, etc. to see how they fare. I also don't know if they've changed their bags at all, since I've been using the aftermarket kind for years - the old ones used to be a bit thin (and very expensive).

As far as plastic bags go, vacuum-seal bags are used commercially in a variety of jobs, such as for butchers. eBay has a bunch of 3.5mil-thick BPA-free bags, and it looks like Amazon sells them now too. You can be either buy a roll of a specific width & cut them yourself, or you can buy pre-cut bags. I prefer the roll (I have a small roll & a large roll) because then I can do anything - a long fish, a small bowl of Chinese food, whatever. Here's a couple e-stores on Amazon:

Vac-Fresh

FoodVacBags

Reheating is pretty interesting. So, the FoodSaver sucks all of the air out of the bag & then heat-seals the opening. This preserves the flavor of the food. For example, if I BBQ grill up a bunch of burgers, I can seal individual cooked patties & microwave them and they taste REALLY good. The usual recommendation, however, is to boil them in the bag. Boiling can cook the food, but it can also defrost the food.

The great part about boiling is that it gives you an even reheating cycle, unlike a microwave, which makes the outside rubbery & the inside cold in middle. We have a favorite Chinese food store about an hour away that we love, but it's a 2-hour round trip (plus the meal time), so we vacuum-seal the leftovers & extras so we can just boil to reheat & enjoy a super-tasty meal. Works great!

I've also done deli-sliced meat with success. I recently got a smoker, so I can smoke & cook say a turkey, then use my countertop deli slicer to do thin & thick slices, then FoodSaver it. This saves money & is also healthier than buying the stuff from the store (no additives). The texture is somewhat different than fresh (after thawing) but still edible & not gross.

As far as freezer burn goes, yes, it gets rid of freezer burn since there's no oxygen in the bag. Oh, and a key for sealing the bag is to make sure the lip of the bag stays dry, otherwise it won't get a good seal - it can fail over time if it's not dry initially (it's easy to get the lip wet when you put food in & it slides down the bag). And what you seal depends on your application. I've read that some fisherman will take ziploc bags, fill it with water, put their fish in there, and then freeze it - that way they're encased in ice & aren't subject to freezer burn. And some people do a flash freeze and THEN seal the bag.

I'm doing canning right now with my FoodSaver (jar attachment), having good results in particular with fruit. I'll be doing meat canning with a pressure canner later this year. I have a buddy who does the impact-sealed mylar bags, and my in-laws do the 5-gallon buckets with gamma-seal lids with good results. Lots of interesting options out there.

 

[purbeast0]

i've pretty much just been eating apples for fruits and asparagus for veggies the past 2 months or so. i've dropped about 15lbs down from around 217lbs to 202lbs this morning when i weighed myself. i've hardly lost any strength too which is the best part of it all to me. i've never lost this much weight but kept my strength at virtually the same spot.

the only noticeable loss i've had is that my last reps on my heavy flat bench sets are not as easy as they were prior, but i'm still getting them up. and it's only on my first chest exercise, when i hit incline right after i'm still the same.

i've never tried frozen and veggies though, just the fresh apples and asparagus.

 

[SP33Demon]

Sure. From what I've read, the older FoodSavers had more power. I'll say that with 2 caveats - 1, I only have an older model to compare (inherited from my mom), and 2, that was on the last-gen of FoodSavers a couple years ago when I got more into it. There is a new line out that may be better. iirc the vertical ones had some power issues, so as always, do you due diligence in reading reviews, watching Youtube videos, etc. to see how they fare. I also don't know if they've changed their bags at all, since I've been using the aftermarket kind for years - the old ones used to be a bit thin (and very expensive).

As far as plastic bags go, vacuum-seal bags are used commercially in a variety of jobs, such as for butchers. eBay has a bunch of 3.5mil-thick BPA-free bags, and it looks like Amazon sells them now too. You can be either buy a roll of a specific width & cut them yourself, or you can buy pre-cut bags. I prefer the roll (I have a small roll & a large roll) because then I can do anything - a long fish, a small bowl of Chinese food, whatever. Here's a couple e-stores on Amazon:

Vac-Fresh

FoodVacBags

Reheating is pretty interesting. So, the FoodSaver sucks all of the air out of the bag & then heat-seals the opening. This preserves the flavor of the food. For example, if I BBQ grill up a bunch of burgers, I can seal individual cooked patties & microwave them and they taste REALLY good. The usual recommendation, however, is to boil them in the bag. Boiling can cook the food, but it can also defrost the food.

