Frozen food

[jenjenn]

Has anyone ever frozen spinich, mushrooms, tomatoes, and mangos? If so how long did you leave them in the refrigerator before using, or did you leave them on the counter to defrost? And what did you end up making with them?

[rawpriestess]

Well, when you freeze these items, it breaks the cell walls and changes them, if you are going to freeze them in a recipe, it works better.


So, if you were freezing enchiladas that had spinach and mushrooms inside, and you took them out to warm in the dehydrator, they taste and act more like cooked foods, because the cell walls have burst, just like they do in cooking, only you have all your nutrients and enzymes intact.


I've frozen salas, with tomatoes in it, and it is OKAY, but tomatoes are a high water content food, so it breaks them down alot to freeze them.

As far as mangos, for ice cream and smoothies, YES, but I've never thawed them out and eaten them afterwards, only in recipes.

[Spectatrix]

Generally, the higher the water content of a fruit or vegetable, the more they're changed by freezing and defrosting. Greens, sprouts, tomatoes don't do well, at least not in the sense of eating them afterwards as though they were fresh... in recipes, though, they may be fine.

[beckyb]

I made the Strawberry Crepes last night and had alot of the macadamia
nut cheese left over. I put it in the freezer... Do you think it will be OK???

if so, for how long???

Thanks

Becky

[Spectatrix]

Well it's mainly comprised of nuts, so it should be fine. The only thing I'd worry about is that it could eventually get freezer-burnt if you leave it in there too long (appropriate time would be determined by how freezer-safe the container you have it stored in, what your freezer is like, etc.)