What frozen / tinned fruit and veg are actually okay?

[AchtungBaby]

I tend to only use fresh fruit and veg, but sometimes find myself throwing away unused food when I'm disorganised busy.

So, what frozen / tinned fruit and veg are actually okay? It would be great to have some in as a backup for when the fridge is bare!

I just bought some frozen sliced leeks. Would these work in a soup? I'd love to buy some frozen chopped onions (I didn't know that you could buy such a thing until recently), as I hate chopping onions. Some posters also mention frozen blueberries, hmm.

I already buy tinned sweetcorn, but can't think of any other tinned fruit or veg that might be okay (although I'm sure that some must be!).

I / we need to cook for DH and I, and DS (9 months) if that helps. And I know that fresh is best, and that's what I'll continue to strive for, but I'd rather give DS something homemade even if it does contain frozen / tinned fruit or veg, rather than a jar / pouch of baby food.

[Earwiggo]

The tinned fruit that is actually in plastic tubs seems to be a bit nicer than the tinned equivalent, think it's called spc natures own or something similar.

[Asinine]

I use frozen broccoli, green bean, sweetcorn, peas, spinach, peppers, mixed veg( great for soup with lentils), berries (heat up with a little sugar and add to yoghurt, custard,porridge, or a sponge bake)

The important thing IMO is to cook the in the micro. Just add a good tablespoon of water, cover with cling film (do not pierce) and zap for 7 minutes for a big amount (I cook for 6!) . This preserves the vitamins a bit like steaming.

Tinned fruit, all sorts.

Hate, hate all tinned veg, except beans, tomatoes.

Dried mushrooms and sundried tomatoes are good, too.

[ZoeMW]

I but

frozen onions (on £1 a bag in Asda and LOADS!)
frozen leeks
frozen mixed peppers (great to stick is a sauce etc)
frozen peas (who doesnt)
frozen sweetcorn and cobs (they'are brill)
Frozen shredded spinach is great to add to currys or fishcakes etc


freezing is a natural preservative so why not buy frozen veg!!!

Has anyone seen the frozen baby/toddler food in the freezers??? Awesome idea why didnt someone think of ths before now!!!! ive seen them in asda.

[sarahtigh]

tinned beans tomatoes fried onions (delia smith) tinned peaches pineapple apricots mandarins I don't like tinned sweetcorn DH does; tinned peas and potatoes caroots UGH!!!! tinned strawberries only in trifle

frozen peas beans leeks swede good blueberries cranberries rapberries all good too ( if freezing own raspberries /blackberries/gooseberries rhubarb freeze on a tray first so individual then bag will be less mushy when defrost)personally i bottle plums when cheap great for pies and crumbles later in year as plums an extoriannt price most of the time!
cauliflower brocolli mushrooms good in soups stews strawberries dont freeze well either due to high water content but i think too mushy to eat individually

[whimsicalname]

When I was on the pureeing stage with mine, I'd buy organic tinned fruit in fruit juice (not syrup) and puree that.

Also, always have a few tins of things like artichokes on hand to posh up a pizza or for pasta sauce.

And a tin of leek and potato soup is a good standby for near instant leek and potato gratin.

[AchtungBaby]

Thanks crumbletastic, that's a good idea .

I already do it a little bit for DS, but I should increase the repertoire of fruit and veg, and the scale of the operation (so that there's enough for DH and I) too.

[crumbletastic]

You can also freeze most of your own fruit and veg rather than waste it. I always buy the ridiculously massive bags of value carrots or veg that is reduced and peel it and cook the whole lot in one go. If you lay it on a tray in a single layer, when it is completely frozen it wont be stuck together and you can transfer to a bag and you have your own cooked frozen veg to hand that you just bring to the boil. For some reason this makes much nicer, firmer carrots/green beans/sprouts than ones I've tried from the freezer section.

I do the same with fruit and got a bargain haul of 2 punnets strawberries, 3 punnets raspberries and 2 punnets of blueberries that were not at their best from my local market for a bargainous £3. I rinsed and again froze in a single layer on a baking tray and now have 3 bags of frozen fruit ready to grab.

You can do this with most fruit and veg but note that firm fruit with a skin like blueberries will be fine when defrosted, but soft raspberries/strawberries will turn mushy so i just use them straight from frozen in smoothies, or cook them in deserts/make a coulis

[AchtungBaby]

at TrickyWoo's bendy veg.

Oh, I want a Waitrose near us now! I wonder where the closest one is, I'll google it later.

