Mixed vegetables for stir fry, pre mix

Sure, why not? I usually have a bag of frozen mixed veggies (usually No Name or Green Giant) in the freezer for various uses. But extra veggies are pretty easy to use up. Why not just plate the extras separately as another dish?

You can freeze the bs y corn if you aren’t using it within the week, I’ve kept those in fresh water for a week and they were fine. Baby corn is great in many dishes. I also make sweet and sour soup with them along with bamboo shoot.

We do both ... depends on the season

Summertime we mostly make up our own stir fry veggie mixes
Dependent on what veggies we grow ... and those we don’t ... what’s a good price at the Grocery Store / Farmers Market / Pick Your Own places

Wintertime we buy / use a lot of the frozen premix bags
Have sorted store brands from Metro, Sobeys Group, and Loblaws Group (Presidents Choice)
As well as name brands like Green Giant

If you look around you’ll find lots of variety ...
Asian Blend - Chinese Blend - Thai Blend - Japanese Blend - Summer Blend etc

Watch for sales or promos ... esp PCO Promos
Often do well with those when we can STACK Offers with Sales

Frozen veggies will get soggy. Not good in stir fries, but in a pinch I always have bags of PC branded mixes in my freezer. Use these in curries.

I've found that an opened bag of frozen veggies (corn, peas etc) will freeze into a solid block over time if you don't use it quickly. These "frost free" freezers are not good for our food. I always take things like the "snack size" or "sandwich size" ziplocks [you can vac seal as well] and repack the frozen veggies into portioned packs. When I need these frozen veggies, I just pull out one pre-pack.

Has everyone thanked Mr Clarence Birdsye for flash freezing technology?

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... od-machine

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ I've found that an opened bag of frozen veggies (corn, peas etc) will freeze into a solid block over time if you don't use it quickly. These "frost free" freezers are not good for our food. I always take things like the "snack size" or "sandwich size" ziplocks [you can vac seal as well] and repack the frozen veggies into portioned packs. When I need these frozen veggies, I just pull out one pre-pack.

Has everyone thanked Mr Clarence Birdsye for flash freezing technology?

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... od-machine

Thanks for the tip ...

I don’t run into this issue so much with the veggies we use in stir fries (smaller & different / thicker bags ? )
But ya ... run into this issue with things like Green Giant corn kernels & sweet peas
I always thought tho, that was perhaps it was because of the smaller size of the individual items
Vs size of the bags

But you may be onto something ...

At any rate, think I will give your idea a whirl next time I open a new bag of Corn or Peas

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ Thanks for the tip ...

I don’t run into this issue so much with the veggies we use in stir fries (smaller & different / thicker bags ? )
But ya ... run into this issue with things like Green Giant corn kernels & sweet peas
I always thought tho, that was perhaps it was because of the smaller size of the individual items
Vs size of the bags

But you may be onto something ...

At any rate, think I will give your idea a whirl next time I open a new bag of Corn or Peas

"Divide and conquer"... the freezer block!

I use a bag of Presidents Choice frozen broccoli and a bag of Presidents Choice frozen summer blend or 3 pepper and onion. I can't usually get the 3 pepper and onion. My family doesn't like the other mixtures of frozen vegetables. I cut the top off the bag and microwave them for a few minutes to speed up the process. FYI - I have never had stir fry anywhere else so I don't know if this is how you are supposed to make stir fry. I go for easy and fast. I use precooked chicken and premade sauce because I am that lazy some nights. Everyone eats it and everyone likes it so I haven't changed the way I make it.

For frozen mixed vegetables that clump together - when I worked in a restaurant we just dropped the sealed bag on the floor a few times to break it up. I worked there in the "good ole days". Probably can't do that now. At home I bang it on the counter a few times.

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ "Divide and conquer"... the freezer block!

I close my pea and corn bags with an elastic wound around the top opening. Then I can pound them hard on the countertop to separate when they freeze into a block. Breaks them up up and I get a little extra exercise. Sometimes I do it just for fun. Insert winky smiley here.

