Most Nutritious and Versatile bags of Frozen Vegetables

[Amaranth]

A number of Live Below the Line Challengers here and elsewhere are using bags of frozen vegetables to increase the nutrition in their challenge food. Assuming the bags are the same size and price, what varieties maximize nutrition and versatility?

For example a Peas and Carrots combination is good alone, in a stir fry, in an omelet, in pasta, in salads, and in soups. It includes both a green and an orange vegetable and some protein.

A Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Carrot Mix is good alone, in a stir fry, or soup. It includes vegetables from the brassica family and multiple colors. The pieces are big enough that if you wanted to fish out a few pieces of cauliflower and make a dish of mashed potatoes and cauliflower, it would be easy to do. It's not the tastiest though if you are thinking of using it to make 5 servings of soup as the later reheatings can be unpleasantly strong tasting and overwhelm the tastiness of items such as potatoes in the soup.

[Jilly]

I use single vegetable packages, although for the purpose of the challenge, maybe it makes sense to choose bags that have a mix of vegetables, just to increase the variety. I never buy the mixes, but is there one that has, oh, like, brocolli, green beans, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, like that? I guess not.

Does your challenge budget allow you to buy a couple of bags of individual vegetables and then combine them for specific meals? I have a list of the most nutritious vegetables, cannot remember where I got it.

kale, collards, chard, spinach
parsley
dark green and red lettuces
broccoli
Brussels sprouts
cauliflower
red and green Peppers
garlic
onions
dweet potatoes
tomatoes
peas
carrots

[iris lily]

There are times when I just pull out a bag of frozen veg, microwave that, and eat it as breakfast. Since I don't prepare DH's breakfasts, it's fine for just me. I'm not a fan of most conventional breakfast foods.

I've never had frozen sweet potatoes, didn't know they existed.

[IshbelRobertson]

The only frozen veg I buy is petit pois! Even peas straight from the garden don't taste as good.

[Tiam]

Most of my frozen veggies are limited to frozen spinach, baby peas and corns. That's about it.

[chanterelle]

Frozen can be faster and handier to store but not always the cheapest. Their price varies with the seasons like fresh...frozen greens are always pricer in the winter when fresh are scarce and high in price.
Mixed veg bags are never the same size and price because they make their money charging premium prices for the lower costing veg .... if you separate out the component parts and weigh them you will find that you are paying a hefty price per pound for the cheaper types [ yes, I have done this with several brands and types of mixes] Stir fry mixes and other mixes may seem cheaper but unless you are getting a great deal on a loss leader they are not cheaper in the long run.
Roots such as carrots, yams, onions, potato varieties and other types used in various ethnic cusines are very often sold loose and you can choose the cheapest one and get just the ammount that you need and can afford at the time....cabbages and other longer lasting veg are included here as well..slices of squash and pumpkin, plantains etc.
Individual frozen greens, bags of geen peas and corn can be versatile components for lower costing meals but,for the below the line challange or anyone who has very limited funds at anyone time stocking up on these items can be cost prohibitive and end up with a mono diet based on the large bag of stuff and in the end less healthy due to lack of variety.
I have a problem with these sorts of challenges because they do not address long term frugal shopping and cooking..based on shopping for a few weeks or even a month where purchases will even out the budget expenditures over that time nor do they address the very short term access to cash and food that many people have...nor do they factor in that many people simple lack access to cooking facilities that we take for granted.
Having worked with people on SNAP or on very low food budgets it takes a great deal of skill, time and foresight to end of with a balanced diet and food enough for the month. Portion size constraints and cooking skills are very important
because you can end up eating a bit too much here and there and running out of food ....I have seen it happen.

[chanterelle]

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