DS had plain fromage frais with 15 (I counted them ) frozen blueberries after his tea. He seemed to enjoy it, and I enjoyed the little bit that I had too.

[SarahLundsredJumper]

Yes its the Waitrose foil packets that I use after many sad pots died on me !

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

Oh yes frozen garlic, shallots and herbs are brillant. Love the waitroseones the most.

[JetLi]

I have a big zip lock bag in the freezer which has ginger, chillies, lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal etc in it for those Thai-stylee moments. I can just grab the whole bag & all the bits are inside.

[FrumpyPumpy]

Chillies freeze well.

Onions - rather than buy them frozen we chop up a massive batch of and freeze in a ziploc bag.

Def frozen peas, but only birds eye petit pois.

Whole green beans fine.

We had loads of rhubarb so froze it chopped and have bags of it.

Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries all freeze well, and adding a handful to Hot porridge cools it fast, also fir babies you can then whizz up and feed.

We chop celery then freeze and use in loads of stuff.

Also any bendy veg we freeze, along with chicken carcasses for stock then make a massive pan, then freeze in bags of 500ml.

[trice]

the tinned onions that were a delia cheat are actually lovely. Just onion and olive oil in a tin. They make a good starter for virtually instant tomato sauce for pasta.

Also frozen stir fry veg are very useful and the frozen chargrilled aubergines are absolutely fabulous in a moussaka. I hate messing about salting aubergine and the frozen ones are much cheaper too. I buy frozen roast veg too which are good made into soup.

[karmakameleon]

Waitrose is very good for frozen herbs. They come in foil packets.

[nickelbabe]

ooh, yes, frozen herbs - i think they come in little cardboard boxes.
(well ,they used to - i knwo this because i didn't realise and ended up with lots of herbs all over my freezer once - always put them in a plastic bag when they're open!)
you should find them with the veg in the supermarket

[AchtungBaby]

missnevermind and nickelbabe, that's an interesting point that I've come across before. It's awful that we don't really know what we're buying in supermarkets etc.

I feel better about my super-nutritious leek and potato soup now!

SarahLundsredJumper, I like the idea of frozen herbs (my parsley and basil plants just died!). I didn't see them at the supermarket though, do they come in little cubes?

[nickelbabe]

We also found it's a lot cheaper to buy frozen for some veg - like green beans and sweetcorn.
We normally eat loads of fresh veg (in season, though), and we bought a huge bag of sweetcorn about a month ago and we've still got about 1/4 left in it! (there are only 2 of us, though)

It's good for getting out-of-season veg at different times of the year, because it's usually british stuff that was frozen when it was in season. iyswim.

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

Glad to see frozen sweetcorn getting the thumbs up I have bought some today.

[Flossie69]

Frozen chopped onions are a god-send - so easy, no tears, just add them striaght to the frying pan. I also do the frozen peas and sweetcorn, but all other veg I do fresh - it isn't normally around long enough to go off.

[nickelbabe]

(and most frozen veg is actually better than fresh, because they freeze it immediately it's picked, whereas fresh can be sitting around for a couple of weeks before it's eaten.)

[SarahLundsredJumper]

Frozen mixed veg great
also spinach
peas sweetcorn
frozen casserole veg
also frozen herbs -saves wastage when the supermarket pots give up and die after a week

[nickelbabe]

it's always worth making some ready-meals with fresh ingredients then freezing those - soups are good for that, because you can also freeze the bread

and casseroles, pies, etc.

[JetLi]

I too found the frozen broccoli a bit waterlogged, but I have switched to steaming it and its not nearly so much of a problem. Would agree frozen carrots have an odd texture, but I have a passion for tinned carrots. Green beans are fine here, also frozen mushrooms to sling into sauces & casseroles.

[AchtungBaby]

Thanks, lots more replies !

I made an emergency leek and potato soup for part of DS's lunch this morning, using frozen chopped onions and sliced leeks. It was fine, and tasted much like the last all-fresh-ingredients leek and potato soup that I made him.

Now I'm going to make a less-emergency red lentil soup, so I'm planning to ask DH nicely to chop 2 onions for me...

[dreamofwhitehorses]

Frozen peas. I didn't realise anyone lived without them! (And they keep all their nutrients, I believe)
Frozen sweetcorn same.
Tinned tomatoes, baked beans, kidney beans.
Have recently tried frozen leeks and they are brilliant for a quick soup, although you will notice a bit of difference from fresh.

And of course the classic 4 can camping stew.
Tin of stewing steak, carrots, peas, potatoes, into a pan and heat through. Eat with bread in a sleeping bag.