frozen wild blueberries Archives - Page 2 of 2

How Much Food are You Wasting? Probably More than You Care to Admit.

I turned 50 this year and along with facing my mortality directly in the mirror, I also embarked on – along with my reluctant husband Eric – some serious financial planning. This started with scrutinizing our monthly budget. When Eric said he thought we spend too much money on food, I was frankly a little hurt.

“What?!” I pleaded, I’m the person who cooks nearly everything from scratch, who brings leftovers to work everyday, and who considers it a personal challenge to keep our food costs down, while simultaneously providing colorful, tasteful, super-healthy, superfood-inspired meals. I could go on, but you get my drift.

As a family of three, we typically spend about $100 on food per week and I thought this was pretty outstanding, especially given the fact that I shop at Whole Foods and buy a fair amount of organic food. But when I read Liz Weiss’s recent blog about shopping the freezer isle, I admit, it was incredibly revealing. “Gosh—maybe I am guilty of throwing away an unjustifiable amount of fresh food, and in so doing, contributing not only to my own financial woes, and to the crisis of world hunger, but also to a set of serious environmental problems,” I thought.

As I began to read more about food waste, I quickly grasped that it is becoming one of our nation’s top environmental concerns – and for a variety of reasons:

Most Americans are throwing away an astounding 30 to 40 percent of their food;
An American family of four wastes an average $1,484 worth of edible food a year;
Fruits and vegetables represent the highest percentage of food waste in America at 52 percent, followed by seafood (50 percent).
Americans throw away more food than paper, plastic, metal and glass.
Growing food that never gets eaten squanders vast quantities of fuel, agricultural chemicals, water and land, needed to produce it; and finally,
Rotting food that ends up in landfills releases dangerous methane, which is at least 20 times more lethal than carbon monoxide.

Needless to say, all of these facts – and many more – have sent me back to the drawing board of my food buying habits. From what I have learned, it now seems unambiguous that one of the most obvious ways I can reduce my food waste is to examine my fresh food habits and spend more time shopping the freezer isle. Frozen fresh Wild Blueberries, Frozen Brussels Sprouts, Frozen Spinach and Kale and, yes, even Frozen Haricots Verts (my newfound favorite from Trader Joes) are all perfectly delicious, nutritionally sound, and environmentally respectable choices.

As someone who is passionate about local fresh fresh food and who participates in a local CSA, I won’t promise to buy frozen foods year round, but I can certainly do so when it makes sense. In some cases —Wild Blueberries, for example—buying frozen is the only logical choice. These delicious little fruits come into ripeness only once a year – in August – and are harvested at the peak of ripeness. Fresh Wild Blueberries are only available in the summer and only in close proximity to where they grow in Maine and Eastern Canada, so buying them frozen and keeping them available in your freezer year round makes good common sense.

Now that I am buying more food from the freezer isle, I am noticing a whole lot less food waste (compost) at home. And, as Liz Weiss promised, I’m also spending less time in the kitchen chopping, culling and cleaning all of those fresh veggies.

My husband is happy, our budget has been favorably adjusted, the food we aren’t wasting is available for others, and our awareness about the effects of food waste just took a quantum leap forward.

On this Earth Day, let’s all think about our own impact on this beautiful planet of ours. Let’s share the message about food waste in our communities and start to solve this senseless problem for the planet. Here are some useful techniques for reducing your food waste:

Make shopping lists and plan ahead
Reduce the number of impulse buys at the market
Buy only what you need; (resist the 2 for 1 offers)
Don’t be lured into buying larger quantities
If you do buy too much, try freezing some of the ingredients before they go bad
And remember to shop the frozen aisle.

A large number of websites and articles are devoted to the topic of food waste. Here are a few websites and articles I particularly liked. Share them this Earth Day and spread the word….

End Food Waste Now

http://www.endfoodwastenow.org

American Wasteland

http://www.americanwastelandbook.com

Think Eat Save

http://www.thinkeatsave.org/index.php/about/eat-tips

World Food Day

http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/food_waste_the_facts

New York Times
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/

National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141013-food-waste-national-security-environment-science-ngfood/

World Resources Institute

http://www.wri.org/publication/reducing-food-loss-and-waste

Are Frozen Fruits and Veggies Healthy? An Interview with Liz Weiss, MS, RD

A three-part series that proves how frozen fruits and veggies are healthy, affordable and “green.”

