HIVE Moms - What to do with a ton of carrots?

[Ameena]

I've got a boatload of carrots, and not sure what to do with them. Because of how I shop the local store freshness policy, I've been getting a 2lb bag of baby carrots free every time or nearly so. I shop about 2x-3x a week. Sometimes more if I have to be in the neighborhood anyways. Most of what I get free we use up pretty quickly, or it gets frozen to use as needed. But I've got all these carrots! Not getting them even though they would be free is an option, but our diet tends to be low in fresh produce so I hate to do that.

 

 

Help me come up with ideas to use them up? DD & I normally eat carrots fixed with a roast, but not a lot. We probably eat less than a pound at a meal when we eat a lot. Neither one of us likes raw carrots - too hard.

 

Is it possible to freeze carrots in some way, maybe for carrot bread / cake / etc? I don't bake in summer on account of no a/c, but we bake a lot in winter so if it's possible to freeze them. Fridge space is at a premium, but I have some freezer space.

[Mrs Mungo]

Make carrot, tomato and cumin soup and freeze it?

[Rosie_0801]

Make pasta sauce. Basically, take a carrot dip recipe you fancy and dilute it.

[zoobie]

Pickled carrots are yummy

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Carrot soup, carrot cake, carrot salad, carrots with hummus, carrots with other dip, carrots in pasta sauce, carrots in other soups...roasted....

[MEmama]

You can dice them and blanch them, then freeze them in freezer bags. I did this with the excess carrots from my summer CSA share and enjoyed them all winter. They are perfect for soups or whatever--just toss in however much you need. All the prep work is done!

[creekland]

Buy a pony - they love carrots.  ;)

 

 

[KarenNC]

I like mirepoix, and it should freeze well. Later you can add it to casseroles, stuffing, soup, etc.

 

Here's something on pureeing carrots to use in carrot cake. I would think the puree would freeze okay. I freeze pumpkin and other winter squash puree all the time. You might want to freeze it in portions sized to just add to one recipe of cake, muffins, etc.

 

You could add it to mac and cheese to bump up the nutritional value  http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/carrot-macaroni-and-cheese

[plansrme]

Do you not roast carrots as sides with other meals?  I can go through two pounds of carrots per meal.  There are about a jillion ways to do this, but they are all variations on this:  Scrub or peel your carrots (or not), cut the big ends off, and slice (diagonally if you want to be all fancy) into inch'ish long pieces.  Toss in a little olive oil and fresh thyme if you have it (I use a Ziploc bag), spread on a baking sheet, salt, pepper to taste.  Bake at 400 or so until they are all roasted and yummy.  My family of 5 can eat carrots this way two or three times a week.  We don't very often, though I go on carrot binges when we eat carrots until we're all looking a little orange around the gils.

[carriede]

Do you not roast carrots as sides with other meals? I can go through two pounds of carrots per meal. There are about a jillion ways to do this, but they are all variations on this: Scrub or peel your carrots (or not), cut the big ends off, and slice (diagonally if you want to be all fancy) into inch'ish long pieces. Toss in a little olive oil and fresh thyme if you have it (I use a Ziploc bag), spread on a baking sheet, salt, pepper to taste. Bake at 400 or so until they are all roasted and yummy. My family of 5 can eat carrots this way two or three times a week. We don't very often, though I go on carrot binges when we eat carrots until we're all looking a little orange around the gils.

I have a recipe that I love! Prep the carrots as above. Add 1/2 lb of plucked grapes for every 1 lb carrots. Add thinly sliced onion if desired. Toss with olive oil and 1-3 tsp of cumin. Roast and enjoy!

[MeAndTheBoys]

I've got a boatload of carrots, and not sure what to do with them. Because of how I shop the local store freshness policy, I've been getting a 2lb bag of baby carrots free every time or nearly so. I shop about 2x-3x a week. Sometimes more if I have to be in the neighborhood anyways. Most of what I get free we use up pretty quickly, or it gets frozen to use as needed. But I've got all these carrots! Not getting them even though they would be free is an option, but our diet tends to be low in fresh produce so I hate to do that.

 

 

Help me come up with ideas to use them up? DD & I normally eat carrots fixed with a roast, but not a lot. We probably eat less than a pound at a meal when we eat a lot. Neither one of us likes raw carrots - too hard.

 

Is it possible to freeze carrots in some way, maybe for carrot bread / cake / etc? I don't bake in summer on account of no a/c, but we bake a lot in winter so if it's possible to freeze them. Fridge space is at a premium, but I have some freezer space.

Cook and puree them; freeze them in 1-cup servings.  You can use them in banana bread, pumpkin bread or pie recipes.  Or shred them and freeze them for carrot cake.  I have frozen them lots of times--

 

Or find a friend with a guinea pig--ours can plow through a whole big carrot in 5 minutes :) and he has to have at least one big fresh veggie or fruit each day :)

 

Betsy

[UnionJack]

This is really good!

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-cake-iii/detail.aspx

 

I leave out the pecans.

