Info ; How long can you freeze food?

How long can you freeze food?
By Lori Bongiorno
Posted Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:54am PDT
Related topics: Food and Drink, How-To
More from The Conscious Consumer blog

When it comes to preparing healthy meals at home, don't underestimate the value of your freezer. A well-stocked freezer can save you a trip to the store when you're pressed for time, which could mean the difference between making dinner and ordering in. It also lets you save meals that you prepare in big batches ahead of time, take advantage of discounts at the grocery store, and keep food that might otherwise go to waste.

(Photo: Derek E. Rothchild /
Getty Images)

   

Freezing is also an easy way to preserve local, in-season, fruits, and veggies that you buy at farmers markets or grow in your garden. If you want to eat delicious tomatoes in the dead of winter, for example, but are intimidated by canning, freezing is worth considering.

But just how long will that casserole or whole chicken last in the freezer? According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, food stored in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit will stay safe indefinitely. But that doesn't mean the taste and texture will remain the same.

Here is a guide to how long you can freeze foods before you sacrifice quality. Keep in mind that quality does deteriorate the longer food sits in your freezer, so aim to defrost sooner rather than later.

    * Bacon: 1 to 2 months
    * Breads: 2 to 3 months
    * Casseroles: 2 to 3 months
    * Cooked beef and pork: 2 to 3 months
    * Cooked poultry: 4 months
    * Cookie dough: 3 months
    * Fruit: 8 to 12 months
    * Frozen dinners: 3 to 4 months
    * Hot dogs: 1 to 2 months
    * Lunch meats: 1 to 2 months
    * Sausage: 1 to 2 months
    * Soups and stews: 2 to 3 months
    * Uncooked chicken (parts): 9 months
    * Uncooked chicken (whole): 1 year
    * Uncooked steaks, chops, or roasts: 4 to 12 months
    * Uncooked ground meat: 3 to 4 months
    * Vegetables: 8 to 12 months


Basic tips for freezing food:

    * Freeze foods as close to purchase (or harvest if you have a garden) as possible. The fresher food is when you freeze it, the better the quality when you defrost it.
    * While most foods can be frozen, there are some foods you should keep out of the freezer. Don't freeze canned foods or eggs in shells (which can crack and allow bacteria to enter). Technically you can freeze mayonnaise, cream sauce, and lettuce, but the quality takes a big hit. Here's a list of foods that don't freeze well with details on their condition after thawing.
    * Cool cooked foods down before freezing so they freeze faster, which helps preserve quality.
    * Packaging matters and varies depending on what you're freezing. If you choose glass over plastic containers, wrap, or bags, you'll need to make sure it's tempered so it doesn't break.
    * You can freeze meat in its original packaging, but if you want to store it for long periods of time, add an additional layer of packaging, such as plastic wrap or bags.
    * It's always a good idea to label items so you know what they are and how long they've been in the freezer.
    * Resist the temptation to defrost foods on your countertop. The three safest ways to thaw foods are in your fridge, in cold water, and in the microwave.


How to freeze fresh produce:

    * The key to freezing fresh fruit is to spread out the cleaned, dried, and prepared (cut up) pieces of fruit on cookie sheets. Once the individual pieces of fruit are frozen, you can combine and put in freezer bags. Some people prefer to pack fruits in sugar or sugar syrup to help preserve texture and flavor. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has tips on how to freeze specific fruits such as strawberries, tomatoes, peaches, and many more.
    * Vegetables usually need to be blanched (boiled or steamed for a short time) before freezing to maintain flavor, color, and texture. Blanching times vary depending on the vegetable. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a chart with blanching times for everything from corn to collard greens and simple instructions for how to freeze a large variety of vegetables.

Tips : Ten Foods You Should Be Eating

Eaten many coconuts lately? How about cherries or blueberries or grass-fed beef?
You should, because these are all foods with powerful health properties. However, few people pack their grocery carts full of these items.
Take kiwifruit. It's chock full of vitamin C--a whopping 115% of what you need to eat in a day. It's also low in calories--just 45 per fruit, sans skin.
In Depth: 10 Foods You Should Be Eating
"In America, most people don't eat three servings of fruit and vegetables a day," says nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of eight books including, most recently, The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer. According to him, there are 10 very healthy foods we don't eat enough of.
Ignore the Food Pyramid Bowden says many Americans are misled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid, which is a graphic, pyramid-shaped depiction of nutrition guidelines, updated every five years, that tells Americans what to eat according to food groups. Bowden dismisses it as the product of interest group politics.
"It demonizes fat," notes Bowden. "Fat is an essential building block for many important compounds in the body." This is why Bowden puts grass-fed beef, wild salmon and, yes, coconuts, on his top 10 list.
Salmon, in particular, is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which are associated with heart and brain health as well as bringing down blood pressure and triglycerides, a risk factor for heart disease. Omega-3s have also been found to improve mood and reduce inflammation, says Bowden.
Another food packed with nutritional value that's present--but not necessarily front and center in every grocery store--is kale. A member of the cabbage family, which Bowden dubs "vegetable royalty," kale contains indoles, a compound found to fight cancer. Kale is also rich in antioxidants, which also help prevent cancer, says Bowden.
If that's not enough for you, kale is also full of sulforaphane, yet another cancer-prevention agent. Kale has calcium, iron and vitamins A, C and K, and two nutrients that are great for the eyes, including zeaxanthin. Kale's pi�ce de r�sistance: Two cups packs three grams of fiber. Try saut�ing it with garlic and butter, recommends Bowden. Or eat it like salad, with pine nuts, cranberries and olive oil.
Then there are coconuts, a terribly misunderstood food, according to Bowden. The fat in coconuts is a particular kind that's good for you. It's called MCT, or Medium-Chain Triglycerides. The body doesn't store MCT as fat, says Bowden, but rather uses it as energy, like a carbohydrate. Coconuts are also high in lauric acid, a fatty acid that tends to kill pathogens. In addition, coconut oil is great for cooking since it has a very high smoke point.