Let’s face it, there’s a stigma associated with frozen food. Frozen dinners, frozen desserts, and yes, even frozen fruits and vegetables just aren’t something that price-conscious, health-conscious, and earth-conscious moms rave about. But if you’re skipping the freezer aisle altogether, then you’re missing out, says award-winning broadcast journalist, nutrition expert and blogger, Liz Weiss, RD.

“Frozen fruits and vegetables got a bad rap years ago when freezing technology was in its infancy,” says Liz. “But things have changed a lot and there are plenty of reasons to shop the freezer aisle, especially if you’re a health conscious, price conscious, and earth conscious mom.”

Liz was kind enough to share her philosophy about buying frozen. You’ll be surprised by what she’s keeping in her freezer and why price, environment, and nutrition are among her top motivators for shopping frozen.

Why do you like using frozen?

What I love about frozen fruits and veggies is that they are always at the ready. If I’m making quesadillas and I need corn, I can always grab a cup and use only what I need. If I’m making a smoothie, I can grab a cup of frozen fresh Wild Blueberries. And when I seal the bag, I know those berries are going to last several months, not just a few days. Frozen fruits and veggies are a go-to ingredient for cooking and the perfect choice for a mom on the go.

How do frozen foods stack up in terms of price?

Prices vary and, as with any food you buy, you always want to look for what’s on sale, especially if you are a bargain shopper. But keep in mind that even if a frozen option is a few more pennies per pound, you’re still going to benefit from a lot less food waste. For example, frozen mangoes will be pitted, peeled and chopped, strawberries are going to be hulled and your green beans and spinach will be trimmed. So, there is often more value in the frozen choices.

With all of the advantages, why don’t more people buy frozen?

There is a stigma associated with frozen and canned foods, and a perception that frozen can’t be as nutritious. But this is not true.

What about nutritional values?

Consumers should not worry about the nutritional value of frozen fruits and vegetables. A recent study by the University of California-Davis looked at the nutrient content of eight commonly-purchased frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables (blueberries, strawberries, carrots, corn, broccoli, green beans, green peas and spinach.) The results show that the nutritional value of the frozen choices are generally equal to – and in some cases better than – the fresh choices.

So the nutritional benefits are comparable?

Yes. Many of our nation’s frozen foods are processed at the point – and peak – of harvest. When I visited the Wild Blueberry barrens in Maine last summer I saw it first-hand. There, the processing plants are situated right in the middle of the Wild Blueberry fields. Harvesters are collecting the ripe fruit, washing it, and freezing it within hours of harvest. Those berries don’t suffer the delay or the impact of a long transportation system.

Are there environmental factors to consider?

Yes there are. When you use frozen fruits and vegetables, you’re not going to waste as much food. A full 40 percent of the food in this country is wasted in the home kitchen. Much of that is because it spoils before it’s eaten. Buying frozen fruits and veggies allows you to use exactly what you need and store the remainder for later.

So buying frozen is more earth friendly?

Yes. One of the biggest emerging environmental issues is food waste. In a few years, our planet is going to be asked to produce enough food for 7.5 billion people. Yet, we know that consumers waste hundreds of millions of pounds of food annually. Simply put, if we waste less, we can feed more people and lower our family’s carbon footprint.

What’s in your freezer now?

Right now I have Wild Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, mango, and pineapple. In the veggie world I have petite frozen peas, frozen corn, edamame, spinach, and kale. I often have frozen mixed greens and even sweet potato fries. I keep a large variety because I love to cook and I want a good diversity of food on hand.

Can you share some ideas for dishes using frozen fruits and veggies?

Yes, there are tons of great ways to make use of frozen fruits and veggies, which is why I keep so many on hand. Here are some of my favorites:

Smoothies—these are an obvious place for frozen fruits and veggies. At my house, we are huge smoothies fans and we probably drink smoothies 5 days a week. Frozen Wild Blueberries find there way into a lot of our smoothies, but other fruits and greens are also great. Check out Liz’s Blueberry Frosty and Wild Blueberry & Chia Seed Smoothie.

