Sometimes, someone shares a homemaking tip with me that just about knocks me over with its brilliancy.
This happened to me a few days ago when talking to a fellow momma about freezing the loads of strawberries I bought from an Amish farm stand. I came home with 24 quart baskets, and while I always love having loads of frozen fruit stored up for the winter, I really don’t enjoy the process of getting it into the freezer.
She asked me what I would do with the berries once they were frozen.
“Smoothies,” I replied.
Then she gave me the most brilliant, yet common sense tip for freezing smoothie strawberries that I have ever heard. I was left with my jaw dropped, eyes wide open, and mind wondering why in the world I hadn’t thought of this to begin with!
“I just leave the green tops on when we use them for smoothies. It all gets mixed up anyhow.”
Pick your jaw up now, friends. I know you’re as flabbergasted as I was.
I put dehydrated greens in our smoothies. I put in avocado, coconut oil, winter squash, and other less fruity things. Why, why in the world should I waste my time taking the green tops off of strawberries that are going into a smoothie when we’d never notice them there anyhow? They’re perfectly edible.
I’m pretty sure this was a big moment in my homemaking life. At least I feel that way now!
The Most Brilliant Way to Freeze Strawberries for Smoothies
If you want to spare yourself a decent amount of effort when getting tasty, seasonal berries into the freezer for smoothies. follow these simple steps!
- Get your berries. So long as you didn’t spend hours picking them yourself, this is the easiest of the easy steps. If you did pick them yourself, bless your heart. I’ve been there, too.
- Wash the berries with water. I like to do this in a colander and use the sink’s sprayer attachment. Pop off any long stems (those are too tough and won’t blend up) and set any bruised or blemished berries to the side for other uses. Then lay the berries on a towel to dry.
- Place the washed, sorted, and dried berries on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Freeze them for about 8 hours, or until frozen solid.
- Once the berries are frozen, place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag.
- Put your feet up and congratulate yourself on this new-found time-saving genius.
Now, if you like frozen berries to thaw and put in fruit mixes, desserts, etc, then I’d suggest to go ahead and hull them before freezing. But if you hate the texture and taste of frozen-then-thawed strawberries and only use them for smoothies like I do, then save yourself some time and effort and leave those green tops on!
Be honest, would you leave the green tops on strawberries if you were only using them for smoothies?
Kristen…love this! I freeze fruit not only for smoothies but for my protein shakes as well. Thank you for the tip friend. (Pinned and tweeted.)
Thanks for sharing, Naomi! I consider this one of my very favorite foodie tips now. Such a time saver!
Just found this site today, have loved everything I’ve read so far. Something I like to do with frozen strawberries is make a sauce for pancakes, instead of paying the ridiculous prices for real maple syrup or eating the fake stuff. It makes me feel better about letting my kids eat their favorite food as often as I do!
Hi Janine!
Glad you found me!
Your strawberry syrup idea sounds yummy. I bet your littles love it!
Very smart idea…. Minimizes waste and saves time! Love it!
Just came across your blog and loved that the hobbies and interests you share are mine as well. Herbology is something down the road, but on my to do list of things I want to learn. Looking forward to reading more of your pages.
I’m glad you took a moment to say hello, Melissa!
I wanted to take an herbalism course for years and have finally taken the plunge. I’m loving it!
I hope you continue to find posts here that are helpful to you. Thank you again for saying hello!