Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Get the most from produce purchases

I usually buy a good amount of fresh produce every week. We really like eating good produce but it can be expensive. I've got a few methods to keep produce fresh and easy to use. After all,
nobody likes to throw away produce because it spoiled in the fridge.
Grapes get washed in a colander, then cut into small bunches. I just store them in a bowl in the fridge. Having them cut in to little bunches makes them easy to get a serving at a time. I learned this trick from my Aunt Bernice.

I store many of our vegetables sealed up in Tupperware type containers. These romaine hearts have been in my fridge for a week but are still fresh and crisp.
Wash the produce and let it dry on a towel. I shake the lettuce a few times to get out any water hiding inside. Water can leave brown spots on leaf vegetables.
The celery gets cut up and washed before storing but most other veggies just get washed.
Romaine hearts each get wrapped with a single paper towel. I think it helps keep them crisp.
Jeff and I eat a salad most evening. With these romaine hearts, it is so easy to just take out one and unwrap it. Then, I chop it up with a few grape tomatoes, some red onion and any other salad vegetable we have.
I think the whole romaine hearts stay fresh much longer than bagged salad too.
Similar vegetables get stored together in a Tupperware container. Most of my containers for TupperWare Fridgesmart that I bought as a lot on Ebay. I've also got a few at thrift stores. I like the Fridgesmart best because you can see inside without opening them but I use other plastic containers too as needed.
Onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes stay in containers on the floor of the cool dark pantry.

Every few days, I check to see what produce we still have and use up whatever seems the oldest.

11 comments:

  1. Great tips! Have you tried those Debbie Meyer Green Bags...they don't work!!!

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  2. I hate having oroduce go bad. I keep my onions in the fridge bacause my mother did. I don't know why she did. Celery and carrots do not last long here - the boys devour them!

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  3. These are good tips, Rhonda! I will have to be on the lookout for the FridgeSmart containers.

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  4. Good ideas. I am really bad at letting lettuce spoil and I love salad.

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  5. I've been getting the clearanced salad items at a local grocer. Today I picked up 2 pounds of tomatoes, 8 pounds of potatoes, baby romaine and strawberries, all for .99 cents each.

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  6. Thank you for the helpful ideas. I'm not the best at using up my produce before it expires as I end up not feeling well a lot. I'm going to implement these and they will definitely help I'm sure.

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  7. After reading this post I'm going to buy some romaine hearts and prep them the way you did. We need to eat more salad and that's one veggie my son will eat, especially if I have the things he likes with it. (croutons, bacon bits, egg, cheese, ham, onion, etc.) You make salad sound good. I think my dh would like the red onions. The bagged salad does seem to go bad quickly to me.

    I need to try to save as much food as possible. Its a shame for it to go bad, as expensive as it is.

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  8. I just came across your blog and love it! How inspiring..thank you!

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  9. Good tips! I usually put a paper towel in with my romaine but I don't wet it. I'll try it and see if it makes a difference.

    Manuela

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  10. I've been looking for ways to keep my veggies fresh longer. Thank you for the post. I found if I wrap my celery in tinfoil it will stay fresh a long, long time.

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