By Toni Tileva
As we enter the winter months, cooking at home is a sure-fire way to warm our tummies and hearts. We wanted to share a tip and some easy recipes for hearty (and heart-warming) dishes featuring some of our affordable, budget-friendly offerings.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are wonderful (and we do have fresh, weekly produce deals!), but thaw your mind and open your cart toward our freezer section.
Canned and frozen produce are picked at their prime and either flash-frozen or heated/pasteurized and packaged immediately, so they can be just as healthy as their fresh counterparts.
A frozen bag of spinach will last longer than a bag of fresh, which cuts down on food waste, which is good for your wallet and the planet.
Studies on the nutritional value and cost-effectiveness of canned and frozen produce have found that canned produce retains a similar nutritional value as fresh, and the heating process can make the fiber in canned foods more soluble, or usable, when digested.
Overall, the nutrients in canned fruits and vegetables tend to be relatively stable because they are protected from the deteriorating effects of oxygen, a fact emphasized in an extensive report on the subject published in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture by researchers at the University of California, Davis.
We compiled a bunch of easy, one-pot solutions featuring frozen and canned produce:
25 Ways to Use Frozen Mixed Vegetables
Black-Eyed Pea Masala with Kale
15 Vegan Recipes You Can Make with Frozen Veggies and Fruits
I Heart Vegetables Easy Frozen Vegan Recipes