Save money by chopping your own Veggies!

Certain days when you walk into the grocery store, there will be a really good sale on fresh fruits or vegetables. Whenever I see that, I buy a lot of the sale item and prepare it to be frozen so that when I am making my chicken tortilla soup or want red peppers for a sautee,  I don't end up paying $2.50 per pepper. Peppers are a great food to chop, slice, dice and freeze for future uses. Once you wash them off, slice them in half from top to bottom and pull apart. Remove the seeds and ribbing and then slice each half into longer strips.

Next, chop the long strips horizontally to keep some in the chopped version. Store a variety in air tight containers and freeze. They should keep for several months. When you are ready to use, place in the refrigerator to defrost. When they thaw, they will have excess moisture in them, so I place them in my salad spinner and squeeze the extra water out with an absorbent paper towel or clean dish towel. Now they are ready to be cooked and a color and a lot of Vitamin C to your next dish!