What can I freeze for the winter in the freezer?

Many good housewives sooner or later think about what you can freeze for the winter. Modern technology allows you to save not only the flavors and flavors of summer, but also all the useful components of fruits and vegetables.

It is not difficult to learn all the tricks, it is enough to study some simple rules. And it does not require special expenses. The main condition that guarantees a good result is the presence of a good freezer, which is equipped with an absolute majority of modern refrigerators.

Unfortunately, not all owners of good technology know about all of its capabilities, so they use its potential not completely. But even in a normal freezer you can prepare a lot of useful products that will please the whole family in winter.

Why you need to freeze

The process of harvesting products for the winter with the help of freezing has a huge number of undeniable advantages in comparison with canning, drying and other methods. First of all, they are:

• Simplicity of cooking;
• Absence of high costs;
• Ease of use;
• Wide variety of options;
• The ability to quickly harvest large quantities of fruits and vegetables in the season;
• Preservation of vitamins, microelements, summer flavors.

If we compare the freeze to conservation, it can not be overlooked that this method requires in times less time and effort. Well, if you are thinking about what you can freeze for the winter for children, then your possibilities are simply limitless: useful fruit and colorful vegetable mixes are sure to please every little creature. Such preparations can greatly diversify the winter children's menu.

General rules

Before proceeding with the process, review some of the recommendations. They will help to avoid mistakes.

What can I freeze for the winter in the freezer? Experts advise to choose traditional products: fruits, vegetables, greens, mushrooms. Remember that experiments are not always successful, proceed to them when you achieve good results with traditional products.

Always prefer ripe, but not overripe ingredients. If you have any doubts about the quality, do not use the product. All lesions, as well as stems and leaves should be removed before freezing.

Wash products thoroughly before immersion in the freezer, and then let them dry completely. Before freezing, cut the products into pieces that you plan to use when preparing food - after all, chop frozen vegetables will be difficult.

Try to lay the ingredients portion by piece, rather than one large piece, so it will be easier for you to use them in the winter.

Tableware for freezing

Perhaps, the question of convenient, practical and inexpensive containers excites everyone who has decided to learn that it is possible to freeze for the winter in the freezer. Photos of fruits and vegetables look very attractive, but very few people know that their beautiful appearance largely depends on the packaging.

The easiest way to find a solution is to go to the hardware store and purchase special sealed containers for freezing. They reliably keep all the useful substances of the products, and it is very convenient and compact to place them in the freezer. You can use these containers many times. But their significant disadvantage is the relatively high price. And not in every store you can find this dish.

A good alternative are packages with a zipper. They come in different sizes, which will allow everyone to choose the most optimal option. Just lay the pieces in a bag, squeeze out all the excess air from it and fasten the lock. In winter, you can easily remove the product from the package if you immerse it for a few seconds in warm water.

Suitable for freezing and plastic disposable tableware: cups, vessels, containers, lunch boxes. But in a glass frost is not worth it - it can burst.

Frozen fresh vegetables

Thinking about what you can freeze for the winter from vegetables? Do not ignore the Bulgarian pepper, zucchini, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin. Not bad are frozen and tomatoes, in winter it is perfect for pizza, lasagna, meat sauce, borsch and other red soups, sauces. Broccoli and cauliflower are indispensable products for the dietary and children's menu. Disassemble them on umbrellas and freeze, and in the winter you can add ragout, vegetable purees, casseroles.

Many make billets from carrots and beets. It may seem that there is not much point in this, because these vegetables do not disappear from the shelves all year round. But, firstly, seasonal products are always much more fragrant, and secondly, sometimes it becomes necessary to quickly prepare a large number of vegetables. This is especially true for citizens who do not have cellars, cellars and other places to store food. In addition, grated carrots and beets are an excellent basis for borscht zazharki. In the winter, such harvesting can save a lot of time.

Well stored in the freezer and a friend vegetables: corn, green beans, green peas. But onions and garlic suffer a bad frost: they become sluggish, lose their sharpness and aroma.

Classic and unusual mixes recipes

Many prefer to make billets, stacking vegetables in a container of one kind. But there is another way, very interesting - create interesting mixtures.

If you decide that you can freeze for the winter, think in advance how you will use the blanks in the winter. It makes sense to pre-form sets that in winter will be the basis for a wonderful and varied dishes. You can pre-make vegetable mixes for a variety of dishes:

• Lecho: pepper, tomatoes, greens, carrots;
• Stew: carrots, onions, zucchini, peppers, eggplant;
• Red borsch: beets, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, rotunda, greens;
• Green borsch: greens, sorrel, spinach, green onions;
• Paprikas: colorful Bulgarian peppers, green beans, zucchini, zucchini;
• Risotto: green peas, corn, carrots, green onions, rotunda;
• Paella: Bulgarian pepper of different colors, carrots, onions, squash, eggplant, greens;
• Mushroom soup: greens, mushrooms, carrots.