Eat MediterraneanFor Bowden, sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet is the healthiest way to eat. That means plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and lots of olive and nut oils. The Mediterranean diet has indeed been proved by study after study to have multiple healthful properties.
If all that sounds just too darn healthy, consider the 10th food on Bowden's list: dark chocolate. Rich with a phytochemical called flavanol, found by a 2005 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology to improve cardiovascular health, chocolate with at least 60% cocoa content should be a regular on your shopping list.
Chocolate and coconut anyone? OK, but not until you've finished your kale.
In Depth: 10 Foods You Should Be Eating

Khasiat Lobak Merah, baik untuk kesihatan

	Ramai tahu bahawa lobak merah bagus untuk mengekalkan kesihatan mata. Ini kerana ia kaya dengan vitamin A. Vitamin ini sangat diperlukan oleh tisu badan untuk pelbagai fungsi. Salah satu daripadanya adalah untuk membina pigmen bagi penglihatan yang baik pada waktu malam. Walau bagaimanapun memakan lobak semata-mata tidak akan menghalang anda daripada memakai cermin mata. Namun kekurangan vitamin A akan merosakkan penglihatan anda. Selain daripada lobak, sayuran hijau dan merah juga kaya dengan vitamin A. Sebagai sayuran berakar, lobak merah boleh dimakan secara mentah mahupun dimasak. Khasiat paling ampuh di dalam lobak merah sudah temtunya betakaroten yang mana berfungsi memberikan warna oren kepadanya. Betakaroten diketahui mempunyai khasiat yang tinggi terhadap kesihatan. Lobak merah juga kaya dengan serat diet, antioksidan dan mineral. JUS LOBAK

Tips FOOD AND NUTRITION IN ISLAM

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"O ye people! eat of what is on earth lawful and good; and do not follow the
footsteps of the evil one for he is to you an avowed enemy. Q2:168
The Qur'an contains many passages that give Muslims advice about healthful
eating habits and nutrition.  These passages not only relate to the
preservation of a human being's physical well- being, but also to his
spiritual health.  Encouragement to eat only good and pure foods is combined
with warnings to remember Allah and avoid Satan.  In this way, Muslims are
shown that eating is not merely an action to satisfy the hungry body, but
that, as in all of man's actions, it has an effect on how well or how poorly
a Muslim will serve Allah SWT.
Since a Muslim wants to direct his activities towards serving Allah in the
best way, the object of eating is to nourish his or her body so that it will
be in the best possible condition for doing so.  In several verses, the
Arabic word "tayyeb" is used to describe healthful food.  Tayyeb is
translated as "good" and it means pleasing to the taste as well as pure,
clean, wholesome and nourishing.  Foods which are not tayyeb and which cause
one to lose control of the body and mind will not help one to prosper.  They
distract from the worship of Allah and cause one to lose sight of why it is
necessary to eat at all.  Thus, a Muslim should strive to get the vitamins,
minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and so forth that his body needs to
function well and avoid falling into eating habits that slow him down or
make him weak.
Man's growth should be a balance between the physical and spiritual, but
these two aspects are intertwined.  If he becomes obsessed with food, not
only is his time and effort distracted from serving Allah but the diet may
make him physically weak.  On the other hand, if he concentrates so
exclusively on spiritual matters that he neglects his body's proper
nourishment, the same result will come about i.e., weakness and illness will
prevent him from carrying out all his obligations to Allah Ta'alaa.  The
Qur'an thus guides man to strike a wholesome balance between the two
extremes and advises him on how to create this balance.  This policy of the
middle road is a basic theme in Islam in most matters of action and effort.
It is a theme that is easily observed in nature: too much or too little in
terms of substance or action usually yields a bad result. No, to extremism
and no, to laxity but, moderation in all respect.


Some places in the Qur'an specifically mention the benefits of certain
foods.  They not only give a list of lawful foods, but also an idea of what
types of things are, in general, good for man. Specific foods that are
mentioned include milk, dates, grapes, honey, corn, grains, nutritious
plants, olives and livestock.  It is also mentioned, in conjunction with
these foods, that reflection on their life cycles will tell man something
about his own existence.
Mother's milk is also mentioned and encouraged as the best form of
nourishment for the infant, so much so that even when parents divorce, it is
advised that arrangements be made so that the mother may continue to nurse
her child if she does not live with the child.  Islam has therefore taken
care of the issue of breastfeeding of the infant long ago, though it is now
that campaign are all over the place to emphasise this.

