It’s berry picking time in Northern United States. Perfect Supplements loves to support local farms and berry picking is a fun and delicious way to do so! Grab the kids and head out to your local pick-your-own or get them fresh at the farmers market. We found local, organic, pick-your-own strawberries yesterday – Delicious!

After picking 5 quarts of awesome, organic strawberries with the kids at our local farm…I now have the dilemma of what to do with them. Berries spoil very quickly sitting on the counter on these hot summer days, so I need to do something to preserve them right away. I confess, I tried canning a couple of times, and I was not impressed with the work versus results ratio, so I am looking for another option. I have heard rave reviews from friends about “freezer berries”, and I do have an extra freezer, so maybe this will be my new method. After we have our fill of the fresh berries right out of the picking containers, I will chop up a big bowl full, sprinkle with a touch of sugar, and leave these in the refrigerator for enjoying over ice cream or homemade shortcakes with fresh whipped cream for the next few days. The rest of those beautiful berries will go in the freezer.

I found a helpful link with four techniques for freezing strawberries. The recipes call for sugar, but if you are like me, you probably have a more nutritious sweetener on hand, such as maple sugar, or an organic, fairly-traded, evaporated cane juice (non GMO!). One of the recipes is for a frozen strawberry sauce. My favorite topping for homemade pancakes is frozen berries, but they are lumpy and a bit of a hassle for thawing. Pre-blending the berry sauce, and freezing in small BPA-free containers will allow for a quick thaw in warm water… I can’t wait to try it! View my version of the recipe here.