Many, along with vegetables, freeze the rice or potatoes prescribed in the recipe. This method is most convenient - in the winter you will simply need to lay out the workpiece in a steamer or multivark bowl, set the time and get a guaranteed result. However, this requires much more space in the chamber, and for the potato, the freezing will not do good. In addition, frozen vegetables are prepared faster than fresh ones, and rice of this time may not be enough.

You can make mixes of berries and fruits. In winter, they are used for making milk cocktails, homemade yogurts, compotes and kissels, sweet pastries and even sauces for meat and fish.

Berries in the freezer

Many mothers think about what can be frozen for the winter for a child. The first thing you should pay attention to is berries. Especially valuable are those collected at the dacha or brought from a trusted farmer. For freezing, almost all berries are suitable: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, chokeberry, currants, grapes and many others.

Before freezing, remove the stems and leaves, wash the berries, fold in the container as compactly as possible. The less air gets, the more juices remain in the berries.

Puree, sorbet, ice cream

Thinking about what you can freeze for the winter? Photos of fruit ice, sorbet ice cream sometimes look like the menu page of an expensive restaurant. But you can easily make this yummy yourself. There are many recipes for such delicacies.

Here are a few simple ways to preserve the colors and flavors of the summer before the New Year holidays:

• Sorbet: pass through a meat grinder with a large net of strawberries, currants or raspberries, add sugar to taste, pour into a container and freeze.
• Fruit ice: pour the mixture of berries with natural juice, pour over the cups, insert the sticks.
• Ice cream: beat a banana in a blender, add any berries to taste, pack in a serving bowl.

In winter, such preparations can not only be served in the form of ice cream, but also used for preparing a wide variety of desserts.

Fruits that are suitable for freezing

In containers, packages you can frost the fruit. Perfectly tolerate low temperatures of peaches, apricots, plums, pears. Sour little apples are also suitable for freezing - separately or as part of a mix.

On the question of what can be frozen for the winter from fruits and vegetables, there are many answers. If you doubt that a particular product will tolerate a freeze, try to prepare a small portion. With good results next year it will be possible to freeze more.

Experienced housewives who have mastered the process of freezing, are advised to sign the workpiece, so that in winter it is not necessary to guess: a watermelon in a container or tomatoes? Covered with hoarfrost chopped pieces are easy to mix.

Exotic products

Few people know that you can freeze for winter at home even tropical fruits. This may be relevant, for example, if after the holiday there remained a large number of ripe fruits that are unlikely to be used quickly.

You can freeze them. With mango, avocado, papaya need to peel, cut into slices, put into packages. Avocado is better to freeze separately, because this fruit is often used for salty and spicy dishes. Pineapple freeze without skin, cut into rings or pieces.

Citrus frost is good - it kills bitterness. Lemons and oranges can be frozen right in the skin. Mandarins, sweets and grapefruits are better to disassemble on lobules.

Shop and forest mushrooms: features of freezing

Do you know that you can freeze even mushrooms for the winter? Especially you will like this method of mushroom pickers. After all, each of them knows that they need to harvest mushrooms on the same day they were harvested. Sometimes it is very difficult physically. But unlike marinating, pickling and even drying mushrooms, it will take a little time and effort to freeze.

Remember that the oyster mushrooms and champignons can simply be cut into slices. A forest mushrooms better boil before freezing. So they will take much less space in the freezer, and in the winter they will not have to digest them long before applying.

Greenery

Perhaps, this is the simplest and most advantageous of all that can be frozen for the winter in the freezer. To freeze is suitable for a large number of species of greenery: parsley and dill, sorrel and spinach, leaf salads, green onion and garlic, rosemary, coriander, watercress and much more. Few people know, but the beet tops - a delicious and healthy product - are well tolerated.

There are several basic ways, from which you can choose the most convenient:

• Freezing of sliced greens in a package;
• Freezing in ice;
• Freezing in olive oil.

With the first everything is clear and so: chop the greens, fold tightly in a bag or lunch box. The second two methods involve the use of ice containers. Densely place the greens, pour olive oil or water. Such cubes are convenient for use. They are added to salads, sauces, soups.

Semifinished products

And here are a few ideas in the piggy bank seeking an answer to the question about what can be frozen for the winter in the freezer. You can freeze cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, billets for dolma. Remember, you should not store such semi-finished products for more than three months.

Application of frozen food

If you have already come up with what you can freeze for the winter, think about how you will use the blanks. Remember, do not defrost food. Just remove them from the package and use the same way as you would use raw ones.