Little red gems

This morning while slicing up some strawberries for a decadent little dish of strawberries and cream, I noticed that some of them were bruised and a bit mushy. In my humble opinion, it would be a sad state of affairs to waste strawberries. So what's a girl to do? You could eat them right away (problem solved), use them in a baked or cooked dish, or employ this method when they're too bruised or mushy to eat fresh.

Gently wash them or soak in a bowl of water with fruit and vegetable wash, then rinse.

Dry them on some paper towels.

Cut off the stems (you can also cut them into any size at this point based on what you envision using them for).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the strawberries cut side down on the parchment paper.

Freeze until solid, then transfer to a glass container and keep in the freezer until needed.

What do I use these frozen little gems for?

-smoothies
-frozen yogurt/ice cream in a high-powered blender (such as a Vitamix)
-berry syrup for grain-free pancakes
-mixing into yogurt (when cut into smaller pieces)
-spritzers (sparkling water, liquid stevia, fresh-squeezed lemon/lime/grapefruit juice with frozen muddled strawberry pieces)
-baked berry crumble (use sliced frozen strawberries and mix with other frozen berries, xylitol, a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of cornstarch/gelatin, topped with coconut flour or almond meal/coconut/butter crumbles)

Sometimes if you buy strawberries at the very beginning of the season (or out of season), they may be a bit sour or even tasteless. Rather than eating them fresh, I'll immediately freeze the whole container and use them to bulk up smoothies.

Want another reason not to waste those strawberries? They have high anti-angiogenic properties, which means that eating them can prevent the growth of blood vessels that feed tumors. Check out William Li who discusses this topic in his TED Talk here.