Why didn't I think of that before? - Papaya chunks

Home grown papayas

Papayas are so big! At least the ones we grow or buy here in Honduras are. We can't hope to finish one while it is still fresh, even though we've been using a lot lately in our homemade yogurt.

A neighbor recommended to me a long time ago to cut up the papaya and freeze the chunks for a tasty licuado (milkshake). I loved his recipe so I'll share it with you tomorrow.

It was a great idea and blended in a drink, you can not tell the difference between fresh or frozen papaya. The frozen chunks actually perform better because they make a colder and thicker drink.

The problem is that fresh or on-its-way-to-freezing papaya chunks glue themselves to each other so what I would end up with was a solid mass of frozen papaya in the freezer bag. I scared El Jefe the last time he caught me jabbing a large chef's knife into the frozen papaya glob trying to break off some chunks.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but the last time I cut up a papaya, I froze the pieces on a cookie sheet. I actually piled them higher than this photo shows but once frozen, it was relatively easy to break the chunks apart and put them in a freezer bag for storage.

Now I have a nice bagful of loose papaya chunks and can just pour out the quantity that I need.

Problem solved!

Memo to me: Plant papayas again....soon