I get my frozen stirfry veggies from Costco - peppers, mushroom, snap peas, water chestnuts, broccoli, carrots. Comes in resealable bag so no freezer block issues.

I find defrosting them first before cooking them is needed though.

hierophant wrote: ↑ I get my frozen stirfry veggies from Costco - peppers, mushroom, snap peas, water chestnuts, broccoli, carrots. Comes in resealable bag so no freezer block issues.

I find defrosting them first before cooking them is needed though.

Love the Costco stirfry mix! Use it all the time. Will have to try the pre-defrosted method.

The problem with vegetables freezing into blocks begins on the trip home from the grocery store when they partially defrost.

If you just throw them in the freezer the water will refreeze them into a block. I make sure they are laying horizontal with the contents easily distributed. Then it is easy to whack them apart on the counter at 1st use, & I can shake them down to one end of the bag, fold over the top, & bind it with an elastic. As long as I have only had them out briefly they will not form a block, or at least, they are easy to whack apart.

I measure them into a heatproof measuring cup, pour hot water from the kettle over them, & immediately dump the water out, dump them onto a tea towel to pat them dry. Otherwise the ice or excess water will make them stew instead of stir-fry.

lecale wrote: ↑ The problem with vegetables freezing into blocks begins on the trip home from the grocery store when they partially defrost.

If you just throw them in the freezer the water will refreeze them into a block. I make sure they are laying horizontal with the contents easily distributed. Then it is easy to whack them apart on the counter at 1st use, & I can shake them down to one end of the bag, fold over the top, & bind it with an elastic. As long as I have only had them out briefly they will not form a block, or at least, they are easy to whack apart.

I measure them into a heatproof measuring cup, pour hot water from the kettle over them, & immediately dump the water out, dump them onto a tea towel to pat them dry. Otherwise the ice or excess water will make them stew instead of stir-fry.

Much easier and better to divide into small "snack size" ziplocks and freeze like that IMO. I do this as soon as I can. My freezer is in the basement and I go down and pull out one ziplock of frozen peas/corn/mix and that's it. No whackings/smacking/shaking required. Plus it's pre-portioned.

Blazin_Sunfire wrote: ↑ Love the Costco stirfry mix! Use it all the time. Will have to try the pre-defrosted method.

will try the costco ones next then, !

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ Much easier and better to divide into small "snack size" ziplocks and freeze like that IMO. I do this as soon as I can. My freezer is in the basement and I go down and pull out one ziplock of frozen peas/corn/mix and that's it. No whackings/smacking/shaking required. Plus it's pre-portioned.

I do pre-portion all my ground meat, individual chops, and so forth in ziplocks. Dunk them in a large bowl of water & they defrost in 1/2 hr.

Blazin_Sunfire wrote: ↑ Love the Costco stirfry mix! Use it all the time. Will have to try the pre-defrosted method.

Don't you find if you stirfry from frozen it takes forever to cook? What thing that's sort of bugging me though, when I defrost them (it's usually partial) they don't seem to get mushy which makes me wonder if they've added something.

do you guys par-fry your veggies to keep it green then cook the rest of the dishes

hierophant wrote: ↑ Don't you find if you stirfry from frozen it takes forever to cook? What thing that's sort of bugging me though, when I defrost them (it's usually partial) they don't seem to get mushy which makes me wonder if they've added something.

Commercially frozen stuff doesnt have as much moisture. Especially when its kept in those super market freezers. They are much better than @ home freezers @ maintaining proper humidity levels.
Theres also one thing that a lot of people do that screws with humidity levels in their freezer. They over pack it. Lack of air flow.

hierophant wrote: ↑ Don't you find if you stirfry from frozen it takes forever to cook? What thing that's sort of bugging me though, when I defrost them (it's usually partial) they don't seem to get mushy which makes me wonder if they've added something.

I do find they take a while to cook. I then tend to overcook and the snap peas break apart