[fdrinca]

So, whenever we have produce that's about to go bad, I puree it, freeze it in ice-cube trays, and then add it to that weeks' chili. (Or I chop it and freeze it for a stir fry meal, with celery or asparagus, for example.) I've done this with carrots several times. 

 

How are you getting all of these free carrots?!?!   

[KathyBC]

Carrot-raisin salad is yummy. A side dish we like is boiled, sliced carrots tossed with a little honey and dill.

[HS Mom in NC]

Asian Ginger-Carrot Salad

 

Shave 1 pound of carrots into ribbons with a potato peeler.

 

For the Dressing:

 

1 clove garlic clove crushed

1 tsp. ginger peeled and finely chopped

zest of 1 lime

juice of 2 limes

Whisk in 1 tbsp. vegetable oil.

Toss carrots and dressing in a large bowl.

 

Serve with Asian dishes like Thai Chicken.

 

 

 

 

[Ameena]

So, whenever we have produce that's about to go bad, I puree it, freeze it in ice-cube trays, and then add it to that weeks' chili. (Or I chop it and freeze it for a stir fry meal, with celery or asparagus, for example.) I've done this with carrots several times. 

 

How are you getting all of these free carrots?!?!   

 

One of our local chains has a freshness policy - if you find an expired product on the shelves, you get an UNEXPIRED one free - 1 per UPC. Kinda like a bounty :) We have 1 local store that is really BAD about pulling expired items off the shelves, even though they are supposed to do so daily BEFORE 7am. I normally go around noon-ish or later. Takes me about 3 hours to check the main depts that I find things in. Today I scored:  a pack of Snap peas, a pack of apple slices, a pack of small veggie snack trays, a gallon of tea, 2.5 gallons of milk {I traded a gallon of the milk to a friend in trade for a 2nd gallon of tea}, 2 packages of bagels, a package of hot dog buns, several packs of little debbie snack cakes, a box of European cookies, a 6 count roses, and a tube of turkey breakfast sausage. Sometimes I get yogurt, lunchmeat, cheese, chips or fresh meat as well, but fresh meat is pretty rare.

 

I do all my other shopping there as well, so I don't feel bad about using this policy. It's helping to stretch our food budget & keep us from needing the food pantry {which is where all the expired items are supposed to go when the employees pull them} which does not work well with our food allergies. We also are eating much more nutritiously using it - before we rarely ate dairy, whole grain bread items or fresh produce because it was just too expensive a lot of the time.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have not read any responses. so don't know if anyone has mentioned this already

 Carrots can be stored for a few months by laying them flat in a single layer in a box, then covering with a layer of sand - repeat- making sure the last layer is sand. then store the box in a cool spot like  a basement or at the back of the house . they will keep for a couple of months IF they do not get wet or too hot.

[Heather in Neverland]

Donate some to neighbors?

[Indian summer]

Can you shred or purée them before freezing to use in baking like carrot cake or even to add to spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, meatballs...anywhere you can put in extra nutrition.

[mom@shiloh]

Can you shred or purée them before freezing to use in baking like carrot cake or even to add to spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, meatballs...anywhere you can put in extra nutrition.

 

This is what I was going to say.  I recently did this -- ran them all through the food processor and them froze them in freezer bags.  I love adding them to , oh, just about anything.  Sometimes I'll shred some apples as well and put the right amount of carrots and apples into a freezer bag to make apple carrot muffins.  

[lavender's green]

I do them on the stove top.  Chop or julienne them, lay them in a thin layer in a saute pan, add some salt, pepper, butter, pinch of sugar, and just barely cover with water.  Simmer until water's evaporated.  You can mix herbs in at the end if you want.  Even my toddler is crazy about this.  Sometimes I substitute coconut oil and curry powder for a more tropical flavor.

 

There's also Japanese steakhouse dressing.

 

Or just good old vegetable soup. 

 

Something I really like a couple pregnancies ago: shredded carrots topped with balsamic vinegar and coconut oil.  No idea if this tastes good in a non-pregnant state. ;)

 

If I had them coming out my ears I'd chop or puree and freeze, then add them to soups, stews, and muffins.

 

I wonder if you could make a pseudo hummus out of pureed carrots?  I have a pumpkin hummus recipe somewhere....

[Farrar]

Seconding the carrot muffins. We love those and they will freeze nicely.

[ThisIsTheDay]

I followed this recipe and roasted mini carrots just a few days ago with a rogue bag that we also got for free!  I did not use any honey in the recipe.  I was surprised by how sweet the carrots were; they were like carrot fries, and the mini carrots were the perfect size, imo.

[J-rap]

I would peel, clean, and chop them up, and put them into ziplock bags in the freezer.  I'd use them mostly for smoothies and stews.  In the hot weather, we make smoothies almost daily and carrots tends to go with any kind of fruit smoothie.

 

Carrot soup is good too, but you can only eat so much of that!

[Lizzie in Ma]

Shred and freeze in ziplocks for sure.

I throw them in tons of stuff, meatloaf, breads, casseroles, soups, stews, lara bars, breads....