Plan so you can end winter with the treasures of summer

It’s that time of year when I look in the freezer every week to see what’s in there that I need to use. During the rich garden harvest days of summer and fall, we freeze some of our produce, or what we get from friends, to use during the off-season. If I don’t peruse the freezer to see what’s still there, we could end up with badly freezer-burned berries and vegetables that aren’t so appetizing years down the road. No one wants freezer-soaked green beans. We learned that after only freezing one, small batch of green beans instead of canning them. Never again!

Fruit does tend to freeze well so I’ve been working my way through frozen blueberries, strawberries and homemade apple pie filling. Though you can buy these fruits all year long, they have the best flavor and highest levels of nutrition if you buy them from local sources when they’re in season. That’s why I got into the habit of freezing some of the harvest when it comes in.

Recently I’ve been enjoying the strawberries we’ve frozen. When they are fresh, we wash and dry them then put them on a baking tray in the freezer to flash freeze them. Once they are frozen, which takes less than 24 hours, we load them into plastic bags to vacuum and seal. We used our vacuum sealer so often that we recently said goodbye to the one that had used up all of its abilities and bought a new one. We’re prepared for berry season when it returns in May and June.

What do you like to do with frozen strawberries? My two favorite uses during these days of winter have been in muffins and in smoothies. I’m a fan of corn muffins and combining the corn meal with the strawberries makes for a more substantial muffin than if I only use flour.

As for smoothies, I went through a smoothie phase when I was in my twenties but hadn’t revisited it until this year. My initial fascination with smoothies faded when I realized they didn’t fill me for long. I’ve since become more of a yogurt fan so when I returned to the idea of a smoothie breakfast this year, I altered the recipes I saw to include more protein. I find this smoothie to be delicious, satisfying and nourishing.

Breakfast Smoothie

½ banana

4 frozen strawberries

1 tsp or so of vanilla

1 TBS or so of honey or sorghum (the sorghum adds depth to the flavor)

¼ C wheat germ

1 C plain yogurt

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend. Stop the machine to scrape down the sides then blend for a few more seconds. Enjoy your smoothie!

You can add or subtract ingredients to satisfy your tastes. I sometimes drop in a spoonful of peanut butter and if I want a treat, maybe a little chocolate syrup.

What do you like to use when making a smoothie? Our creativity can be endless, especially when friends share their ideas.