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Freezing greens

SarahJSarahJ Raw Newbie

As I live alone, giant bags of spinach and other greens don’t get used up as quickly as they should. To avoid throwing anything out, I blend or juice a bunch of greens and then freeze them in ice cube trays. When I make my smoothies, I just add my fruits, powders, seeds, etc, a few green ice cubes and water – voila!!!

Am I losing any plant ‘power’ by doing this?

Comments

  • I wouldn’t worry about it, you’re loosing some enzymes/nutrients but not nearly as many as cooking, besides spinach cubes are really time saving and convient, I do the same thing with nut milk!

  • RCBAliveRCBAlive Raw Newbie

    This might sound like a weird question, but what do you freeze them in? I only know of two types of ice cube trays, one is plastic and one is aluminum. I would be concerned about freezing them in either type of container. I think that is more of an issue than actually freezing them, although i agree that you do lose some enzymes and nutrients.

  • I might start to freeze my greens – I also find it hard to get through big bags of greens on my own without them starting to turn nasty. This is a good idea!

  • SarahJSarahJ Raw Newbie

    RCBAlive, you’re right – plastic ice cube trays. Once they are solid, I remove them from there but then place them in a plastic bag. I think that some experimenting is in order. Thanks everyone.

  • SamiliciousSamilicious Raw Newbie

    rawererin, how does your nut milk turn out when ice cubed? I mean to say, how/what do you use them for?

    These sound like convenient concepts.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    yes of course you are losing plant power. it’s not fresh. but it’s not bad for you, and you wouldn’t be getting ANYTHING out of them if they were in the trash.

    dehydrating might be less abrasive though as there is not enzyme loss. just a thought…

  • jenergyjenergy Raw Newbie

    I did this with extra green smoothie a couple days ago… only in my silocone muffin pan. Then once they were frozen put them into a freezer bag. My mom does this all the time with greens, too. They just go bad in the fridge so quickly, so this is a great way to preserve them. The way I see it, even though you’re probably losing some of the goodness by freezing, if you don’t let it sit in the freezer for too long it’s probably fine. And I like pianissima’s view… what the heck good are your greens doing you in the trash? ;o)

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    I really doubt many enzymes are lost in freezing – don’t forget human embryos are successfully frozen and brought to life to become people! Sure, our fridges aren’t cryogenic tech, but it’s a great alternative to trashing.

  • SamiliciousSamilicious Raw Newbie

    Yikes! Do the frozen embryos really come back to life as people?? Woooah… shutter

  • I am freezing greens too, it is a good way to preserve their nutrients and I agree it is way better then throwing them out!

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    HA! Carmentina, that is great!!!

    So, is everybody blending the greens then freezing them, or is somebody doing something like washing, drying and freezing whole in ziplock bags or mason jars???

    If you blend them, are you blending them with water or what do you use as liquid???

  • rawmama, Ive been washing, drying, and freezing whole. Then i just add to smoothies when needed. Its been working great, ive never tried blending them up first though. I don’t know which is better.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Thanks smoothielove! Going to go wash, dry and freeze them whole right now :) They are for smoothies, and I love now knowing that I can freeze instead of throwing into a compost, can’t eat enough fast enough. :)

  • Raw_ChocoholicRaw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

    Would freezing the greens help them blend smoother?

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    I know that ginger becomes liquid once frozen then thawed, but don’t know about greens…yet :)

  • I also freeze them in whole! Did you know that freezing some liquid uses much more energy than freezing some solid things? I’m all for environment protection!

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