Quesadillas—these are a favorite and the varieties are endless – I use flour tortillas with veggie filling and cheese to “glue” it all together. I combine sautéed bell peppers with frozen spinach, frozen corn kernels with leftover chicken and stir in some BBQ sauce. Check out my Quick Quesadilla Pockets.

Lasagna or Ravioli—Frozen spinach is great for a quick lasagna or ravioli. This is a dish that kids love too. Check out a short video and recipe for my Super-Fast Spinach Lasagna.

Soups and Chili—I use frozen corn, edamame, and frozen green beans in all types of soups and chili. The frozen mixed veggies hold up really well too. See my recipe for Beef Vegetable Soup.

Pasta Salads—I’m a big fan of pasta salads. I add shelled edamame, corn, or any number of frozen veggies to a pasta salad. Check out my recipe for Tortellini Lunchbox Salad

Vegetables and Snacks — one of my favorite all time recipes is for Lightened Up Creamed Spinach and you can’t go wrong with this edamame snack.

Liz Weiss is an award-winning broadcast journalist, cookbook author, and radio show host who started Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen, a leading blog for parents in search of better ways to feed their family a super-nutritious diet. She’s also the co-author of two great books: No Whine with Dinner: 150 Healthy, Kid-Tested Recipes from The Meal Makeover Moms and The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time and she recently released a mobile recipe app called, Meal Makeovers. You can read more about Liz at http://mealmakeovermoms.com/

What’s Frozen Good For? Wild Blueberry Baking (Among Other Things)

Got a taste for something sweet, flaky, and not so big that it will spoil both dinner and breakfast the next day? The Hartford Courant’s Linda Giuca has the right idea. Over at the Courant, they are just close enough to the heart of wild blueberry country (Maine, Quebec and Eastern Canada) to know what hits the spot when it comes to a quick dessert. Easy Blueberry Turnovers are warm and fruity, sure. But do they also integrate one of the most nutritious antioxidant-packed superfruits you can put on your plate? You bet they do. And Guica makes one of the most delicious pitches for the convenience and taste of frozen we’ve heard…well, at least all day! Says Guica:

“These mini-turnovers also used another item from the freezer – local blueberries from last summer’s pick-your-own trip. If you didn’t make a picking excursion, the tiny wild blueberries from Maine, available in the frozen foods section of most supermarkets, make a good substitute.”

A good substitute indeed. If you know frozen, you know frozen wild blues are actually a preferred alternative for chefs and bakers. In fact, not long ago, we answered some of your most asked questions about wild blueberries when it comes to using them as an ingredient in everything from muffins to entrées. Here’s one of our updated favorites from the archive if you need convincing:

Do frozen wild blueberries work in a recipe that calls for fresh?

Yes. Frozen wilds are ideal for recipes in just about every instance. Allison Fishman, author of You Can Trust a Skinny Cook, says using frozen is her ideal method for cooking, mostly because “it’s they best way to get the whole berry.” She also likes the cost savings of frozen, and uses frozen wild blueberries in all of her recipes that call for blueberries, with rare exception. In fact, many respected chefs have revealed their passion for wild blueberries and why they consider them a culinary star.

The IQF or “frozen fresh” method makes making the case for frozen easy—they are a seamless substitution for recipes, jams, toppings, and for eating blueberries all by themselves. Because wild blueberries are frozen at their peak of taste and nutrition, when you are using frozen, you are getting all the benefits of fresh. (Along with the added convenience and ease of use when you’re baking!)

Now you’re ready for a delicious treat with fresh frozen fruit. Don’t forget to open the freezer before you open the oven – wild blueberries are pleasing in so many ways.

Want more FAQs? Head over to FAQ Blue for the most asked questions and tips about eating, adding and cooking with wild blueberries.

Wild Blueberry Favorites – Your Top 5 Recipes

Need a Healthy Eating Idea? These Favorites are Tried, True & Blue

Looking for a new dining or dessert idea that’s big on health and just as big on taste? We’ve assembled the top most-viewed recipes from wildblueberries.com from the last twelve months and made them into our – that is, your – countdown of the Top 5 Wild Blueberry Recipes. Of all the unique, creative ways to use wild blueberries, why do these recipes keep coming out on top? The answer is palpable. Here, you be the judge.

