We're back from a wonderful trip to California. We very much enjoyed the fabulous weather in comparison to the crazy heat in Florida. And naturally, the whole reason for visiting was to see family. That was very special. I also thank my darling husband for working so hard to get my computer up and running. Granted, sometimes life is grand without technology. And so I am not sorry to have been without it so much except I now have tons of posts to catch up on.

And here is the first: a list of the ingredients I froze just before leaving town. As hard as I tried, including not shopping except for fresh fruit during the week and a half before our trip, I still had a number of ingredients left over that I didn't want to lose. My dad got the kiwis that weren't yet ripe. And the neighbor who was watering the plants for us was welcome to the leftover chives and fresh squeezed lemon. Even early the morning we left, I put together a few containers to freeze. It might have taken a bit of time, but I know it was worth it to not be wasteful with what God has provided for us.

• Lime Juice. I had plans to use two fresh limes during the week, but just didn't have the creativity to do it with what I had in the house. It will still work just fine in smoothies or sorbets; although I don't expect it to defrost and remix to be used in, say, salad dressings.
• 6 Eggs in groups of 2. I did lots of baking and ate French Toast twice the week we left. But it just wasn't quite enough. I scrambled the eggs before dividing them into three containers. I have accomplished this before with egg whites, but have never had to do it with the whole eggs before. Naturally, this does take up extra space. So, I hope to do some more baking since I'm home to use them up. I was very surprised at the number of people who didn't think you can freeze eggs. Well, yes you can!
• I had some leftover tomatoes from the quinoa salad I made two weeks ago and definitely didn't want to lose such a valuable food. I cooked them down with some olive oil and salt before freezing them. Cooked and frozen tomatoes have a variety of uses from soups to chili to tomato sauce. I see no reason why they can't be added to other tomatoes while cooking.
• The leftover pita pockets that were such a great deal--go ahead and package in additional aluminum foil or another freezer-safe bag.
• Burrito wrappers require the same treatment and fit perfectly in gallon-sized Ziplock.
• The Tupperware of cooked carrots my mom made before she left town just couldn't all be eaten. It froze well, but such large, unmicrowaveable containers are hard to defrost.
• Strawberries on their last leg can be reclaimed just like bananas by slicing and freezing them. Two ideas for these: defrost and mash for a jam or leave frozen and blend into smoothies.
• Also, I bagged some lettuce for the fridge.

Just because there was a lot going on and frozen items often look different than you expect them to, I made a list of what I froze on a magnetic pad of paper and stuck it to the side of the fridge. I also added some items that I thought would need to be used up upon our return. I used these to help make my Menu Plan Monday upon return easier to make. Perhaps this all took a lot of effort. But when you think about it, not much. Especially when you're doing it all at one time. There is no difficulty in cutting up some fruit and double packaging breads while tomatoes cook on the stove. In addition, I didn't have to make a beeline for the grocery store when I got back.