There is not an extensive list of lawful and unlawful foods in lslam. Those
things, which are forbidden by Allah, are specifically mentioned, (i.e.,
blood, carrion, pork e.t.c.) and all else is lawful.  A Muslim, thus, may
partake of the bounties of Allah, so long as he avoids the stated
prohibitions.  This means, however, that a Muslim must use judgement in
eating foods.  Besides avoiding forbidden foods, he must also keep in mind
the injunction to eat what is good for him.  While sweets, for example, are
lawful, a steady diet of sweets leads to poor health.  A Muslim must eat a
variety of foods that provide for all his bodily needs and remember not to
indulge in excesses, but rather use common sense to decide what is good and
wholesome.

On Ettiquettes of Eating

When the Prophet SAW sat down to eat, he

Tips Brad Pitt Diet to Be the Fighter

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The heartthrob of millions and the ultimate star of Hollywood, Brad Pitt and his vigilant diet to be in shape has been the talk of the town.  For his challenging roles in movies like “Troy” and “Fight Club,” Brad Pitt went on a strict diet. So, here is the secret of Brat Pitt diet that helped the man to be tougher. Most of the guys love watching action movies and the fighters in these thrilling movies always fascinates them. Talking about fighters reminds the one role in Hollywood that made Brad Pitt a star, is his role in Fight Club.
To get ready for the movies like Fight Club and Troy, Brad Pitt diet was the main secret. The Brad Pitt diet was planned and designed by expert nutritionist, and fitness trainer. To achieve the stalwart body, the actor actually gave up eating lots of things that he usually loves to indulge in such as fries and burgers. The policy is simple and effective, stay away from fried, dairy and artificial food. He was even not allowed to take juices, instead he was recommended to eat fruits such as apples, grapefruits and oranges. Brad Pitt diet plan was perfect and can be effective for anyone wanting a muscular body.
The man himself gives the credit for his superlative physique entire to the Brad Pitt diet Plan for Fight Club. So, since more and more men are wants to follow the idea of not too big and not too short, Brad Pitt diet plan is actually a simple and straight plan to get in there!!!!

http://www.ifood.tv

Tips Secrets of Jessica Simpson Diet Style

The crazy blonde bombshell and the famous Pop star Jessica Simpson worked really hard with her diet and fitness plans for her role as Daisy Duck. Jessica Simpson diet and fitness regime has been specially crafted to get her into the signature shorts for Daisy Duke. After the controversy about her so-called mom jeans, she had already cleared the air saying that she was size 4 at the time of that event. After receiving a comment from the head man, Barack Obama himself on Jessica’s weight, she actually started her own show.
 
 The Jessica Simpson diet and fitness routine is a perfect combination of right amount of food and regular workout. She started with normal workouts and then moved on to squats and lunges for two hours a day. Apart from workouts, Jessica Simpson diet plan was the main punch of her whole new regime. She also tried Atkins diet for some time but that didn’t work for her. Now, Jessica Simpson diet is all about her favourite food like cookie dough ice cream and Italian meals, but in moderate quantities. She indulges in lots of salads and proteins. This blonde chick might have to defend her size to the world, but when it comes to dedication and regularity one should go through Jessica Simpson diet and fitness plans.

http://www.ifood.tv/

Healthy Holiday Meals

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Healthy holiday meals usually mean giving a break to healthy foods and indulging in all kinds of rich delicacies. Especially during thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, even the fitness freaks take some time off to relish all their favorite goodies. However, with more and more people becoming conscious about their food habits and health, there has been a steady increase in the number of people choosing to enjoy healthy holiday meals rather than the calorie packed goodies. There are now delicious ways of avoiding so many calories by making a wise choice and opting for a healthier option.

Top Five Healthy Holiday Foods

Pumpkin: Rich in Vitamin A and an important source of fiber, pumpkin is the ideal option as a healthy holiday food. Since it is quite low in calories, therefore one can get really imaginative and make some interesting pumpkin treats. Pumpkin pie is definitely a favorite during the holiday season; however, it can tend to be high-calorie food due to the use of ingredients such as eggs, sugar, evaporated milk and pie-crust. There is a low fat substitute in which light cream or low-fat evaporated milk can be used for making a low calorie pumpkin pie.

Cranberries: Packed with Vitamin C and dietary fiber, cranberries can not only help in preventing a number of ailments but is also an ideal low calorie option for an array of different recipes. One can truly get creative and prepare desserts by combining cranberries with other low-fat ingredients.

Sweet Potato: Sweet potato is also rich in Vitamin C and beta-carotene and when cooked with the skin, it also offers the health benefits of fiber. It is therefore one of the healthiest options and a number of bake dishes can be made from sweet potato.

Turkey: It is known that no thanksgiving meal is complete