My kids love mandarin oranges. For years I have been buying the little cups for their lunch boxes, mostly because they are portioned nicely. However, it is getting expensive to buy them that way, even if I can find them on sale. I have tried buying the big cans, but there is so many in there that the kids get sick of them before they get eaten. If I throw out food, that is wasting money.

A friend suggested I try buying a big can, laying them out individually on a cookie sheet, and putting them in the freezer until the oranges are frozen. I was afraid this would be putzy, but it really wasn’t. It worked great! I was able to easily lift the frozen oranges individually off the sheet and store them in a freezer-safe container. Now I can take out as many or as few as I want. When I pack them in lunch boxes, they are defrosted by lunchtime, but still cold. The kids love it. 

One more thing, I’ve noticed that there weren’t any broken oranges in the big can I opened. I think the oranges break into obnoxious pieces when packed into small containers. I will definately do this again.

Do you have any great money or food saving tips you’d like to share? Add your comments now! We’d love to hear from you.