Summer and berry season are finally approaching. With this warm weather comes hard to resist prices on tasty looking berries, and sometimes as my nana used to say, “our eyes are bigger than our bellies.” So what happens when you don’t think you will use all of your berries before they become moldy or otherwise inedible? Pick out the few that are still good and throw the rest away? Throw the whole thing out at the thought of mold being near even the still nice looking berries? Both are common practices, but sad wastes of fruit.
Don’t waste them, freeze them. Once frozen, they are great for making smoothies, sorbet, ice cream, adult beverages, or sauces. If you just throw them in a bag, wet or not, they will stick together and become difficult to work with.
The solution: individually freeze, then bag! You will then be able to remove just the amount you need without freezing off your fingers or waking up your kids when you bang them on the counter to separate.
This is one of two two-pound containers I picked up at Target a few weeks ago when they were unexpectedly on sale for $3. I also had a $2/$5 mobile coupon and $.75/1 coupons for doing Driscoll’s surveys, so I got four pounds for $2.50. And they were very good, so I was happy to save half for future smoothies. Through tomorrow, the one pound containers are $1.50 and a similar mobile coupon is available, so an even better deal if you have Driscoll’s coupons. I got some this week as well, but just two pounds so we are making it through those without any trouble.
You’ll need to wash and trim them. Drain them to remove the excess water, but don’t worry about them being a little wet.
Spread them out on a non-stick baking sheet and put them in the freezer for a few hours.
When they all feel frozen, pop them off the sheet pan transfer them to a bag.
Throw the bag back into the freezer and use as needed. And if you have overripe bananas, don’t forget to freeze those as well!
