Baby It's Cold...Fruit

Frozen Fruit

1.  Get some sandwhich baggies that close (freezer bags acutally do work better simply because they don't rip as easily).

2.  Get some of your favorite fruit-preferrably when in-season and cheaper.

3.  Put fruit in bag.

4.  Put bagged fruit in freezer.

Taaa-duum!  You have a great side item!! 

Okay, I broke my my own rule...since I didn't heat it up, I didn't really cook.  BUT, I did put out effort and effort equals energy and energy equals heat somewhere, so maybe that counts?!?!

All scientific discussion aside, this idea came from sheer DESPERATION!!  (Isn't that where a lot of parents get their ideas?)  After the hundreth battle on eating vegetables, I gave up.  I could not argue, plead, cajole, or beg my kids to eat...I was saving those actions for when I asked them to clean up their room.  I switched to fruit instead, which has all the great vitamins and minerals of vegetables, but with a dash of natural sugar to make it sweet enough for my kids.

 However, fruit out of season is EXPENSIVE and totally took away the "cheap" part of cooking.  In stepped my freezer.  In the middle of summer, when berries are AT LEAST half the cost of winter fruit, we load up on whatever we can get our hands on.  I am not crazy about cherries...try getting a frozen pit out of there!  But small berries work great.  The one down side to this scheme is that you are limited by freezer space.  I have a freezer in the garage with tons of room for raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries that we eat all year long.  If all you have is the freezer that comes with the frig, this idea isn't nearly so economically.  However, even if you are forced to buy the frozen fruit in the store (and I have in a pinch) it is still roughly the same price as buying some veggies and cooking them (your stove/oven doesn't run for free) and you have the added bonus that the kids eat them.  A second concern is that the initial layout can get expensive.  When your budget is week to week, spending money in the summer to save money LATER, can be difficult.  U-pick's are cheaper, as are some farmer's markets.  Look around...see what you can find.  At the end of the day, even if you are only able to save a little after the summer is over, it still might be a nice treat in the middle of January.

A couple thoughts:  freezing does change the consistency and obviously the temperature.  Frozen fruit is cold!!!  My younger son took some time to enjoy frozen fruit...he didnt like touching cold things.  My older son loved it from the get go!!  Freezing can also bring out the "fruit" in fruit as well.  Raspberries for example, seem MORE tart frozen, and other fruits experience changes as well.  And obviously if you have a really young child, choking is an issue so letting the fruit defrost a bit might be a must.

I would be remiss too if I didn't mention canning or other ways of preservation.  I don't do this kind of thing, but I know a lot of other people who do.  My sister doesn't have a freezer like I do, so they preserves apples in jars every autumn.  Again, you are changing the consistency, but compared to cost and vitamin/mineral counts, it is still better than buying processed fruits/veggies.  Again, pick your favorites and go crazy!!

A lot of people have looked askance at me when I tell them we freeze fruit and eat it straight out of the bag, but it hits just about everything parents, kids, AND some doctors are looking for....economically sound, kid approved, and a serving of vitamins right from the source with no fat, msg's, trans fats, additives, preservatives, or other weird things I can't pronounce.  This is truly one of the most favorite meal additions in our house.