I freeze a lot of bags of summer squash slices every summer, and use them to make a summer squash cassarole which is essentially the same as a lasagna -- just substitute the summer squash for the lasagna noodles. I sometimes, but not always, throw a handful of rice into the cassarole to help soak up the extra moisture from the squash. Otherwise, it just has to

During the summer, we eat almost all fresh veggies. Farmers markets are open and I have my garden. Now through May, it'll be almost all frozen veggies. I do try and freeze any access from the garden. I use some spice blends from Penzey's, like Tuscan Sunset, to perk up those veggies.

I always have a bag peas and one of corn in my freezer. I throw a handful of peas into soups and stews and use corn when I make something with black beans (or other beans too). In the dead of winter I like to use chili seasonings and corn adds a bit of sweetness to balance the flavors. I only use frozen veggies for adding to things, not for serving plain. I used to keep frozen spinach too, but haven't in years, not sure why.

I buy fresh vegetables year round. I have no aversion to buying foods from far away places since my 'carbon footprint' is pretty small, given that I live in an urban environment, walk most of the time and use public transportation when walking is out of the question.

Living in the tundra as I do, frozen vegetables are inevitable in the wintertime! LOL

I like 'em plain or buttered, but I also use them for soups, casseroles, etc.

What I normally have in my freezer is corn, peas, spinach and mixed vegetables.

here is a wonderful recipe to jazz up plain corn:

Corn With Basil

2 10oz packages frozen corn
1/2c chopped onion
1/2c celery, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2T butter
1/4tsp dried basil
1/2tsp salt
1/4 c chopped red pepper (original recipe called for 2 oz pimientos)

Combine corn, onion, celery, garlic and butter in saucepan, cook and stir
over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients ,
reduce heat. Cover and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Linda

I freeze a lot of the veggies I grow, such as green beans, peppers, leeks, and tomatoes, plus I will freeze some farmer market items for later use. I also buy frozen when on sale, and right now have corn, brussel sprouts, veg mix, peas, spinach and collards in the freezer.

Last night I steamed, then sauteed some brussels, corn and peas I will toss into a salad, the collards get a bit of bacon or ham rind tossed in for flavoring. Frozen zuccini will will stewed a bit with tomatos, onion and garlic. The frozen chopped spinach is great to use for stuffing chicken breasts. Add some feta or chevre, sun dried toms, pine nuts, garlic, stuff into a pocket or flattened breasts and bake. Do the same with a flank steak too.

Lasagna also gets spinach, zuccini or chard hidden in. SInce I cook for the folks, I have to hide veggies or they may not eat them. Both are meat and potato lovers.

Cauliflower steamed and topped with grated parmesan is a fast one also. No cream sauce, so fewer calories. Sugar snaps raw are nice and crunchy, or cut in half and throw in a salad.

Lima beans with sour cream is good too. Just fold in at the end of cooking.

One way to make a salad "colorful" during the busy weeknights it to pre-chop onions, and grate carrots on the weekend. Store in containers and you are ready.

Peppi

I always keep peas, green beans corn and chopped broccoli. Most often just steam them and serve with butter, but I sometimes add chopped onion and some red and green pepper sauteed in a little butter to the corn and some crisp bacon to the beans and garlic, oregano and tarragon to the peas and thicken with a buerre mani and some chicken broth.
Broccoli often gets a bechamel with some Parm reggiano.
And sometimes I also buy that broccoli cauliflower mix.
But I never buy frozen veggies with a "sauce" in the package nor with chopped onion...costs too much and too easy to add your self.
Linda C

I think some commercially-frozen and sold vegetables are just as good as fresh vegetables, such as broccoli, snap beans, and spinach for some uses. They're even better if you grow and freeze them yourself, since grocery store frozen foods don't have a lot of varieties, and there are definitely taste-differences.

OTOH, I think other vegetables definitely suffer from commercial freezing, such as summer squash, limas, peas, and corn. Those vegetables garden-picked and prepared while the water is simemring or the pan is warming are absolutely delicious.

So in winter we eat plain commercially-frozen vegetables that don't suffer much from taste or texture degradation, even if variety choices are limited. We also eat some garden vegetables that I freeze. I'm not as picky about frozen vegetables in winter that go into soupls, stews or pot pies, usually just use packages of frozen mixed veggies in that case. We often substitute fresh salads for "table" vegetables in the dead of winter, usually without tomatoes, since the ones you buy usually taste like cardboard. I freeze a lot of tomatoes, so we get that fresh taste in soups and stews.

It must all depend on how "spoiled" one lets oneself be with fresh vegetables, as well as availability and cost.

