a simple {real food} recipe :: guacamole and {batch freezing} avocados

We LOVE avocados! It was one of the first foods I introduced to both girls in addition to cod liver oil, egg yolks, and coconut butter, full of nutrients and good fats to fill those bellies and grow smart healthy brains 🙂

They sure can be expensive though! At least where I live! A couple years ago I noticed that our local grocer would put avocados on sale 10 for $10 with the 11^th free a few times per year and thought…geez how do people go through 10 avocados in a week or two – which is about how long they would last without being preserved somehow! Then last year my husband and I came up with the idea to buy them during the sale, and freeze them – I was in the midst of making baby food and I think it just sort of dawned on me that if I’m batch freezing homemade baby food, why can’t I freeze up some mashed avocado?!

So I have tried a few different ways to preserve the avocado in the last year. The one that worked the best is to let them ripen, scoop them out and blend or mash them with lemon or lime juice to keep the color. I store the blended avocado in 1 cup portions, flat in freezer bags. I have tried wrapping them in plastic wrap without the shell and without blending in the citrus juice, and the outside turns brown. The inside is still good but you waste the outside of it. I have also tried freezing them in the shell, and I’m disappointed to tell you that turned out in me dumping 10 otherwise perfectly good avocados 🙁 Don’t do that one – it doesn’t work.

What do we do with avocados here? Well, now that I’m out of baby food mode, and am not limited to just mashing it up with a fork and serving it mixed with breast milk, we like it blended up in smoothies, spread on sandwiches or taco night meals, and…guacamole! YUM!

Here’s how we roll with the guac!

You will need:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and de-ribbed
• ½ medium tomato, seeded and juices scooped out
• ¼ onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 TB lemon or lime juice
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Blend everything together to desired smoothness!
2. Refrigerate a couple weeks or freeze over months! That’s it!

Kitchen Tips:

1. This recipe makes 1 pint depending on the size of your avocado. Freezes great – double, triple, quadruple batch and freeze it up! Freeze it up in smaller “to-go” portions for lunch boxes or work sack lunches. Maybe ice cube trays?
2. I don’t like a lot of tang to my guac so add more lemon or lime juice if you do!
3. If you want more heat leave a couple of those jalapeno seeds in there or add some cayenne!
4. We enjoy guacamole as a garnish on taco night, as a dip with veggies or sprouted corn/rice chips, or as a sandwich spread! Pack it up in a small container for lunches on the go.
5. Read THIS on the benefits of friendly fats like those in avocados and why you shouldn’t be afraid of them!
6. PS…I actually think the guac you can get from Costco (I think the name is Wholly Guacamole) is pretty good on the ingredients and the price is great…the price point on my guac is comparable, if not cheaper when you get avocados on sale, BUT after trying some of the store bought…I just thought mine tasted better…spoiled on fresh ingredients maybe?!

YOUR TURN!

What do you love to use guacamole for? Are avocados affordable where you live? Let me know how you like the guac recipe if you try it!

Come back Friday for a very quick, very cheap Mexican Stir Fry you can garnish with your fresh guac!

This post was shared at The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter,Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, and Too Many Jars in My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday, and Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday!