Frozen vs Fresh Foods
Since I talk about food quite a bit in the guide I find it important to give you enough tips on how to make eating healthier as easy (and affordable) as possible. We don’t all have the means to go to organic supermarkets and even if you do, it’s good to know that you don’t have to. In this post I’ll talk a bit about Fresh vs Frozen food.
Fresh produce over frozen, most would say. But don’t be that quick with your judgement on this one. Fresh fruits and veggies, stored in the cabinet or refrigerator, lose some of their nutritional value over time, while frozen vegetables and fruit maintain most of their original value until defrosted. So you might say that, especially smaller households - where a bag of oranges takes a week to finish - would benefit from buying frozen foods. Even if it’s just because it’s more cost efficient.
Fruits
I have to be honest, frozen fruits are not my favorite. But if you want to use them for baking, desserts or smoothies, this is the way to go. Freezing fruit yourself is the easiest thing: just tuck them in a container and into the freezer they go. The part most people struggle with is how to defrost the produce. This is especially the case with smaller fruits such as berries. A trick: place the fruit in a plastic bag and submerge in a bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it though, you don’t want the product to become mushy. Other bigger fruits like bananas or oranges can be left in the fridge overnight. After that they should be ready to use.
Veggies
Veggies work a bit differently than fruits. First of all, if you want to freeze fresh produce yourself make sure to blanche them before you do. This makes sure they hold their texture and taste while frozen. Easy part is the defrosting: you don't have to with most vegetables. Just cook them like you would regular fresh produce. Just keep in mind that the cooking time will be about 50% longer than normal. Exceptions to this rule are products such as frozen spinach (if in a solid block) - make sure to defrost those first before cooking.
Seafood
There’s almost no supermarket that carries day-fresh fish, unless you go to the super fancy or live in an area close to sea. Seafood that gets frozen right after being caught loses little of its nutritional value, making it a pretty sound choice - if only you get rid of your preconceptions about it. And what many people don’t know is that the “fresh fish” you find in the supermarket is previously frozen too. Nothing wrong with that!
Next to that you’ll be helping the environment a little too. Frozen fish normally gets transported via road or sea, while fresh produce needs air travel to get to the destination faster. Last but not least it helps with producing less food waste. It is said that almost 30% of fresh seafood gets thrown away due to its shelf life. Need I say more?
Meat
I try to stay away from using a microwave - which for some might seem like the easiest way to defrost frozen meats. Instead - just take the produce out of the freezer and into the fridge the evening before using so it can slowly defrost by itself. Another option is to place the meat in an airtight zip bag and place it in a bowl of cold water. An hour should be good for smaller pieces. Two to three hours might be necessary for larger cuts. Make sure to change the water every 30 minutes though, to ensure it stays cold. Oh, and if you’re really in a time crunch you can tuck your frozen meat straight into the pan. Just keep in mind that the cooking time will be about 50% longer and the end result (sear on a steak or crispness on the chicken skin) won’t be like you might be used to.
Now having said all this I want to emphasize that I’m still a big fan of fresh produce, but in my opinion there’s a lot of benefits to frozen produce too so we can get rid of our harsh judgement on it.
Happy freezing!