Panic over cold weather

[domestic goddess]

Yes, I know its a gazillion degrees almost everywhere, but I am in a panic over the fall/winter here in New England. Like, how the heck am I going to feed my kids and I raw once it gets cold? The produce supply goes down in quality and quantity and up in price and ....and....AHHHH! I know I can make soups, dips and crackers but...we do green smoothies and I am ok with frozen fruit in them but what if I can't find greens? Can I use frozen veggies? Aren't they all blanched? What do y'all do??? I do NOT want to give this up. The benefits I/my kids have gained are too much for me to throw it all away.

[Rawkinlocs]

Yep, pre-packaged, frozen greens are blanched but you could start stocking up on greens before the cold weather hits and freeze your own. I've even blended greens (when I had an abundance of them and didn't want them to go bad) with a little water and poured into ice cube trays. Once frozen, I stored them in ziploc bags and then just put a few cubes in smoothies! Probably not AS nutrient-dense as fresh greens, but still has some nutrients in it and it's better than no greens at all! Also, you can get some of Alissa's Green Powder and use a spoon or two of that per container of smoothie.

[rawzeit]

Aren't a lot of greens actually harvested in winter, such as kale? (I can't get any kale here in the summer, anyway.)

[rawbeliever]

You could stock up now and dehydrate a bunch of stuff.

[RAWk Angel]

I have juiced a lot of thigs and frozen them, just trying to stay ahead of the game lol. I am always worried that I won't be able to find something so I know I have a well stocked freezer at home.

[EZ rider]

The produce supply goes down in quality and quantity and up in price
Yeah, I know what you mean. I sure enjoy the harvest season when there are lots of produce stands and farmers markets and when I walk into any store with a produce area its just chock full of interesting selections and sale prices. I will miss the harvest season also, but while its here its extasy.

[Raw Mom]

I love the frozen ice cube method....great idea for extra green juice.

I live in Vermont and didn't have any trouble getting kale during the winter last year at the health food store. Sometimes I used the bagged spinach too at the local grocery store. Sometimes organic, sometimes not.

[Nurse in the Raw]

Just think of all the wonderful raw soups you can make. If I were you, I would freeze everything I could get my hands on.