#5: Wild Blueberry Chicken Breast

We were delighted to see a non-dessert recipe show up in the past year’s Top 5: This one is perfect for its easy pairing of protein with the sweet, tangy taste of wild blueberry sauce. The secret: deglazing the pan with red wine, wild blueberries, lemon rind and salt. It turns chicken into a superfruit specialty. Using frozen wild blues means you can keep this recipe up your sleeve for any time you want something unique, easy, and big on healthy ingredients.

#4: Wild Blueberry Crisp

The jury is in: we simply can’t resist a crisp – the crunch, the sweetness, and the satisfaction is what makes this dessert a true favorite. This crisp recipe delights over and over again because of its fruit combination (apples paired with blues) and its ease. Add chopped pecans if you wish for an additional nutty crunch – undeniable dessert excellence.

#3: Brownie Dominoes with Wild Blueberry Cinnamon Sauce
Brownies are a consistent, seasonless favorite, and this recipe comes in at #3 for its winning combination that rose quietly above the rest. It must be its chocolately flavor that pairs so wonderfully with blueberries. Served with wild blueberry sauce as recommended gives them the crave-worthy quality that makes them a list topper. Hard to believe, but these are Color Code health-approved, too.

#2: Wild Blueberry Pie

The second place spot for popularity over the last 12 months is no surprise – it’s a pie classic that stands the test of time because it is always flawless and delicious. Winning out over more inventive desserts, Wild Blueberry Pie reigns for its supreme beauty (and rustic lattice-top crust, if you choose) and its bountiful six cups of wild blueberries that flow past its corners. Wildly delicious? Agreed.

#1: Wild Blueberry Smoothie

What makes this recipe the top visited recipe of the last year? There’s no secret that the smoothie is a beloved way to get healthy antioxidants. While nutrition experts advocate eating the whole fruit rather than those in juiced form to preserve desirable fiber, the Wild Blueberry Smoothie fits the bill. It contains all the fiber of the whole fruit, and all the dark blue skins where beneficial phytos reside. Add the benefits of yogurt and honey to this naturally sweet concoction, and yep, it’s the best of the best.

Runner-Up: An Easy Summer Dessert. Looking for an easy, colorful, warm-weather dessert that everyone will love? Try #6 on our list, Wild Blueberry Cassis Mousse Cake, a perfect choice for summer.

Check out our new look! A brand new design for wildblueberries.com means searching for all our best recipes is even easier and more fun, whether it’s for breakfasts, snacks, salads, entrees, desserts or a delightful summer drink. (Bookmark us for when you need a delicious, antioxidant-rich dish any time of day!)

Health.com Cites Wild Blueberries as Pick for Winter

It’s a set-in-stone rule for cold-weather eating: fruit can rescue good nutrition in the winter months. We often don’t get the fruit requirements we need when the mercury drops, but frozen makes our favorite fruits available and as nutritious as fresh (if not more, due to being quick-frozen at their peak). So why are we ducking our daily requirements? There should be no excuses.

Health.com lays out the best winter fruits, and starts their list with powerful wild blueberries, urging readers to “Buy ’em: Frozen” and touting the nutritional and economic virtues of the small, wild fruit.

From Health.com’s How to Get Your Favorite Fruits in Winter:

“Frozen blueberries are typically the petite wild version, which have been found by scientists to contain more disease-thwarting antioxidants than their traditionally cultivated counterparts (the type you’re most likely to find fresh right now). Also, fresh blueberries are pricey in winter and, if trucked in from afar, can go moldy fast.”

The article also cites wild blueberries as one of the best superfoods for weight loss, and no wonder: a 1-cup serving is just 80 calories, and provides 4 grams of fiber for helping you feel full – a perfect food to help you keep your New Year’s resolution.

Get ’em frozen indeed! Well done, Health.com!

Why Wild Blueberries Should Be Part of Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Beat the Beige, Give Turkey Its Tang & Give Thanks for Wild Blues

by tibchris

You may think harvest season marks the one time of year when wild blueberries truly get their due. But if your idea of wild blues is stuck in August, it’s time to change your thinking: November is the wild blueberry’s heyday.

