Grocery shopping can be a real chore, so it's nice to limit the amount of times you have to do it by buying as much produce in one go as possible. However, this means that the food you buy has to last longer, and some fresh products just aren't up to such a task! Luckily, these easy tips will help you store many common food items in a way that keeps them fresher for longer, saving you time and money!
1. Always Separate Your Bananas and Wrap the Stems in Cling Film
Bananas are prone to going brown and soft annoyingly quickly, once you have them home. However, there is a simple way you can keep them fresh for longer! They may look good when you put them in your fruit bowl as a bunch, but you should separate each banana and then wrap the top of the individual stems in cling film. This slows the release of ethylene gas, which is responsible for the enzymatic browning and ripening of a banana, and any fruit around it. Bananas can last for two weeks using this technique!
2. Store Your Green Leaves With Paper Towels
If you buy lettuce regularly, you will know it doesn't take long for leaves to wilt, slime over and eventually dry up. If you want to preserve their crispness, then simply line an airtight, plastic container with paper towels, and pop your lettuce leaves inside. Put another paper towel on top before you put the lid onto the container. The paper towel will absorb the excess moisture and preserve the greens inside. This technique is a much better option than the use of a plastic bag.
3. Store Potatoes with Apples
Potatoes sprout when left in a cupboard for too long, and you can end up throwing them out, wasting both food and money. If you are looking for a solution to this common issue, then look no further than your fruit bowl! If you put an apple or two in storage with your potatoes, then you will find they take much longer to sprout. Nobody knows why for sure, but it works, so throw in an apple to save your potatoes!
4. Wash Your Berries in Vinegar
You probably just throw your punnets of fresh berries straight into the fridge when you get them home from the market or store. But if you want them to stay fresh for longer, then give them a bath in some vinegar first. Mix one cup vinegar for every three cups of water to create your preserving solution, and bathe the berries thoroughly. Dry them off by spinning them in a colander (or similar) lined with paper towels. Store the berries in a container lined with paper, but leave the lid slightly open, so moisture can escape.
5. Heat Your Honey to Get Rid of Crystals
Honey is a long lasting food product, but it can pick up hard crystals when it's stored for a long time. You can correct this issue by heating the honey in a pan over a medium heat. The process will dissolve the crystals so that the honey remains good for use. Remember that honey should always be stored in a cupboard rather than the fridge, as cold temperatures can encourage the crystallization process.
6. Store Your Cartons of Ice Cream in Plastic Bags
When you are craving ice-cream, it's a bit depressing to crack open that carton you have been keeping in your fridge and find that it's frozen rock-solid and full of ice. If this sort of 'freezer burn' happens, the ice-cream will rarely be the same again, so you need a solution - and there's a really easy one! Just store the cartons of ice-cream in sealed freezer bags and your ice-cream will remain soft and delicious!
7. Store Your Avocados with Onion
If you are sick of your luscious, healthy avocados going brown too quickly, then try this simple trick to keep them fresh for longer. Store them in an airtight container but place a couple of slices of onion in with them. Keep the container in the fridge to ensure that the fruits stay moist for several days. It turns out that the enzymes in onion that make you cry when you cut them, are also excellent for preserving avocados!
8. If Your Fruit Has a Stone, Store it Outside the Fridge
The fridge always seems like the most logical place to store perishable goods, but it simply isn't appropriate for all foods. Fruits that have a stone at the center - such as peaches, plums and nectarines - are much better off at room temperature and will last much longer out in the open. You should store them in a bowl, but make sure their stems are facing downwards. Do not keep them in plastic packaging, as that will encourage them to ripen too quickly and could even cause mold to grow.
9. Use Ice Cube Trays to Store Leftover Sauce
It doesn't matter how many times I make the same dish, you can guarantee that I will always make too much sauce. It's never nice to throw food away, but it can seem pointless to store sauce on its own. One easy storage trick can help though! Take an ice-cube tray of reasonable size and fill the separate sections with the sauce, before putting the tray in the freezer. Next time you are feeling too lazy to cook from scratch or need a quick fix to liven up some pasta, simply squeeze out the cubes into a pan and heat them for a few minutes to create another delicious meal.
Source: www.bustle.com
