If you find yourself throwing out produce that seems to spoil too quickly, you will want to check out these ways to make your produce last longer!
Do you find yourself throwing out most of the produce you bring home each week? It can be frustrating to throw out food that costs so much. Thankfully, there are ways to make your produce last longer. Whether you store it properly or can it, you can make it last.
1. Proper Storage
Proper food storage is essential when it comes to produce. You want to make sure to use the vegetable drawers in your refrigerator. These areas are set to the proper temperature for fruits and vegetables. When storing produce in the drawer, you want to make sure to check it regularly to remove any produce that is starting to go bad. If you leave it in the bin, everything will be effected. The gases that the overripe produce puts out will affect the rest of the produce.
If you are like me and often have more produce than vegetable drawers, I have been very happy with these containers in my refrigerator!
2. Freeze
You can freeze certain fruits and vegetables for later use. The texture will change, but you can use the produce in different ways. For example, if you freeze strawberries and bananas, these are perfect for smoothies. There are some vegetables you do not want to freeze. For example, freezing greens will leave you with a nasty sludge of blackened goo once thawed (but be careful – there are some foods that you just should not freeze).
3. Can
Canning is a wonderful way to preserve produce and much easier than you might realize. Canning allows you to preserve food much longer than freezing. You can preserve so many fruits and vegetables this way (and most will use the simpler water bath canning method). There is prep involved, but you'll find that less and less food goes to waste once you start canning.
4. Dehydrate
If you really want your foods to last a long time, use a food dehydrator. You can dry so many fruits and vegetables. You can then reconstitute them with hot water or you can snack on them. Dried strawberries, peaches, cherries, etc make wonderful snacks. Best of all, these will last for years.
5. Use Paper Towels
A great way to keep your greens fresher longer is to put a dry paper towel in the container. The paper towel will keep the excess moisture away from the greens and prevent them from going soggy. You'll find that your greens last much, much longer this way.
6. Be Careful What You Prep
Last, but not least, while you can prep much of the produce you bring home for the week ahead of time, some can go bad faster if cleaned. For example, washing berries can lead to them molding. You want to hold off and wash berries right before using.
All of these tips are easy to implement and will make your produce last for days up to years longer.
Do you have any other tips to add?
Mindi has been blogging since 2008 sharing her best frugal living tips, recipes and more. When she isn't writing, she spends time as an unpaid cook, maid and chauffeur to her 3 children!
I love the paper towel tip.