*sigh* help me explain this to my daughter - I don't know 'why' it's true, but I know that it is

[Mind_your_head]

My daughter is in an apartment at college with several roommates. Most of them like to eat "real food", not processed junk, hence they take turns cooking 'real food' from scratch - which means they only each cook about one meal/week. Pretty good deal, mehinks.

Anyway, my daughter bought some fresh spinach and some mushrooms to make quiche. She only used half of it to make two quiche pies - enough for the seven of them. The rest would go bad, of course, by the time it was her turn to cook again....and that would be the same meal again.

So I told her to wilt the spinach, chop it up, squeeze the water out and freeze it for a few weeks until it was her 'meal turn' again and it would be just fine. Same thing with the mushrooms. Clean, chop them up, cook 'em and freeze 'em.

In about a month, when it's her meal turn again (and not having the same dish one-after-another), she can thaw out the chopped spinach, and the chopped/cooked mushrooms and make a spinach/mushroom/feta quiche.

Her question, which I don't know how to answer ~ I just know it's true ~ is "Why is there a difference that I can freeze cooked spinach and/or mushrooms, but I can't freeze fresh spinach or mushrooms?

Hope this makes sense and thanks for any replies.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. She's in college

Tell her to ask her botany professor. Or the home economics department (do such things exist?).

She should be thankful for the chance to do the research.

heh heh heh

(I think it has something to do with getting the water out of them, but I don't know for sure.)

[Warpy]

5. It does

Wilting ruptures the cell membranes and frees up the water. The heat also sets the color. The spinach can be dried and frozen without any further degradation.

Freezing also ruptures the cell membranes, but what you get when it thaws is more like mushy black goo, since heat hasn't set the color.

You can use frozen unblanched spinach in things, just don't expect either color or texture from it.

[hippywife]

2. I think Tangerine is probably right.

I don't know myself but I would think that the water content in them would crystallize and destroy the veggies from the inside out. Just a guess.

[yellerpup]

3. The answer is in the chemistry alright.

But I can't explain it either.

[sandnsea]

4. Something to do with enzymes??

And stopping them from continuing to ripen. Or something like that.

:shrug:

[Mind_your_head]

6. Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I hate it when these darned kids ask all these questions I don't know the answers to! lol

:hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Tell her to fill a plastic bottle all the way full with water. Cap it, and put it in freezer.

Check it in a day.

Then see if she makes the connection between thin plastic bottle walls and the disposition of certain tender plant cells.