The great part about boiling is that it gives you an even reheating cycle, unlike a microwave, which makes the outside rubbery & the inside cold in middle. We have a favorite Chinese food store about an hour away that we love, but it's a 2-hour round trip (plus the meal time), so we vacuum-seal the leftovers & extras so we can just boil to reheat & enjoy a super-tasty meal. Works great!

I've also done deli-sliced meat with success. I recently got a smoker, so I can smoke & cook say a turkey, then use my countertop deli slicer to do thin & thick slices, then FoodSaver it. This saves money & is also healthier than buying the stuff from the store (no additives). The texture is somewhat different than fresh (after thawing) but still edible & not gross.

As far as freezer burn goes, yes, it gets rid of freezer burn since there's no oxygen in the bag. Oh, and a key for sealing the bag is to make sure the lip of the bag stays dry, otherwise it won't get a good seal - it can fail over time if it's not dry initially (it's easy to get the lip wet when you put food in & it slides down the bag). And what you seal depends on your application. I've read that some fisherman will take ziploc bags, fill it with water, put their fish in there, and then freeze it - that way they're encased in ice & aren't subject to freezer burn. And some people do a flash freeze and THEN seal the bag.

I'm doing canning right now with my FoodSaver (jar attachment), having good results in particular with fruit. I'll be doing meat canning with a pressure canner later this year. I have a buddy who does the impact-sealed mylar bags, and my in-laws do the 5-gallon buckets with gamma-seal lids with good results. Lots of interesting options out there.

Many thanks on this post. I'm excited to buying a foodsaver now, haha. I used to laugh at my mom when she used it, but now i'm seeing that it could be helpful in bulk. Preserving food in the freezer is important to me because it saves so much dam time. Many weeks my schedule is so jammed I don't have time to go out and buy fresh veggies for just one stinking meal. I have buy in bulk, and even then sometimes the freezer will degrade the quality of my stuff (like huge bag of frozen organic broccoli).

 

[Kaido]

i've pretty much just been eating apples for fruits and asparagus for veggies the past 2 months or so. i've dropped about 15lbs down from around 217lbs to 202lbs this morning when i weighed myself. i've hardly lost any strength too which is the best part of it all to me. i've never lost this much weight but kept my strength at virtually the same spot.

the only noticeable loss i've had is that my last reps on my heavy flat bench sets are not as easy as they were prior, but i'm still getting them up. and it's only on my first chest exercise, when i hit incline right after i'm still the same.

i've never tried frozen and veggies though, just the fresh apples and asparagus.

You might be interested in the "30 bananas a day" diet:

http://thebananagirl.com/

Basically it's called "HCRV" - high carb, raw vegan. It's all fruit-based, which sounds absolutely insane at first, but starts to make sense (1) if you're willing to listen to their argument (I would suggest doing a fair amount of research first), and (2) when you see the results people are getting. Basically you eat 30 bananas a day - three 10-banana smoothies, plus Datorade (basically a pound of Medjool dates & water) and then "mono meals" that include mango, papaya, etc. along with about 3 liters of water throughout the day. It's pretty hefty.

