Is stockpiling fruit and vegetables really necessary? Is it worth the time and trouble?
Yes. And Yes.
Raspberries were on sale at my Kroger. (Yes, it is mine!) For $.99/pint. Those tiny little things are regularly $3 a pop. I never buy them…somehow can’t justify spending $3 for 3 handfuls of DELICIOUS, SWEET, SUCCULENT raspberries. (I had forgotten how tasty they are!) But, for just $.99…I’ll buy a pint. Or 12. Yep, 12.
What on EARTH are you going to do with 12 pints of raspberries that will start to go bad in 2 or 3 days???
Eat them, bake with them, and freeze them. Of course.
First, we (the boys and I) ate 2 pints. For a snack. We like them that much.
Then, I froze 8 pints. Cause I knew that we’d eat them if I didn’t get them into the freezer. Right away! I rinsed and let them drain for about 10 minutes. Then placed them on a paper towel to remove excess water. Then I neatly arranged them gave in to my Type-A tendencies and placed them on a baking sheet.
Popped them into the freezer for a few hours, then transferred frozen raspberries into freezer baggies. I see Mango Raspberry smoothies in our future! An antioxident power punch of a smoothie!
Mmmm…don’t you want to reach through the screen and munch on a few?
And, then I made this amazing Raspberry Coffee Cake!
More Raspberry Recipes:
- Raspberry & Chocolate Chip Quesadillas
- Chocolate Raspberry Bites
- Fresh Lemonade with Raspberry Ice Cubes
- Easy Raspberry Turnovers
- Raspberry Brownie Dessert Parfait
Share a link for a favorite raspberry recipe! Smoothie recipe, pastry, whatever! I want to put these little gems to good use!
Nikkole says
Everything looks great! I don’t blame you for not wanting to eat all of them! They look delicious!
uppervalleymom says
YUMMMMM! How did you know that I love raspberries? I am so envious of your sale price. We are lucky when they are on sale at 2/$5. Thanks for the wonderful photos — can’t wait to try the recipe. Enjoy all those wonderful berries!
Erin says
Yeah…I was shocked at this sale price too. I’ve never seen it so low, that’s why I stocked up!
Erin
C. Beth says
That looks delicious!
I just made Berry Lemon Curd Ring from this recipe on Sunday: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=641. Included in the recipe is a link to a blog post w/ the lemon curd recipe, and included in THAT blog post is a link to the brioche recipe which is used as the base. The brioche makes a lot; you can use the extra dough just to make a loaf of brioche, or you can cut down the recipe to start with. You’ll also have a lot of lemon curd left if you make the whole recipe.
This was super-yummy, and in order to (ahem) keep it from drying out, we ate it all in two days. It made a lot. My 3-year-old and 1-year-old loved it, as did my XX-year-old husband. I used mixed berries for it.
Jennifer says
that is a great deal on Raspberries! I wish that price came up my way.
Traci Best says
:p……. LOL That looks AWESOME! I wonder if MY Kroger has Raspberries on sale????????
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says
I love it when great minds think a like. My post for Tasty Tuesday was about stockpiling fruit and what to do with it when I do….yea for smoothies. 🙂
We planted raspberry bushes and will finally have a great crop…until it frosted the one night I was out of town and froze a bunch of the bushes. I could have cried.
Erin says
I’d have cried too dear 🙁
sarah says
I stocked up too and plan on going back friday when we get paid and get more. I absolutely love raspberries but they are so expensive. I couldn’t believe my eyes last night at the price.
Miriam says
Hubs and I aren’t big fans of red raspberries, but when I had to buy some to make a pie for someone… we became BIG fans of red raspberry pancakes!! I wonder if MY Kroger would have these on sale this week… I’ll have to look!!
Andrea @ Mommy Snacks.net says
Drooling over here! That looks so good! That pic of the raspberries on the pan is awesome! It does make me want to reach in and touch in and just have one or two…or all of them (what, they are packed with Fiber 🙂
And, I’ll be waiting patiently for you to post that smoothie recipe! Sounds yummo!!
Melissa Crowder says
I’ve never seen $.99/lb. Hardly fair. Yesterday’s sale gave me 1 pint that was already moldy! Have to return them!
Amy McSwegin says
I was at Kroger ALL WEEK last week buying raspberries… I think we bought 20 containers of them! I have so so so many bags in my freezer, and I LOVE IT. I’m 13 weeks pregnant, and love that I have frozen raspberries to snack on whenever I want….
FishMama@LifeasMOM says
Here’s my very favorite use of raspberries (or blackberries): http://www.lifeasmom.com/2008/06/yummy-raspberry-muffins.html
mommymichelle6 says
Wow. 99 cents a pint is a steal.
We used to have loads of raspberry plants when lived in the country. Thinking about getting some for the yard now….I think you may have sold me on the idea. Those recipes sound YUMMY.
Meredith from Merchant Ships says
Dashing off a quick comment before racing to Kroger myself!
I have one question: is it cheaper to freeze your own raspberries on sale, or to buy the Private Selection organic frozen raspberries for $3 on sale?
I have bought the frozen on occasion, but I’m interested in an educated guess as to where you would get the most berries for $3.
Erin says
I don’t know how large the frozen raspberries package is??? Will check next time I’m there…I would think that 3 pints of fresh for $2.97 is cheaper, but I could be wrong! (Plus sometimes frozen berries are all mushed together, if they ever partially thawed from one place to the next)…I like that my fresh…now frozen…berries are large and won’t get smooshed 🙂
Jerilyn says
Okay, I might have to go by Kroger to see if they have it. Yum-o. I love any kind of fruit!
Andrea says
Oh, that looks SO good! I just went to Kroger and can’t believe I missed seeing the Rasperries! I found the Strawberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries, but not the raspberries! I’ll have to send my husband out later to see if there are any left!
fairydust says
those are beautiful!!!! lucky you and your family 🙂
Kristal says
Those look so yummy!
Erin says
I maxed out at 4 too! You must have made a couple of trips! I puree them and use them in smoothies, but I might just freeze them like you did, just in case I want to use them for that yummy coffee cake!!!
Melanie Dorsey says
Oh my. That looks sooooo good!
Melanie@Bella~Mella
Maria says
Raspberries are my absolute favorite fruit and those recipes are great. Actually, I wanted to skip the whole recipe thing and jump into my computer screen because the photos look scrumptious.
Thanks for the tip and instructions on freezing them – I’ve never done that – I usually just buy the frozen bags because we never seem to have a sale on them,and we don’t have Krogers on the East Coast..
sito says
If I ever saw raspberries for $.99, I’d probably drop dead and not be able to take advantage. I am filled with envy!
Lori says
mmmmmm….that does look and sound soooo good!!
Deanna says
Looks very yummy! Here’s a frugal tip for you, I live in PA and I never buy raspberries because they grow all over the place on the side of the road. They actually taste better than the ones in the supermarket if you can believe that. Once you recognize the bush you will be able to get them for free.
I even found them just outside the London Heathrow Airport. So they are almost everywhere and so delicious!
Chelsia says
Oh my goodness, that looks insanely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this. I intend to make this very soon.
Alea says
I am going to surprise my family with the coffee cake this weekend!
I posted a recipe today for Raspberry Lemon Scones: http://premeditatedleftovers.blogspot.com/2009/06/raspberry-lemon-scones.html
Sherry says
Great sale! I haven’t seen raspberries that low yet. I’m keeping my eyes peeled though. 😀
Lorie says
Frozen fruit is great for smoothies, sauces and ice creams, but if you want the fruit to stay firm when frozen, put them in the fridge for a couple of hours (after the washing and rinsing and drying) and then put them in an ice chest with dry ice until frozen. Bag them in the ice chest (no oxygen) and store them in your freezer. Because they freeze quickly, the ice crystals that form are small and smooth and do not puncture the cell walls on the fruit, so the liquid stays IN the fruit.
When you freeze them in your regular freezer, they freeze slower and make large sharp ice crystals.
It can be a bit of a hassle for just a couple of pints of raspeberries, but if you do a bunch of fruit at once it is worth it! You will have perfect strawberries in December!
Jillaire says
I freeze berries every summer, and almost everyone I talk to discourages washing them first. If you are going to do that, definitely let all that water drain off, as suggested. Usually you want to wash berries right before you eat them. They spoil sooner if you wash them.
Diana says
Raspberries go on sale around here just about every 4 weeks (April-Sept) for $1.00 a pint. They were just on sale at Dierbergs last week for $1. I didn’t buy any because my husband and 4 year old don’t like them. But I do. *sniffle* I don’t like them fresh I like to cook with them, but that is still a no-go for Hubs and the kiddo.
Vikki says
Our berry bushes have lots of little berries, but none are ripe yet. So today, I bought organic blueberries for $2.50 a pint. Didn’t get raspberries or blackberries, at a dollar each pint, because they were from Mexico, and I don’t trust produce from there any more. But I did buy those blueberries – 12 clamshells!!! Vikki at http://www.survival-cooking.com
Luchen Foster says
$0.99!!! I am obsessed with rasberries. I love cooking them down with sugar and just pouring that over vanilla ice cream. Ive also made a trifle with rasberries, vanilla pudding, sara lee pound cake and whipped cream. But my favorite is definitely a tart using non-fat plain yogurt. The tartness of the yogurt and sweetness of the rasberries is amazing.
Going Green Mama says
Too bad my kroger didn’t have the same special.
Here’s my grandmother’s recipe for Raspberry Dessert. If there’s a grandma involved, you know it has to be good. http://going-green-mama.blogspot.com/2008/08/raspberry-season.html
jeff says
I found your site today for the first time and have had fun reading through your posts. I’m impressed by the balance you’ve struck between being innovative and frugal, and it really doesn’t seem like you’ve sacrificed anything… nicely done!
As for this coffee cake, I’ve been sitting here staring for about ten minutes with a glazed (no pun intended) look on my face. I’d been thinking about some sort of fussy raspberry tart, but I’ve changed my mind. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Connie Petertonjes says
I took advantage of that sale! My family is crazy for raspberries. We actually have a berry patch in our backyard, but for that price, it was worth stocking up. We bought 12 of those little clamshells. I used 2 of them to make “raspberry shortcake” for dessert one night. The rest we froze to make raspberry jam! It takes a lot of our backyard berries to make jam, so at that price, we thought it would make sense to buy them for jam and use our homegrown ones for snacks and other recipes where fewer berries were needed!
caroline Mosley says
My ‘Grands’ love fresh raspberries…we bought the plants several years ago, and they bloom profusely…my only regret is I didn’t get a thornless variety….but needless to say, stickers or not, those youngins pick and eat to their heart’s content….one set of grandchildren live in north Tenn. so I freeze them bagfuls…their momma makes cobblers and smoothies when they can come get them…I found this site in an article in the Huntsville, AL Times…enjoyed reading all the entries…thanx, Caroline
Ana says
Even better – if you can, GROW your own. They’re so easy to grow, its almost like growing weeds, and I’m not kidding. Get one plant and it 3-4 yrs you’ll be swimming in raspberries. And they taste sooooo good straight off the branch, yum!
Cate says
here is another idea for those raspberries (we got 6!)
http://lifehacker.com/5283483/puree-and-freeze-extra-fruit-for-quick-berry-lemonade
Stephanie says
I am so not jealous of your sale, cause in my area they went on sale for the same price 🙂 I bought 4, but plan on going back to stock up! And these are organic ones too! We love raspberries. You know you can grow them yourself easily and they produce and abundant crop!
Frugal Girls! says
Ooh ~ I love raspberries. Those look so delicious! If you have any leftover, you could also use them to make some 4th of July Fruit Kabobs!
http://www.thefrugalgirls.com/2009/06/fruit-kabobs-4th-of-july-recipe.html
Justin says
With the raspberries coming soon, this looks like a must try. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Erika says
I hate to burst your bubble, but just for the sake of accurate math, those are *half* pints (one cup) not pints.
Erin says
My store sells pints! They are definitely bigger than 1 cup servings!!!
wonderfullysewknit says
My Kroger had them too! I made jam. :o)
Heather says
mmm, I LOVE raspberries. I go to u-pick fields though, and get them for around $1.50/lb, definitely a great deal, and freeze about 20 lbs!
TSS says
Sounds delicious — and I’m jealous. I’ve never seen that kind of low price for raspberries!
TSS says
How can I print off the coffeecake recipe?
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
I will add a link…sorry!