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Monday, February 21, 2022

How to Freeze Ready to Use Diced Celery.

End food waste and have convenience at your fingertips, all at the same time! Another frozen convenience to enjoy, How to Freeze Ready to Use Diced Celery


Perfect for cooking with!

We can't be the only family that has noticed the price of food inching up daily! Keeping food costs down is more important every day. A few minutes spent in the kitchen to process often used foods will make life easier and save money. I use my freezer to hold the basic ingredients I want and need available for preparing our meals. My daughter who is my co-cook in the kitchen and I call this frozen convenience. We love having prepared ingredients in the freezer, ready to go. 

Garlic was the first thing I began processing years ago to have ready to use. Since we use a lot of garlic, I/we tend to make large batches of Ready to Use Minced Garlic. This is especially handy when garlic harvest comes around...I can get a year's supply from the same source and get it processed. Later, I do not have to worry about short supplies at the market or garlic past its prime. Here recently I shared our Diced and Ready to Use Frozen Onions process as well. 


And now we also make Ready to Use Diced Celery. 

In our local area, organic celery is quite expensive. When it goes on sale, I usually purchase two or three full stalks. One for fresh eating, we love it with peanut butter or a homemade cheese spread. One is prepared and put into the freezer, and the third one goes in the food dryer. I love having dried celery for soup and stews. My daughter however prefers the frozen diced. So with two cooks in our combined household, we keep both around!

This kitchen practice saves a lot of money. How many times have you gone to use a stalk or two of celery only to find it has gotten soft, yellowed, and beyond use? Speaking for myself, this happened way too many times...and let's be honest, any vegetables not prepared and eaten, is money down the drain. You know it wasn't until I began growing my own food, that I realized I had not valued the food I had bought through the years. Growing my own food it turns out, was a great lesson in frugality!

Making Ready to Use Diced Celery is easy. You wash and dry the stalks, dice, and package for the freezer. Come and take a look...

Mark the bag with measured amounts, just like with frozen onions!

To make it easy to measure out the correct amount of celery needed, I wanted to document that one rib of celery equals approximately 1/2 cup. Having this info on the bag means no one will need to ask "so how much is a stalk of diced celery?" ever again...

To begin, prepare one or more freezer bags with contents, date, and measurement information for the diced celery. 



After preparing the freezer bag(s), separate the ribs of celery. 

Rinse in cool water to remove any dirt. 

Dry with a cotton towel. 

Trim the ends if desired.

Cut the rib into celery sticks, then stack and cut crosswise into diced pieces. 

I generally do not put the leaves into the freezer. They are used for soup making or veggie stock. 



Because the celery was wiped dry before being diced, it will not freeze together in one lump...I do like to lay the filled bag in the freezer on a tray or directly on a shelf to keep the contents in a thin layer before freezing. 

Storage options for Ready to Use Diced Celery. The diced celery will keep up to six months in a sealed freezer bag or container. 

#DIYfrozenconvenience!


#wholefoodingredients

#scratchmadefoodforyourfamily

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Would you like to comment?

  1. Why didn't I think of this? You are very smart to do this. From now on, when I buy celery, I'll take your valuable hint!

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  2. Thanks so much for linking up at the 25 and Done Link Party 10! 25 entries in 25 hours!! Shared on Fb, Pn, and Tw.

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  3. I do this too! It’s great for recipes.

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    Replies
    1. I like to keep frozen as well as dried celery on hand. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

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  4. Great tip, thanks so much. I love time saving and waste saving ideas like this. Thanks for sharing with us at Handmade Monday

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    1. You are very welcome, thanks for hosting such a great link-up!

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  5. Melynda, this jumped out at me at Tarah's link party because I *hate* food waste and can never use up all the celery before it goes bad, so very seldom buy it anymore. I can't wait to try this!

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    1. Food waste is a real pet peeve of mine, not tolerated in my childhood and to easy to let happen. I hope you enjoy having this ready to use celery, we call on it often in our cooking. I also dry celery and will be sharing that idea soon. Frozen diced has a personality as does the dried pieces. Thanks for stopping by, I appreiate it!

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  6. Melynda, I bought celery today so I can try this tomorrow! Woo hoo!

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    1. Nice! It doesn't take a long time, but I have found any prep time now is saved time during cooking when we usually have more to do, than time to do it...

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  7. I do this with bell peppers too. Visiting again to say thanks so much for linking up at the Unlimited Link Party 72. Pinned.

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  8. This is a great idea, I did just learn when storing celery in fridge, if you wash it then pat dry, and put in a large piece of aluminum foil the celery stays fresh for up to 3 weeks. The same goes for lettuce and with the prices we have to find more saving ways.
    Thank you for sharing on Oh My Heartsie Girl be sure to stop by and share more money saving tips.
    Have a great week

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    1. I tried the foil wrap and it does keep it very fresh for a week or 10 days. But after that...thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

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  9. We don't buy celery very often anymore because we end up throwing so much away. Will try to remember to do this once we get back to soup weather.

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    1. Right!? I got tired of the waste and tried this method last summer when we had a CSA share each week. We found we loved having the diced celery ready to go. Now when organic celery comes on sale, we dice up a big bag and dry a few trays as well.

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  10. I didn't realize that celery was like peppers -- just cut and freeze; no blanching or anything needed. I'll remember to do this when celery is abundant in the summer.

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    Replies
    1. We only process one bag (a large stalk or two) at a time, one of our "frozen convenience" freezer pantry items we keep on hand. I also dry celery and if I had a lot, that is the route I would choose...

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  11. I love having my own convenience foods! Thanks for linking up!

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  12. Such a great tip! I did this back when I grew celery and had way too much. It was such a great way to have celery on hand for recipes! Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Thank you for sharing this info at the Friday with Friends party. We eat organic celery and it seems to have a short shelf life in the fridge. I had no idea that it could be frozen!
    Rachelle

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    1. Rachelle, you are welcome. We live out in the country and make many of our own "convenience" foods and preparations. Thanks for hosting, I appreciate it.

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  14. I had NO IDEA you could freeze celery. And with rising food prices, I'm really trying not to waste food. . .so I'm glad to get this tip!

    Thanks so much for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I'm featuring you this week!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Richella, I appreciate it! Have a great week ahead.

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  15. This is the greatest idea ever! When I need a stalk or two, they're usually pretty dead in the refrigerator. And then what do you do? Thank you so much for a brilliant suggestion.

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  16. Congratulations, your post has been featured on Full Plate Thursday, 578. Thanks so much for sharing with us and hope you come back to see us soon!
    Miz Helen

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