How to Freeze Strawberries

When you make a major score on fresh strawberries (12 pounds worth) at your local grocery store, you inevitably have to freeze some to avoid any going to waste.  Do you know how to freeze strawberries? Well let me show you!  It's super easy and doesn't take much time at all.  

You will need:

An 8x8 dish 

Wax or parchment paper

Ziploc freezer baggies

1. Start by washing your berries.  Cut the tops off (set tops aside in a bowl) and slice your berries into quarters (or halves if they're small).  

2. Line your dish with wax paper.  Lay the berries in a flat layer across the paper.  You don not want them smooshed together or they will freeze together.  When you fill a layer, add another sheet of wax, and repeat with more berries.

Now, check out my leftover top pieces above.  Do yours look like mine?  There's still strawberry on them!  Those little pieces are perfect for adding to a bowl of oatmeal!  So....

3. Chop off all the extra little bits of strawberry from the stem.  Look how much I got from one top piece!  

4.  Create a separate layer for these small pieces.  Again, spread them out over the paper.

5.  Place the dish in the freezer and allow the berries to freeze.  

6.  Remove berries from dish, and place into labeled freezer baggies.

We use our chopped berries in smoothies, and our small bits in bowls of oatmeal (which we have almost every morning!) or yogurt.

Freezer Organization (Part 2)

So, now that you've made a totally awesome "white board" to track the contents of your freezer, how about working towards organizing the inside a bit?  A few months ago, one of the baskets in our freezer broke.  Okay, actually it was probably 2 years ago, but whatever.  A month ago, I decided that I would buy a new basket so that I could get my freezer under control.  I searched online, and when I found the replacement part, and the sticker tag, I decided my broken basket was perfect "as is".  My kids were playing in the kitchen with some little plastic Dollar Store baskets with handles, and it dawned on me...those would be perfect for my freezer!  So, I cleaned them out, and began stuffing them with freezer items.  I was able to fit all of my frozen red bell peppers into one basket, and then I slid the basket right into my freezer.  Instant free organization!  Sigh...and all is well with the world again.  Look around your house for some unused plastic baskets.  They may be perfect (and free) for organizing your freezer!

Freezer Organization

Lately I've been working really hard to save some money by buying and freezing items when they are at their cheapest.  I bought a ton of blueberries this summer when they were $1 a container and froze them for the winter time.  By doing this, I can avoid paying ridiculously high prices for those items during off-season times.  The only issue that I've run into is that I cannot for the life of me keep track of all the different bags of frozen items that are in my freezer.  There are literally Ziploc baggies everywhere in my freezer. So.  Today I decided to make a "whiteboard" of sorts for keeping track of freezer items.  If you are looking for an inexpensive way to organize the items in your freezer, give this a try!

You will simply need a picture frame.  I did not have a spare one at home, so I purchased one from the Dollar Store (it was obviously $1).  It is about an 8x10 inch size, but any size will work (a bigger frame will give you more writing space).  The frame paint was awful, so I painted it with some black craft paint that I already had at home.  Next you will need to print off a list of items that you regularly keep in your freezer.  Here is the one I made for myself.  Feel free to edit it, copy it, print it, or make your own!  All you need to do is place your list inside the picture frame.  The glass will act as a whiteboard surface, and any washable marker will work.  Use the board to easily keep track of your freezer items.  Simply use your marker to keep tally of what you've got!  I recycled some old magnets by gluing them to the back of my frame so that I can attach my board to the fridge. 

Enjoy feeling a bit more organized for $1 or less!

Here is a (really bad-can't figure out why) picture of my completed project: