One thing that comes with the Winter is lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. For us, the garden will still be growing a few vegetables under greenhouses, but there will be no peas, no corn and no carrots. Farmers markets will be closed, or only selling hearty greens. Grocery stores will have vegetables, but they won’t taste fresh as they’ve been shipped and prices will raise. You’ll suddenly see raspberries for $7 instead of the $1.50 you were paying in June. Oh and corn on the cob? If you’re in a cold location, good luck seeing it until next Summer.
So how do you get your vegetables during the Winter? Here’s what I suggest, frozen vegetables!
The University of California, Davis, in partnership with the Frozen Food Foundation, conducted a study that revealed that frozen fruits and vegetables are most often (or generally) nutritionally equal to – and in some cases better than – their fresh counterparts. For the study each fruit and vegetable was analyzed under the following conditions: frozen (analyzed within 24 hours of harvest and after 10 and 90 days of storage in a freezer) and fresh-stored (analyzed within 24 hours of harvest and after three and 10 days of storage in a refrigerator). Freezing fruits and vegetables is nature’s pause button and an easy way to combat things like the cost of fresh produce, the cost of fresh ‘out of season’ produce and issues like fresh fruits and vegetables spoiling before you’re able to prepare and eat them. Did I mention frozen vegetables are extremely convenient and affordable? Think frozen in Winter!
I usually bring my own lunch to our studio. Lately I’ve just been craving fresh food, I just don’t want anything super hearty to weigh me down in the afternoon. I just finished a big bowl of warm broccoli, carrots and peas. Combined with a warm cup of green tea, I got the perfect lunch. The vegetables cost me $1.22. The meal warmed me up. It also made me feel great afterwards. Win, win situation.
Want some cold hard facts? Nearly 80 percent of Americans fail to consume the recommended amounts of fruit, with nearly 90 percent failing to meet dietary recommendations for vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are major contributors of essential nutrients in our diets, and consuming fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced risk of many chronic diseases. Given the increase in the rates of chronic diseases among all age groups, eating a diet rich in a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is more important than ever. Again, think frozen!
You see those frozen peas up above? Throw them in a stir fry, a pasta, a soup, a slow cooker recipe. The possibilities are endless. Below I’m listing some of my favorite recipes using frozen vegetables. These are some of my year long staples, many of them being comfort foods that hit the right spot during the cold months.
Creamy Chicken Noodles – uses corn
Slow Cooked Tomatillo Salsa Roja Chicken Tacos – uses corn
One Pan Taco Casserole – uses corn
Easy Tamale Taco Soup – uses corn
Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup – uses corn
Creamy Mashed Cauliflower – uses cauliflower
Homemade Chinese Pork Wonton Soup – uses peas
Chinese Fried Rice With Lettuce – uses peas
susan fuqua says
Love your recipes and thanks for passing along the benefits of frozen vegetables, YES Nature’s pause button at its finest.
Emma | Fork and Good says
Yay! I love frozen veg, they are my life saver 🙂
[email protected] says
Sure frozen veggies have saved my life quite a lot of times haha!! Sadly my freezer is broken so until then I have to be super smart or else it’s running for grocery shopping every day!!
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
I love that expression you used – nature’s pause button! Frozen veggies rule for sure! Especially peas!
… But … roll on next summer (brrrrr)
Chris @ Shared Appetite says
Frozen veggies are the key to surviving winter! When I’m really on top of my game, I’ll work on freezing fresh produce that I’ve accumulated over the summer months… but that’s when I’m on my game haha. Love that farmer’s market box!
Shashi @ runninsrilankan says
Pamela – I love this informative post. I have been avoiding frozen foods – not because I thought they were nutritionally dense but because I just like cutting/chopping stuff – but as life starts getting hectic around the holidays, frozen veggies would be such a quick and easy way to incorporate veggies into a meal!
Sues says
I’ve been hearing so much lately about how good frozen veggies are for you. Whenever I’m craving a serious dish of pasta and parmesan, I throw lots of frozen peas in for a little bit of green!