Fruits and Vegetables are important to any diet…but can be a big part of the weekly budget. If that produce goes bad it’s a big waste!
Here are 5 Tips to Making Produce Last Longer.
Don’t cut it until you’re ready to use.
Once you slice into produce- it destroys the natural protection of the fruit or vegetable and opens more surfaces to the air. This reduces it’s shelf life.
Wrap Celery in foil before refrigerating.
Even if you don’t follow the second part of this tip…be sure to take your celery out of that plastic bag from the store! To avoid limp celery, wrap the celery in foil but don’t crimp the edges. This allow the moisture to stay in but allows the ethylene gas to escape.
Do NOT refrigerate tomatoes…or onions…or potatoes.
Some things should not be put in the fridge! Tomatoes, Onions, Potatoes do much better (and last longer) out.
Instead of the fridge- keep potatoes in a paper bag instead of the plastic ones that trap moisture in. The same with onions- keep them dry in teh mesh bag in the pantry but keep them as far from the potatoes as you can. Garlic also does better outside of the fridge. Tomatoes get mealy in the fridge; keep them out of plastic bags too.
Keep Lettuce Dry.
Want to avoid soggy, wet lettuce? Keep it dry by wrapping the lettuce in a dry paper towel. Replace the towel as needed. Don’t wash or chop the lettuce until you are ready to use it.
Use your freezer
Ok a frozen bag of celery isn’t the same crunch as a fresh stalk…in fact I don’t recommend snacking on frozen celery. If you end up with extra produce that you won’t eat before it goes bad, there are lots of items that can go in the freezer for using later. (p.s. lettuce is NOT one of them!)
Carrots, celery, peppers, broccoli, onions and berries are all easily frozen.
Some produce like carrots and broccoli are best blanched (boiled for just a few minutes and then put in ice water to stop the cooking process. Dry and then freeze. Onions, celery and peppers are best washed and sliced. Dry and freeze on a sheet of parchment paper. Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag.
Frozen fruits don’t thaw very well and are best used in smoothies or baking frozen.
Want to go the Gadget Way?
There are some great ones to try out.
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