Unless you are growing your own veggies, frozen may have more nutrients than fresh. They are processed quickly after they are picked, while fresh-picked and trucked are several days old when they hit the stores. I find frozen veggies to be okay and as a single person, I can pour out as much as I want. They are very convenient and there is less waste.

On the other hand, I do love the taste of fresh-cooked. If I can get veggies from a farm market where I know they are freshly picked, that is ideal. That only happens in the summer around here.

Last night I served oven roasted fresh asparagus and it was very good. Not sure where it originated, but not locally!

In normal times (ie when not eating entirely from Meals on Wheels) I use frozen veges almost exclusively, except for potatoes and onions, and even then I get frozen chopped onion. I rarely cook potatoes-for-one, so I buy instant mashed potato, whose flavour I actually prefer.

Research has shown that frozen veges actually contain more nutrients than 'fresh' veges bought from the supermarket. This is because they are often treated so that they will keep longer than they normally would. In fact, some so-called 'fresh' fruit and veges could be up to one year old! Frozen veges, on the other hand, are snap-frozen within hours of picking, thus holding all their 'goodness'.

Normally (see caveat above) I try to grow a few veges, but my garden isn't big enough to supply all my needs. Ideally, of course, for better nutrition, we'd all grow our own and eat it very soon after harvesting, but that's not possible for most of us, even when the climate co-operates.

Also, I find that living alone and shopping on average once a fortnight, frozen veges are much better - I know my veges aren't going to be half-rotted before I get to use them up. I just use precisely the quantity I can eat in one meal.

I tend to buy my veges separately, rather than in combinations, and usually have carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beans, Brussels sprouts, corn cobs as staples. From time to time I'll get spinach or a mixture. I use them all in the same ways I'd use fresh veges - except the spinach, which always comes chopped and isn't any good tossed into a salad.

Now that I'm having Meals on Wheels, most of the veges I eat are 'fresh', and freshly cooked when I get it. I know this only because I've been told so - many of the volunteers who deliver and prepare the meals donate home-grown veges for the purpose.

Our market keeps a huge variety of fresh vegetables and the prices are so reasonable we keep only a few frozen vegetables for last minute needs: peas, loose corn, spinach and green beans. I prefer canned peas and green beans but Joe loves the frozen!

We always have fresh broccoli and cauliflower in the frig. I feed my dogs a partial raw diet and both broccoli and cauliflower are a staple for them.

Michelle

I almost always have these three items in my freezer: corn, peas and haricot verts (from Trader Joe's, where else).

The peas and corn go into a gazillion things. The haricot verts occasionally go into a side dish for a nice dinner but mostly I use them in nicoise salads, which I make a LOT.

Joe

Once when my kids were all under school age, we'd been at a park all day on a picnic, and on the way home in the late afternoon, I stopped at a local vegetable stand with the last bushel of Silver Queen corn on sale for $1.00. So I bought it.

But I was in a terrible hurry so I kept out 6 ears to cook for dinner and threw the rest in the freezer in the garage, loose and unshucked. And I forgot them until early November. They were frozen hard as bricks, but I decided to thaw some of them to see if they were edible.

Oh, were they good, thawed, shucked and dropped in boiling water a few minutes! I guess unshucked corn is protected from freezer burn and tissue degeneration. We ate the last of that corn on the cob on Christmas Day that year.

Of course, freezing corn this way is very space-consuming, and we don't have that luxury any more, but if I could, I'd freeze all my corn that way, though probably in plastic bags of 4 to 6 ears unshucked.

My 85-year-old Mom and I put up veggies from the Farmer's Market so we can have them all winter. We split the cost of a chest freezer so we would have adequate storage.

Currently we have zipper peas, cream peas, and butterbeans in the freezer.

And we are eagerly anticipating the re-opening of the Farmer's Market in April!

I usually keep packages of green beans, corn, stew blends, and stir-fry vegetable blends in the freezer. These help me with quick meals that I might not otherwise have time to prepare.

DonnaR/CA

I always have frozen string beans (haricot verts), chopped spinach, peas and corn from Trader Joe's on hand. The string beans are really good sauteed with some soy sauce, sesame oil and almonds! I throw in some little slices of red pepper, too! Like Joe, I use them in salads, too! The spinach is great to have on hand for spinach dips, and also use the chopped spinach for fillings for quiche, sauteed on the side, I use a lot of the spinach. No bags of mixed vegetables, we don't really care for the mix.

I always have frozen petite whole green beans, corn, broccoli, petite peas, California mix (carrots, cauliflower and broccoli), peas and carrot mix and the pearl onions (I hate to peel them) LOL

Linda

I usually have peas, corn and spinach in the freezer.

Corn and peas are almost always used as a quick side when Clive has to make his own meal. However I use frozen peas in chicken pot pie, chicken stew, creamed salmon on toast, chicken al a king and soup. Corn goes in soup. Spinach only used in spanikopita or pasta dishes such as ravioli, lasgana and spinach cheese tortillas.