With homemade food in the spotlight and new recipes to impress the family on the radar, wild blueberries steal the show at a Thanksgiving spread. Maybe it’s because they are one of few blue foods that appear in nature. Or maybe it’s because they make everything a little more fun. Bring wild blueberries to dinner and you’ll put a smile on your host’s face, and you’ll be a hit at the kids’ table as well. When all the gobbling is over and the tryptophan kicks in, you’ll be thankful you did. Here’s why:

Taste. There’s nothing comparable to the sweet-sour-spicy taste of wild blueberries. They work well with just about any Thanksgiving dish and provide the ideal yin to the generous yang that makes up the usual Thanksgiving suspects like turkey, tubers, and stuffing.

Tradition. The best Thanksgiving dish puts a subtle twist on tradition, and wild blueberries fit the bill. Indigenous to Maine and eastern Canada, their presence provides a nod to native American foods. In fact, there are only three native North American fruits – Concord grapes, wild blueberries and cranberries – so you’d be remiss to leave out this essential berry.

Ease of cooking. Wild blueberries are a busy cook’s dream. They are smaller and more compact than their cultivated counterparts, and that helps them hold their shape for whatever you put them through. And, thanks to IQF, freezing preserves their individuality (not to mention their nutrition). They are great for baking, boiling for sauces, they work cold and warm, and they garnish as well as they cook.

Health benefits. Total indulgence is so yesterday. Today, there’s a trend toward maintaining healthy eating so even during the holidays your nutrition doesn’t go to pot. That’s where wild blueberries excel. High in antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber, they satisfy the palate and nourish the body while still tasting like an indulgence.

Color. Seeking out colorful foods for Thanksgiving is a must. Because of the abundance of earth tones as a result of turkey, potato, stuffing, onions and other foods that are on the beige part of the spectrum, a spark of color is crucial to bring a Thanksgiving plate to life. Enter wild blueberries, a rare opportunity to add high-octane color to a piled-high platter.

Cranberries optional. If some members of your clan don’t care for the traditional cranberry sauce, wild blueberries save the day. Their flavor is a unique brand of sweet due to a wonderful natural flavor variation that is a result of a combination of several different varieties of plant that create this indigenous crop. Or keep the cranberries – they pair extremely well with blues, enhancing the taste of both in pies, sauce, and stuffing.

Cost. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, Thanksgiving dinner will be 13% more expensive this year than it was last year. The price of turkey alone is up .25/lb. If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd, keeping costs down is key. The best advice? Think big. Buying ingredients in bulk helps, and oversize bags of frozen blues are economical and never go bad if they are unused. Avoiding pre-packaging is another way to stretch the food budget, and wild blueberries are a perfect unprocessed ingredient – it’s a frugal gourmet’s dream.

Plan Your Holiday Menu! How Will You Use Your Blues?

Cranberries and blueberries make a stellar taste combination. Impress the fam with this Cranberry and Wild Blueberry Pie. Or mix it up with lip-smacking Blue Cranberry Sauce, or some Homemade Cranberry Blueberry Sauce.

Looking for a Cranberry Sauce alternative? This Szechwan Crispy Duck with Chinese Wild Blueberry sauce creates a fantastic flavor profile. Using turkey instead of duck works equally well to show off these two tastes. Or make this very scoopable Wild Blueberry Salsa. Even Betty Crocker recommends adding cherries and blueberries to their Cranberry Stuffing recipe to vary the taste.

Done with traditional pie? Think outside of the circle – Wild Blueberry Grunt is a fun alternative to pumpkin pie, or you can impress the relatives with your culinary know-how by making Wild Blueberry Crème Brûlé.

Finally, if you’re looking for a meal opener or a great bring-with hors d’oeuvre, you’re covered with
Goat Cheese Tart with Caramelized Onions and Wild Blueberries – delicious and perfectly portable.

Saving Your Frozen for Processing? You’re Missing Out

A recap of the 2011 Berry Health Benefits Symposium includes some interesting data about those small nutritional gems we know as berries. All varieties were under discussion this year at this California symposium, including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, as participants piled on the evidence for the berry’s superfood status and the impact they have on health.

