Hi folks, Today I went to the store and picked up strawberries. We had the Driscoll brand on sale 4 pounds for 4.99 and I bought 2 containers. I love strawberries. I cut them up and freeze them in smaller plastic bags. This way I can take out what I want for my breakfast cereal.
I freeze them on a cookie sheet after washing, hulling and cutting them into halves or quarters. Depends on how big they are. This really hits the spot all year around. I watch the sales and spend the money on them cause they are my source of vitamin C and antioxidants.
I also freeze raspberries, blackberies and blueberries in small bags. I put some in the cereal bowl and give them a rinse with cold water. Pour cereal on top and milk and I am set. I crave this and often eat it twice a day. Only lower carb cereals with lower calories also.
Aybody have any other little ideas to perk up breakfast? Irish
I've been buying them too. What with fresh fruits and vegetables running so high, I get them on sale and freeze em.
Nice to get a break on at least one food price!!!!!!
Irish - are you offering to have strawberry shortcake tonight at your house??? I'll bring the whip cream!! ;D
I don't know if you saw this post recently I had about a strawberry w/cheesecake filling . . it sounds yummy. Here it is if you missed it: https://sjogrensworld.org/index.php?topic=20000.0 Maybe, you'll have to go back to the store and get some more strawberries!! ;)
Bucky
Irish
I love strawberries too - although they are still rather expensive in the UK. I bought a 12 oz punnet for ?2 today. I'm following a low carb diet, so strawberries and double cream are my favourite dessert.
Bucky, your recipe sounds really nice. but I don't know what Graham crackers are. Are they a sweet or savoury biscuit?
Kathyx
I think probably the closest you'll find in the UK would be Digestive Biscuits. McVitie are pretty good, but not as sweet as a graham wafer or cracker.
Gosh, I am surprised that the UK doesn't have graham crackers. Are you telling me that you folks have never experienced eating "smores"???
I will explain. You place a large marshmellow on a long stick over a bonfire and get it really brown and bubbly. You then place it on a 1/2 piece of graham cracker that has a couple of pieces of Hershey chocolate candy bar on it. Place another peice of graham cracker over the marshmellow and lightly squeeze.
There, you have the sweet, chocolatey graham cracker sandwich known as a "smore". They are awesome and the name comes from "I want some more" . Irhs
We don't get Hershey chocolate in the UK either! :)
Scottie, I think we must be deprived! They sound wonderful.
Kathyx
Kathyx & Scottie - you poor things . . . you ARE missing out on some yummy desserts!!
It's interesting the differences in foods between the countries. It's hard to describe what something is . . thankfully, Linda is our interpreter . . . LOL
Scottie - at least when you come to visit your son in the U.S., you can stock up on supplies to take back to the UK and make everyone there jealous. ;)
Didn't you say before that you also don't have pumpkin there in the UK too? Here in the U.S. we'd be lost without our pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.
Bucky
Oooh, I just love strawberries, too. ;) You got quite a deal there, Irish!
I've frozen strawberries and blueberries in small bags.
Think I'll take your tip about putting them on a cookie sheet. When I froze a bag of strawberries and left the bag in the fridge for a day, when they thawed, it was a mushy bunch.
It turned out all right that time since I was putting them in a sauce, but wouldn't have been very tasty on my cereal!
Linda, thanks for "translating" what a graham cracker is. Guess they are an American thing. Something I love is good shortbread...ummmm. ;)
I spent most of Saturday picking strawberries- we just have a few ourselves here at the farm but a neighbour has a large scale pick your own patch.
I do so love picking strawberries- I have done so since I was a toddler!
Irish- where are you in Ireland? all of my dad's family are north west of Belfast- in the Ballymena area.
I knew I should avoid this thread. Now I'm hungry! ::)
I have tons of raspberry bushes in the back yard but will have to wait a couple more months before we can feast. And I checked out the blueberry bushes yesterday...looks like the dog ate every single blueberry again this year. :( Darn that little guy. ;)
I am not from Ireland. My mom was a Hawkins whose grandfather came from Ireland. She had 64 first cousins. A good Irish catholic, she was.
I wash my strawberries with the hull on and drain good and then cut them into quarters or more and lay on the cookie sheet. Freeze them good and then take a spatula and pry them off the bottom of the cookie sheet. Place in plastic bags in freezer. I just put some in a bowl and rinse them off to start the thaw. Put the cold cereal and milk on them and eat.
They are usually a little on the frozen side, but they taste really good that way. I do this with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries too. Place all three of these in bags so I have a mixture. I crave fruit and don't do well eating vegies these days. Irish
Wow, that's a lot of cousins, Irish!
Thanks for the tip on thawing the berries. I think my problem was that I left them in the bag in the fridge too long and therefore had the "strawberry mush." Ugh.
Gosh - do not know what I would do without Hershey's chocolate! Love it!
We still have strawberries here 99cents a pound at Aldi's. Never been that cheap so long either. Now if watermelon would come down a bit. ;)
I heard on our local news last night that some of the farmers markets in the area lost their strawberry crop this year due to the warm weather that came so early in the spring, followed by a frost. No strawberries this year for them. :'(
I like strawberries, but if I eat too many of them, I start to itch. Heaven forbid one of the boys even taste a strawberry!! ::)
Bucky
Irish - I thought of you today as I put my container of strawberries into my shopping cart at the grocery store! ;D
When I got home and unpacked my bags I found a 4-pack of shortcakes in there!! :o How'd that happen??? Guess I'll just have to whip up a strawberry shortcake w/whip. ;D ;D ;D I'll share it with 3 other people . . . first come, first serve.
Bucky
Bucky, I bought another 3 of the 4 pound strawberry packs at 4.99 each. When not on sale they were 7.99. I did the cold water rinse, cut out the green tops, cut them up onto a cookie sheet and froze them. Hours later I loosen them with a spatula and put them in plastic storage bags.
This makes for something good for my cereal all winter. I also did some blackberried, raspberries and blueberries. This is my one extravagance for myself. I have the appetite aversions and can't face eating real food a lot of the time. Cold cereal and the fruit are what help me keep up my nutritional needs at times.
I don't eat them on the strawberry shortcakes though. Oh man, I just remembered making the home made baking powder bisuits and putting the strawberries and cool whip. Man that was so good. If we can't eat life isn't nearly as fun. Irish ;D
Okay Irish, it's your fault that the other day while in the grocery store, and strawberries were on sale, that I picked up a 4 lb. carton of them (for $4.95). ;) Plus, I had a $2.00 off coupon - woohoo!!
Later today, I will follow your advice and rinse, cut out the green tops, slice them and freeze them on a cookie sheet, and then bag them. So, each time I get my strawberries out to eat, I will think of you!! ;D
Mmmmm, strawberries. This is one thing I DON'T have to worry about sharing with the boys - they wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole!! So sad, too bad - their loss!! ;)
Bucky
What a deal you got, Bucky. Wish I could have had such luck.
I have also frozen blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. They were all on sale in June and I packed all three kinds in many baggies. I don't wash these until just before I eat them. I mix them up so that I get a little of each on my cereal.
I think that the fall crop of blueberries are sometimes cheaper. Time will tell. With the drought we won't know til the time comes. The blackberries came from Mexico and they must have had a very good crop. I eat a lot of these every day so get my antioxidants.
Maybe it will help with some of my symptoms. ;D
Hope all is well with you. The heat just hangs on does't it. The dew points are so high and that makes us sjoggies feel horrible. Take care. Irish