Now that strawberry season is almost over, it is time to freeze strawberries.  I usually freeze a few flats of strawberries so I can have our berries all year long in my smoothies.  The key to properly freeze strawberries is just a little time to prep.  Follow these quick steps to make sure you too can enjoy our berries all year long.

#1 Rinse strawberries in the sink

Dump the strawberries in a colander and rinse.  Remove any dented strawberries.  Make sure to dry them with a paper towel. You want to dry the strawberries, so they don’t absorb as much water and loose their sweetness.

#2 Stem the berries

Once the strawberries are cleaned, it’s time to stem them.  You can use one of those cool stemmer tools, but I’m old fashioned here so I just use a pairing knife.

#3 Bag the berries

Now this is where you need to pay attention.  Make sure you don’t “overpack” the ziploc bag.  You want to carefully place the berries in a single layer.  That way the berries will freeze individually and you’ll be able to grab as many or as little as needed out of the bag later.

#4 Flat bags

Make sure when you are storing the bags in your freezer, that the bags are perfectly flat.  Again, this will prevent the berries from forming clusters thus allowing them to freeze individually.  Follow me? The purpose is to have them individually frozen.  There’s many ways to do this.  I’ve seen people who freeze them individually in a baking sheet inside their freezer.  But really, who has time for that? Or space?  I find that properly bagging them yields the same results as going through the baking sheet process and it cuts a lot time.  I don’t know about you, but if I can cut some minutes off here and there, I am so much happier.

How do you store your berries?  Do they even make it to the freezer?

Disclaimer: By writing this Disney on Ice blog post, I will receive tickets.  All opinions are mine based on my experience. I was not compensated monetarily for this review.

Last year we were the lucky recipients of four tickets to Disney on Ice at the Tampa Forum.  I won the tickets through a giveaway hosted by Erin at The Mom Buzz.  Thank you again Erin!  When it came time to go, I was unable to make it.  But my girls still got to go with a friend of ours.

When the girls came home, they were so excited.  According to my friend, the show really captured the Disney “magic” feeling.  They were also very excited about the special Disney merchandise available at the Forum.  That was their first time at a Disney on Ice event and they asked to make sure we didn’t miss it next year.

This year’s show is Disney on Ice Let’s Celebrate! It’s one colossal party on ice, with all your favorite Disney friends! Join Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as they celebrate a Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter; Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen; a Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses; a Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch; a winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear; a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains and more in a magical medley of holidays, celebrations and festivals from around the globe.  Come join the party when this spectacular ice show visits your hometown!

The Disney on Ice Let’s Celebrate will be at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on May 15-18, 2014.  To purchase tickets, click here.  You can use MOM5 as a coupon code to save $5 on selected performances.  Stay tuned for a giveaway coming up soon!

For more information, you can follow Disney on Ice on Facebook and Twitter.

Hi everyone and welcome to the Ultimate Blog Party 2014! My name is Xiomara and my husband’s family owns Parkesdale Market.  We have two little girls who are very energetic, and have developed quite an interesting sense of humor.  Together we are trying to figure it all out.

This is my first time participating in the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 minutes for mom.  The purpose of the Ultimate Blog Party is to meet other bloggers who might be of interest to you.  So here’s a little bit about me.

I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and I moved to Florida when I was in High School.  After High School, I attended the University of Florida in Gainesville.  Yay, Go Gators!  So excited to see the Basketball team make it to the Final Four.  At the University of Florida, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources and Conservation.  If you ever wondered why I love plants, and being outside, this would be why.

After UF, I moved to South Florida, where I met my husband.  While I was there, I attended the Florida Atlantic University and I earned a Master’s degree in Geology.  Yeah, rocks are not just for jocks, you know.  It was quite a shock going from a big university to a smaller one, but I’m happy to say the professors, students and facilities were top  notch.  Go Owls!

Now my schedule is full with the girls’ activities and trying to keep fit.  It’s busy for sure but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I use this blog to keep accountability of my eating and running habits.  You can also read about our family outings.  You can follow me on twitter, instagram or pinterest!  See you soon!