Frozen

You know interestingly quite often the debate about cooking from scratch, especially regarding using free range and organic products is a financial question. However, research has shown that it's actually a time question, as in people are willing to spend money on ready meals and takeaways because they don't have the time for preparing and cooking real food.

There is a certain amount of snobbery in the foodie world surrounding frozen food and whilst I advocate using as many organic products as possible, I have realised that eating sustainably is often deemed unaffordable by many.

Not everyone can afford, nor has the time, to shop at a farmer's market or farmer's shop, however, there is the option of frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are great value, nutritious and available all year. Fresh vegetables can lose up to 45 per cent of important nutrients by the time they've reached your plate, time spent in storage, transportation and sitting on supermarket shelves means it can be more than two weeks from vegetables being picked to eaten. By contrast, produce frozen close to the point of harvest maintain a higher level of many vitamins and nutrients.

Forget big fancy recipes, (we value watching cooking programmes more than we value cooking) with frozen vegetables and some basic store cupboard ingredients anyone can cook from scratch!

The art of cooking everyday meals is to 'simplify', food writer Michael Pollan says: 'I always have frozen spinach and a tin of wild salmon and pasta in my cupboard. Cook the pasta, saute the spinach, combine the three, season and there you have a delicious homemade meal in 20 minutes.'

Frozen mixed vegetables with a simple cheese sauce makes a delicious dinner from oven to table in 40 minutes

One of my favourite frozen ingredients is mashed potatoes, if you have leftover meat, combine with frozen mixed vegetables and top with frozen mash and hey presto you have a delicious homemade Shepherds pie within 30 minutes.

Simply stir fry a mixed bag of frozen vegetables with peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar and olive oil and within minutes you'll have a nutritious Chinese stir fry.

With the cold nights drawing in there's little more comforting than a hearty minestrone, put frozen sliced onions, frozen carrots, frozen broad beans, frozen spinach and frozen peas in a large pan with a tin of borlotti beans, all the spare packet ends of pasta lying around in your cupboard, a couple of stock cubes, seasoning and water, simmer for 30 minutes and you have a cheap, nutritious homemade meal.

When you cook a roast chicken don't forget to make a stock by simmering the carcass, you can freeze the stock in batches and add it to frozen vegetables to make delicious soups.

And here are some freezer tips to make your food go further:
Cook bacon that needs using up, cut it up and freeze, these crispy bacon bits can be added to soups.
Odd bits of cheese languishing in the fridge? Grate and bag it up in portions and freeze, ideal for using in a cheese sauce.
Freeze soon to expire yogurts for a healthy alternative to ice cream.
Over ripe bananas sliced, spread on a tray and frozen make a great banana ice cream when blitzed with some honey or sugar
Chop tomatoes that are past their best, put them in a bag and freeze to use in soups, stews or pasta sauces.

'My mother was making $135 a week, but she had resilience and imagination. She might take frozen vegetables, cook them with garlic and onion and spam, and it would taste like a four-star dinner.'
- Andre Dubus

Love Donna xxxxxxxxx