I am the biggest fan of frozen veggies! For years I have had a bag or two on hand just incase I needed to make a side dish in a flash. Since I have been trying to eat healthier I find myself adding them to every dish I cook and go through a bag or four of them weekly. They are the quickest and easiest way to get your 5 a day without breaking the bank. Most frozen veggies range from $1-$2 a bag and are packed with a pound of the veggie. You can get 5-7 bags of veggies for $10 while those same veggies bought fresh would be $20-$40!
The trick with buying, storing and using your frozen veggies is to try and maintain a nice mix of of your favorite combination of veggies in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Doing this will not only save you the time taking each bag out of the freezer to cook with, but will also make sure you have a variety of veggies on hand to add to your favorite dish. If you have an extra 1/2 or 1/3 measuring cup laying around I suggest keeping it in the bag so you can easily dish out your 2/3 to 1 cups of veggies (typical serving size). A few dishes I find myself using the veggies for are: Omelets, Soups, Couscous, Rice, Pasta, Sauces, Mac & Cheese, and Casseroles. What is great about having them mixed and ready is that adding a few scoops of veggies will make your dishes healthier and will also give your food a greater depth of flavor.
What I currently have in my veggie bag:
1/2 bag Onions
1/2 bag Diced Red & Green Peppers
1/2 bag Chopped Broccoli (anything larger cooks unevenly)
1/2 bag Chopped Spinach
1/2 bag Chopped Zucchini
Check out my Healthy Alternative recipes for ideas of how you can add more veggies to your diet.
The next A Dash of Health post will be on bread.
