Feeding and Nutrition :: might be a daft question but can you freeze lettuce?

[neil20055]

I feed my little guy Romaine lettuce and he is quite fond of the stuff, unfortunatley Im not!It's not cheap and goes off pretty quick. Has anyone tried freezing it or is there any veg i can buy prefrozen that would be healthy for him (and me!)

[koreyleigh]

Unsure about frozen, but I can send a recommendation your way --

turnip greens, another one of the staple vegetables, I have managed to keep for a very long time. I bought a bundle (a little under a pound) for 92cents. My turtle doesnt care for the rinds/centers of the leafy vegetables, so I cleaned the leaves and cut out the spines. I placed the damp leaves on 2 layers of paper towel, folded it in to a square and wrapped that in celofane wrap. They have been crisp and fresh for about a week (after having been cut this is impressive) and only cost me a dollar.

My mom freezes rolls and bread - couldnt hurt to try freezing a few leaves and see what happens?

[Caphits]

I think that they *might* wilt a little bit, and I dont know what freezing will do to some of the nutrients (if anything).

I doubt freezing would be a problem. I say go for it. It has to be better than throwing away half a head probably.

[TheComputerGremlin]

They freeze it in those jello shots, I think, so I suppose you can. They always show the vacuum bags on the commercials freezing a head of lettuce and then opening it and it's in normal shape. I freeze cabbage for myself, and it comes out a bit more wilted, but not too bad. And my turtle ate a frozen strawberry sliver with no issue, so you could probably just put it in the tank frozen.

[AliciaTTU]

I've tried freezing lettuce, and it freezes nicely - it's the thawing-out part that is problematic. The lettuce becomes very...squishy, for lack of a better word. It was not pleasant.

[megcornell]

If you partially dehydrate the lettuce beforehand it freezes and thaws much better. You can do that by "baking" it.

[marisa]

Why don't you buy a bag of salad greens? In some supermarkets, I've seen them sold by weight. Then you could just buy what you need.

[neil20055]

Unsure about frozen, but I can send a recommendation your way --

turnip greens, another one of the staple vegetables, I have managed to keep for a very long time. I bought a bundle (a little under a pound) for 92cents. My turtle doesnt care for the rinds/centers of the leafy vegetables, so I cleaned the leaves and cut out the spines. I placed the damp leaves on 2 layers of paper towel, folded it in to a square and wrapped that in celofane wrap. They have been crisp and fresh for about a week (after having been cut this is impressive) and only cost me a dollar.

My mom freezes rolls and bread - couldnt hurt to try freezing a few leaves and see what happens?

wrapping the lettuce in paper towel really works, had this one a few weeks now!

[koreyleigh]

wrapping the lettuce in paper towel really works, had this one a few weeks now!

HAHA yessss! Mom's old remedy does the trick! I'm glad you've found a way to keep your vegetables longer neil! I should try it with some others, too ^_^

[queenjane]

Everytime I have frozen anything, Tank won't eat it.

He's such a picky one.

[geekyturtle]

Don't cut the lettuce with a metal knife either - tear the pieces off with your hands. And keep it in the crisper at the bottom of the fridge. I've had lettuce keep a few weeks that way. And if you see any bits turning bad, tear them off and throw them out.

[Caphits]

My turtle absolutely adores lettuce. I think he likes it even more after it has been frozen.

I did notice that it smells really bad when you freeze it though.