Berries seem destined to be in the spotlight. Research continues to uncover their powerful anti-aging properties and scientists continue to learn more about the important role they play in disease prevention, including skin cancer, colon cancer, brain health, and vision, even obesity. However, there is one point in this recap we take issue with:

“Unless you live in Maine, the fresh blueberries you eat are of the ‘high bush’ type. The ‘low bush’ or wild blueberries of the northeast (including Canada) are much smaller and have a very short season. They are mostly frozen and used in food processing.”

It’s true that the northeast shines when it comes to wild blueberries, and the point that wilds are only indeginous to the areas of Maine and Canada is well taken: it’s what makes this little blue berry so unique! However, this interesting fact requires some clarification. On behalf of frozen wild blueberry lovers across the nation, we felt compelled to make these two points to ripen the berry discussion:

#1. Actually, they may have a short season, but the wild blueberries harvested in Maine and parts of Canada supply the entire country and parts of the world. Maine, for example, produces about 38% of the world’s wild blueberries and 15% of all blueberries in North America. Between Maine and Canada, around 204 million pounds of blueberries are harvested per year!

It’s becoming more and more common to live outside of Maine and still enjoy the benefits of wild — thank goodness, since the best way to get the most powerful dose of antioxidant benefit is to make sure you are buying wild, or lowbush berries.

Wild are smaller and have a higher skin-to-pulp ratio, and the skin is where the advantages reside. So while you may have trouble procuring a just-picked pint of wild blueberries outside of Maine or Canada, frozen wilds are available widely. You’ll find them in New England, in the South, in the West, even in California! Find out where to buy frozen wild blueberries.

#2. The idea that frozen is used primarily in food processing is simply short-sighted.

First, frozen is the best thing that has happened to nutrition since the icebox became the refrigerator. Frozen produce of all varieties provide a nutritious solution for families looking to make healthy eating more convenient and affordable.

What’s more: chefs love frozen wild blueberries and use them widely. Among our many interviews with chefs and cooks using frozen wild blues, the consensus is clear: they hold a sweet, complex flavor after baking because they are not as acidic as some fruits. They maintain their flavor nicely compared to other berries as well, and they stay truer to their original form. While some berries are processed, they are overwhelmingly used in recipes where they are not: wild blueberries can handle being mixed much more easily than a number of other fruits, and they are often used when the appearance of the whole fruit is important.

Second, frozen is as nutritious as fresh, and individual quick freezing (IQF) means berries are frozen at the peak of freshness in a way that preserves the whole berry: no blocks of ice, no cylinders of puree. Just all the wonders of wild blues. Yes, frozen is perfect for smoothies, but they are also perfect for most any purpose where fresh is used.

So, if you are saving your frozen wild blueberries for processing only, your missing out. Frozen wilds are much more versatile! Here are some of the many ways to take full advantage of their taste, texture, and nutrition, no processing involved:

In any recipe that calls for blueberries. That includes salsas and sauces, pies and cakes, crisps, grunts, crumbles and crème brulee.

As a topping. Wild blues add a colorful crown to many foods, no processing required. In fact, they are perfect for times when the appearance of the whole fruit in all its individual glory is needed. That includes yogurts, cereal, pancakes, and many uniquely delicious and colorful entrées, including fish, pork, and chicken.

On their own. Thaw (and strain a little, if you like) your frozen wild blueberries overnight, defrost in the microwave, or simply leave them on the counter briefly, and consume them with a fork, by hand as a snack, or scoop them out as a side for a sandwich or salad, au naturel. Each individual berry is beautiful preserved. And that blue on your fingertips is the stamp of rich nutrition—any time of year.

Berries from Coast to Coast

Kudos to California’s Berry Benefits Symposium for getting the word out about the wonders of berries. In Maine, the Bar Harbor Group dedicates itself to continuing nutritional research as it relates to berries as well. Each year, researchers and scientists from around the country gather to share ongoing research and findings about nature’s true nutritional jewels. In past years, presentations taking place at this famed summit have included research involving disease prevention and anti-aging, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. We’ll keep you posted about this year’s summit, taking place during the summer.

Did you know? Frozen wild blueberries can remain ready to eat in the freezer year round, and the individually quick frozen method means they can remain frozen for over two years without losing their flavor or nutritional value. Love your frozen? Tell us why!