So I did some research on it and found some surprising results. First, it was working for people, instead of killing them. They recommend an adult male consume 3500 calories a day, and around 1000 more if you're a pretty active purpose (FYI a banana = approximately 100 calories). Second, it's expensive, but not any moreso than eating a bodybuilding diet. Third, the potassium quantities are not dangerous (see the FAQ below). Fourth, bananas & dates apparently contain everything you need. I pulled up the data on a nutrition calculator website:

https://cronometer.com/

The only thing missing is B12 (absent in all vegan diets; requires B12 drops under the tongue or B12 injections - since it can't be absorbed through swallowing - or just eat some animal meat once in awhile) and Vitamin D (go outside & get some sun):

http://i.imgur.com/POWb6MZ.png

They have 10k+ members on their forums and the boards seem pretty active; the before & after photos are amazing. Granted, that's the case for any diet where people are on the SAD diet before & then start eating healthy, but I like interesting food approaches and this definitely fits the bill. She has an ebook out for $25 that I just finished reading:

http://www.30bananasaday.com/FreeleesEbook

An excellent FAQ here:

http://thebananagirl.com/faqs.php

You'd have to find a place to buy a lot of bananas & dates. I also learned that bananas are ripe when they're spotty, which I didn't know - I always thought yellow meat ripe, but yellow is unripe & can give you stomach troubles (which I've experienced), so that's good to know. I could go into more detail about the medical aspects of being a fruitarian, which are really really interesting in terms of calorie count, fructose intake, blood sugar levels, etc., but I'll leave that up to you to read up on if you're interested.

 

[Kaido]

Many thanks on this post. I'm excited to buying a foodsaver now, haha. I used to laugh at my mom when she used it, but now i'm seeing that it could be helpful in bulk. Preserving food in the freezer is important to me because it saves so much dam time. Many weeks my schedule is so jammed I don't have time to go out and buy fresh veggies for just one stinking meal. I have buy in bulk, and even then sometimes the freezer will degrade the quality of my stuff (like huge bag of frozen organic broccoli).

No problem. I have an old white FoodSaver, been working great for years, I love it! The thing that it brings into your life is healthy convenience. You can buy convenience anywhere - fast food restaurants, take-out places, etc., but buying healthy meals, especially healthy meals that match your diet, is a whole different ballgame. And making it yourself, at home, also saves you a TRUCKLOAD of money.

I think I have close to 25 appliances now. I have severe food allergies, which limits what I can eat, so I had to get creative at home. On the plus side, I've been exposed to a ton of great food that I never would have tried before, and I eat healthier than I ever have in my life. The FoodSaver is definitely up there in terms of my convenience tools. I also use some plastic TV dinner containers for making homemade TV dinners, which are AWESOME. More info in this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35512151

I love food & food technology, and it has kind of being a larger hobby for me over the years. There's so much cool stuff out there to learn, too - food gardening at home in self-watering planters, canning meat & other food in a pressure canner, sealing food in a FoodSaver, etc. I know hardly anybody who is doing this stuff IRL, but thanks to the Internet, there's plenty of information out there if you're willing to look & try stuff out.

 

[insa80]

I eat so much meat I fear of a heart attack, Steak and burgers are my thing, than walleye and perch and sometime chicken and veal. I'm just saying it is great t know that frozen veggies are so much better for you. How fast is it to warm them up, very pleased to read this meant no anti meat on this one.....​

 

[southkrn]

In south Korea, its hard to get strawberries 7 months out of the year. I get mine in octoberish and then i just freeze them all. Great way to make strawberry banana tomato smoothies. Oh yea, i freeze my bananas too after i slice them into 1 1/2 inch pieces.

 

[Kaido]

In south Korea, its hard to get strawberries 7 months out of the year. I get mine in octoberish and then i just freeze them all. Great way to make strawberry banana tomato smoothies. Oh yea, i freeze my bananas too after i slice them into 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Yeah, I've got a long-term banana project in the freezer. I've read you can freeze them for up to 2 months without any negative effects. I use a lot of bananas (ice cream via my heavy-duty juicer, smoothies, etc.) so stocking up would be awesome. Plus it's almost berry season in my area, so I'll be loading up! :thumbsup:

 

[Phanuel]

How does one successfully freeze a banana? It's always a mess and they turn brown for me whereas other berries are no problem.

 

[Kaido]

How does one successfully freeze a banana? It's always a mess and they turn brown for me whereas other berries are no problem.

You have to freeze them on a tray first. Once they get hard (like overnight), then put them in baggies. I'm testing them in Ziploc freezer bags & in my FoodSaver vacuum sealer bags. They're supposed to be good for up to 8 weeks or so (2 months). I'm curious to see how long they last.