The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention touts the “5 A Day” program, which recommends at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. You can add more fresh fruit to your diet by using frozen fruits, most of which are frozen within an hour of being harvested, preserving essential nutrients, according to Lynn Yoffee and Julie Davis, contributors at EverydayHealth.com. Prepare frozen fruits properly to make consuming them easier, such as doing all cleaning and hulling of stems and seeds if possible before freezing.
Things You'll Need
Prepare the Fruit
Pick a wide variety of fruits to consume that cover a wide color span. The primary color of a fruit is suggestive of its primary nutrients and health properties. For example, the pigment making tomatoes and watermelon red is lycopene, which might reduce the instance of certain cancers, while orange/yellow fruits contain beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A.
Peel the fruit or remove the leaves, hulls and seeds. Once the fruit is frozen, these items are cumbersome to remove or eat around.
Wash the fruit thoroughly. Pat the fruit with a paper towel to remove excess water before freezing.
Place the fruit in a sealable plastic bag. If you have a vacuum food sealer, this removes air from the package before freezing to prevent freezer burn. Write the date the fruit was packaged with a permanent marker. You can mix the fruit or keep fruit separated.
Place the bags of fruit in the freezer.
Eat the Fruit
Decide what fruit you want to use. Pull out the fruit that has been frozen the longest, to make sure it gets used before spoilage. Choices might include using blueberries for muffins, mixed berries or bananas for a smoothie or enjoying grapes as a summertime snack.
Pull the package out, and place it in a bowl to thaw. If you are making a smoothie or using the berries in a recipe, you only need to thaw the fruit enough to separate them. For fruit you will consume “frozen,” decide if you need the fruit thawed more. For example, frozen grapes are an increased choking hazard and should be defrosted more than a banana that takes on a creamy, ice cream-like texture.
Consume the fruit. If the fruit is still frozen, you can suck on the fruit piece before biting into it. Frozen fruit becomes slushy as it warms in your mouth.
References and Resources5 A Day: Introducing the Next Generation of 5 A Day
My Pyramid: Inside the Pyramid
Everyday Health: 9 Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
USDA Consumer Corner: What Color is Your Food (pdf)
Deepak Chopra, M.D.; "Boundless Energy"; 1995.