Ice Ice, Baby!

I'm not afraid to admit it, I'm lazy...or at least I used to be. I was so lazy that I wanted to make everything easier and faster. I now call this smart ;) I am also forgetful. I was purchasing herbs, fruits and veggies from the store or receiving from my CSA and I would either forget all about them or not use them in enough time and they would all go to waste, at LEAST $10 a week in the trash. I got smart about this, too.

My ex brought very few good things to my life but one of them was at least 10 ice cube trays that his mother was getting rid of and when I was about to donate them

one day because they were taking up space and not being used, I had an epiphany! At that time I was making my own green shakes daily and could never keep a bag of spinach without it going bad by my third shake(organic usually means they don't last as long because there are no added preservatives or chemical pesticides on them) Trash! I thought that maybe if I froze the greens that it would not only solve my forgetfulness but also my laziness, and man was I right! I threw my bags of kale and spinach in my bullet blender, poured in some coconut water and blended. I then poured the mixture into an ice cube tray(or two) and froze them. The next morning, I popped out a couple, put them in the blender with a handful of fresh fruit and almond milk and BAM! I had my shake. It took half the time to prepare and my greens weren't going to waste, even if I decided to skip shakes for a day or two.

 

I went crazy after that! I cube almost anything these days. Herbs were a big problem for me also, so I chop them up and disperse them evenly in the tray, warm up some ghee or coconut oil(whatever I think I'll be cooking it with in the future) and pour it over the herbs to make little cubes for cooking. I love lemon and pineapple in my water and it's super good for your gut and immune system but I was also wasting those when I wasn't using them as often. I started by cutting them up, putting them in sandwich bags and freezing them to be able to pop into my water any morning but I found myself banging the bag against the counter every morning trying to get the pieces apart just to get one....so now, those get cubed too!! I make  full pots of coffee and cube them so I can just throw the cubes in some almond milk in the morning or into a blender with some creamer to make a frappacino, half the price!

My absolute favorite thing to cube is bone broth! I use bone broth for a lot of things like soup and bean bases but I also love to drink it. I found it tedious to warm up a pot of bone broth on the stove(especially since we downgraded to electric, crap!)every time I wanted a cup and it was always a little too strong anyways so I decided to start cubing it. Not only does this help maintain shelf life(which is also short for broth) but it takes a quarter of the time to make now. I simply run a pot of coffee, with out the coffee of course, and then plop 2 broth cubes in my coffee cup. It melts in seconds and is the perfect timing and ratio.

If you're looking for something delicious and nutritious to do with some of your herbs before you freeze them, check back to The Seduction of Fermentation for some yummy recipes! Drop a line with your waste not, want not hacks. Spread the savings :)