Now for my dirty little secret...I prefer canned creamed corn, canned peas and canned french cut beans to frozen and even to fresh with some meals like meatloaf, hot chicken sammies or Shepherd's Pie.

Thanks for the great response! You've given me lots of ideas for quick dinners during the week. I bet I would like creamed salmon, Chase!

I usually have some canned vegetables on hand like creamed corn (for Mexican cornbread) and beans, but canned green peas have never darkened my pantry - can't handle those. I'm going to look for the frozen petite green beans and pearl onions.

Because DH and DD aren't veggie eaters, I keep many different frozen veggies on hand. That way I can heat just what I need and not have any waste.

Corn, the regular veggie mix withe beans, corn, peas, and so forth in little cubes LOL, baby green and wax beans, fancy schmancy mixes of snap peas and baby corn and baby carrots and so on.

I also freeze my own from the garden if I have them. Beans, zuchini, tomatoes (to use in place of canned tomatoes), etc.

I don't DO anything to them. Just heat them and eat them LOL.

A staple of my work lunch last year. Bowl of rice, dash of frozen veggies, dashes of soy, fish, and hot sauce. Snap the lid and lunch is ready to go. Endless variations depending on the pantry and fridge. Leftover hamburger is a frequent flyer in this dish. By lunch the veggies have thawed and a minute in the microwave makes it all good.

Sometimes I target the lunch dish and buy fancy mixes with asparagus or baby corn. Snap peas are a winner. More variety in the grocery store then I've tried. Expensive for frozen veggies but cheap on a per serving basis. I snip the corner on the bag and just use them a portion at a time sealing the bag with a twist tie. Sometimes I pinch pennies and buy bulk bags of corn or peas. While corn is an excellent addition it is another grain so I lean towards something green.

I garden but the deer were hungry last year. It was so dry they even nibbled some of my hot peppers once.

: )
lyra

I've never noticed a shortage of fresh vegetables here, and so I almost never use frozen ones. However, I do keep some on hand for emergencies - especially petite peas and corn. Sometimes I have green beans also, which I use in stir fries.

I often make an onion or onion/mushroom velouté sauce for vegetables, sometimes using the cooking liquid from the vegetable. After the vegetable is strained, I add it to the sauce. I like mushrooms with green beans, but just onion with peas or corn.

Lars

The only frozen vegetable that I keep on hand regularly, is frozen peas. Actually I have two bags in the freezer. One for eating and the other labeled "Orthopedic Peas" so there is never any confusion. This is the bag we use when icing a sore shoulder,neck, elbow, etc. ...

Ann

I like turnip greens, corn, edamame, spinach and sugar snap peas. Frozen baby peas are nice added to a salad. But that's it!

I keep frozen peas, green beans and corn in the freezer all the time. Corn, is from the farmers market, that I freeze myself. I chop green, red and yellow peppers for winter use too, but also as a time saver. It's nice to be able to grab what I need, already chopped.

To go with our New Years ham tomorrow, I'll be making creamed red potatoes and peas. The peas will be from the freezer, no other choice, we have to have our "peas for prosperity"! Another favorite here is peas and peanuts. All that is, is frozen peas with about an equal amout of salted redskin peanuts and a little mayo to bind. You don't cook the peas, just rinse in a colander under cold running water. This is a local favorite from a very nice resturant that has been in business for about 40 years. Just thinking about it is making me hungry for some...

Frozen corn I sometimes doctor with a little hvy cream and a pinch of sugar.

Brussels sprouts are another veg that I pick up frozen in the winter, especially when fresh is really expensive or when I'm just plain lazy. Plain with butter is fine, but make a very tasty side dish with B sprouts, maple syrup and bacon. Add a chopped apple if you have one that needs to be used. Yummy!

Nancy

"Orthopedic Peas" !!! LOL, Ann!

Linda

I like the frozen corn better than the canned niblets and the same with peas. I sometimes buy those mixed bags of stir fry but you have to be careful because some brands seem to have way too much carrot pieces etc.

From everything I've ever read, frozen is definitely better than canned nutritionally and sometimes even better than non-local "fresh" produce because it's frozen very quickly from field to freezer. Usually in a day or less whereas fresh produce can be warehoused and trucked and warehoused and distributed taking a week or more losing nutrients each and every day.

I eat mainly fresh but during the winter I will buy more frozen. I use frozen veggies for soups, stews and casseroles. I like the Asian mix for stir fry when I am in a hurry. And the Mexican mix with beans is good for enchiladas. And I love frozen peas, even over fresh. DH likes canned. We switch back and forth.
Clare