Did you notice that some of your groceries always go to waste, because they spoil before you get to eat them? Sometimes you just cannot prevent this from happening, but most of the times picking just the right spot in your house or in the refrigerator to store fruits, vegetables and fresh spices will make the difference. Of course, it is not all about the spot you pick, but also about the air temperature in the room or in the refrigerator, about the relative humidity of the air and so on and so forth. As this may seem a little complicated at this time, I can assure you, it is far from it. The bottom line is you should not take this matters lightly, as having your groceries spoil may prove to be a serious waste of your money, over time. Maybe you should even think about shopping smaller and not storing groceries over large periods of time any more!
Next I shall give you a couple of tips on how to store your vegetables, your fruits and the herbs you put in your daily dishes. We will discuss about storing at both room temperature and at lower temperatures, in the refrigerator.
1. Tricks on how to store your vegetables
Keep it whole. If you are not going to eat cabbage today, do not cut it half, just to make it fit on a shelf! It will last longer if you store it whole.
Onions. Although people do it all the time, onions should not be stored next to patatoes. If you put them all in one and the same storage box, onions will spoil faster. If you choose to store the onions in pantyhose (like the ones supermarkets use to store garlic in), they will remain fresh for two to three month. Green onions, on the other hand, last longer when cut into slices, dried up and put away in the refrigerator, inside platic bottles.
Patatoes. Theylast longer when stored next to apples. However, take good care not to keep patatoes in dark places, which also have high humidity. If you do, patatoes will sprout and spoil.Also, one rotten apple will surely spoil the whole buch, so remeber to check on the apples on a daily basis.
Tomatoes and mushrooms. If the tomatoes din not yet turned red in color, you should store them in a dry, cool place (never in the refrigerator though) until they ripen. After they did so, keep them at room temperature. If you bag them, go for paper bags, not plastic ones. Also, paper bags are the best choise for storing mushrooms.
2. Fruit storage. Three simple tips.
Strawberries and raspberries. Bath the berries in a mixture of one part vinegar and ten parts water. Afterwards, dry the berries and put them away, in the refrigerator. They will last up to two weeksm this way.
Banans. Wrap the crown of every bunch with plastic wrap and bananas will last 3 to 5 days longer.
Nuts. They do not spoil easily anyway but they stay fresh even longer if you rost them for 15 minutes, in the owen, at 350 degrees, allow them to cool and then store them into jars, in the refrigerator.
3. How to organize food in your refrigerator
Store vegetables and fruits in the special glass or plastic compartments under the lowest shelf of your refrigerator. Do not mix fruits and vegetables.
Place the raw meat, poultry, and seafood on the bottom shelf as to prevednt drips which could contaminate food below. Also, you can place eggs on the bottom shelf.
On the shelf above, you may store milk, cheese and leftovers.
Use the upper shelf – coolest place in the refrigerator – to store your cooked food, such as soup or stew.
Remember never to let the temperature in your refrigerator go over 5 degrees Celsius. If you let this happen, the food may spoil easily.
Finally, here is a list of vegetables and fruits that should never go in the refrigerator: avocados, apricots, banans, citrus, garlic, kiwi, melons, nectarines, pears, peches, plums and pineapples.
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