One of the worst feelings as a cook is to throw away food because it’s gone bad, whether it’s because you forgot it existed in your fridge, or you didn’t have the right dish to use it in. Not only is it a waste of money, but it’s a waste of time. Here are ten tips from Clean My Space to help you save your money and your time. When you have a fridge stocked with fresh food, you’re able to feel better and cook better.
1. CELERY
Want to keep your celery as fresh and crunchy as possible? A neat little trick is to wrap it in tin foil first. Apparently, this works for broccoli and lettuce as well!
2. BREAD
Do you keep your bread in the fridge? Don’t, because that will actually make them stale and harden faster. The best place to store bread is a dry place. A bread holder, a cupboard…even the microwave! (Not when you’re using it of course). If you find that you’re not using up your bread as fast as you thought, you can keep them in a Ziploc bag and store it in the freezer. Just thaw it before you use it!
3. BERRIES
For berries, you need to do a little investigating. Some berries have already been packaged well. If you see packages that have slits on top and paper squares on the bottom, they have been purposely made to absorb ethylene.
What is ethylene, you may wonder? It’s a gas that makes fruit ripen faster, and eventually rot. If the packaging has been designed to stop this from happening, keep the berries in it. If not, put the berries into a ziploc bag.
4. USE YOUR FREEZER
Freezers are essential to making you food last just a little bit longer. If you notice that something’s about to expire soon, but you know you’re gonna end up using it, stick it in the freezer. The freezer acts as a pause button, giving you a little more breathing room and time.
5. TOMATO PASTE
Have you ever been frustrated when recipes call for a little bit of tomato paste, and you’re left with an almost full can? This trick allows you to get out of that mess.
Pour your leftover paste into an ice cube tray for gradual use. Simply take out a piece or two, heat it, and you’re ready to go.
6. MUSHROOMS
Did you know that the way you see mushrooms packaged at the market is actually wrong? Keep your mushrooms fresh by placing them in a brown paper bag, fold the top, and put it in your fridge.
7. COTTAGE CHEESE
This tip is a little eccentric, but it works. Flip your cottage cheese upside down to keep them fresh!
The reason for this is that if cottage cheese is the right side up, air can leak into the container and speed up its ripening. When you flip them upside down, you seal off any air holes.
8. ASPARAGUS
Ever wondered how an asparagus looks like a flower? Turns out, you should be storing them like flowers too. To maximize asparagus life, place them in a bunch into a glass of water, as you would a bouquet of flowers. Cover the top of the asparagus with a plastic bag and store them in the fridge.
9. APPLES
Remember that ethylene gas we were talking about earlier? Apples release a ton of it. What does this mean? It means that your apples may be soaking in each other’s gas and make each other ripen faster. To prevent this, toss out any bad apples in your bunch to reduce the amount of ethylene gas.
10. CLEAN YOUR FRIDGE
This tip is a little obvious, but the most important: Clean your fridge regularly! Clogging your fridge with food eliminates air circulation. Make sure your fridge is a healthy environment to put your food in.
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[Source: Clean My Space]
