How to keep perishables from...... perishing?

ereck44

I really need some help with improving shelf life of my perishables. I hate it when I go to the refrigerator and find my spinach rotting, my strawberries with fuzzies, my cheese with mold, my turnips growing leaves. I love produce and am the only one in the house who eats them. I hate having to go the store every week just to pick up spinach. I am in the refrigerator multiple times--so it's not like I am not looking.

Could really use some mfp expertise!

Thanks in advance.

Krista916

I had the same problem. I've found that if I plan my dinners for the week and only purchase what I need and know I'm going to use I was throwing WAY less out. I always have apples, oranges, baby carrots...those kinds of things that tend to last a little long, but the stuff that goes quickly, I make sure there is a planed use for it before I buy it.

Or, you could cook it all when you get home and freeze it.

AprilMae1975

A vinegar wash before putting them in the refrigerator helps delay the mold spores on produce. I have been doing it and it works well. I usually fill up my sink and add 2 cups of vinegar and let them soak for about 10 minutes then pat dry. As far as cheese, I don't have that problem. My kids love cheese and eat it too fast lol.

Love4fitnesslove4food2

Is it only spinach you're concerned about? If so, buy frozen if you intend on cooking it anyway. If you're using it for salads then buy smaller amounts at a time.

sarah456s

I go to the store every few days for veggies. I use a basket so I only pick up a few things at a time, and so it doesn't take me long to get in and out. [This is separate from/in addition to the big grocery shop.]

Then, I've trained myself to eat the same thing for a couple of days. Or at least, to use the same veggies, although I typically cook them differently the second (or third) day. Like I'll buy a cabbage, so there's cabbage in everything for 2-3 days, then it's used up and I don't buy cabbage again for a while so I'm not bored. Sometimes you have to force yourself to use up stuff in the fridge, even if it's maybe not what you necessarily wanted to eat.

I also will chop off any rotten parts and see if I can use the rest of the item. This doesn't work with wilted and gooey spinach of course but some things you'll find most of the veggie is OK even if there's a spot that's starting to turn.

Finally, if I do go and bulk buy veggies, I find that they definitely last longer from different stores. Costco veggies last a long time, as do the veggies from a local popular green market. I figure both of those places have a rapid turnover, so they're fresh, and they store them at the proper temperature. If I get veggies from Winn Dixie, they're often rotten in a day or two - the one near me just doesn't have the freshest stuff on the shelves.

james6998

if you want to keep bananas from going bad you want to cover with plastic wrap over the stock where they join together to prevent them from ripening

helenrosemay

I really need some help with improving shelf life of my perishables. I hate it when I go to the refrigerator and find my spinach rotting, my strawberries with fuzzies, my cheese with mold, my turnips growing leaves. I love produce and am the only one in the house who eats them. I hate having to go the store every week just to pick up spinach. I am in the refrigerator multiple times--so it's not like I am not looking.

Could really use some mfp expertise!

Thanks in advance.

Try putting some kitchen towel in the bag with the spinach, it absorbs the moisture and keeps for longer. You can do this with most fresh veg, I do it with carrots, lettuce, mushrooms etc.
You could try freezing your fruit depending on how you eat it. I freeze bananas and defrost them to add to porridge or yogurt.
Try buying frozen veg like root veggies etc, they are still just as healthy.
Don't store fruit with apples, they increase the way fruit ripens.

roseym10

Try Debbie Meyer green containers and bags.

lightningblxnde

I have the exact same problem! I can only get to the grocery store once every 2-3 weeks due to a chaotic work/school schedule, and it drives me mad that my fresh things don't stay fresh! I've been getting better about buying frozen veggies and fruits to tide me over between trips.

ereck44

if you want to keep bananas from going bad you want to cover with plastic wrap over the stock where they join together to prevent them from ripening

Thanks, I tried that today.

ereck44

Try Debbie Meyer green containers and bags.

I will look for that in my store. Thank you.

ereck44

I go to the store every few days for veggies. I use a basket so I only pick up a few things at a time, and so it doesn't take me long to get in and out. [This is separate from/in addition to the big grocery shop.]

Then, I've trained myself to eat the same thing for a couple of days. Or at least, to use the same veggies, although I typically cook them differently the second (or third) day. Like I'll buy a cabbage, so there's cabbage in everything for 2-3 days, then it's used up and I don't buy cabbage again for a while so I'm not bored. Sometimes you have to force yourself to use up stuff in the fridge, even if it's maybe not what you necessarily wanted to eat.

I also will chop off any rotten parts and see if I can use the rest of the item. This doesn't work with wilted and gooey spinach of course but some things you'll find most of the veggie is OK even if there's a spot that's starting to turn.

Finally, if I do go and bulk buy veggies, I find that they definitely last longer from different stores. Costco veggies last a long time, as do the veggies from a local popular green market. I figure both of those places have a rapid turnover, so they're fresh, and they store them at the proper temperature. If I get veggies from Winn Dixie, they're often rotten in a day or two - the one near me just doesn't have the freshest stuff on the shelves.

Thanks, I've been trying to not buy as many veggies, but get carried away and then forget that they are in the crisper. I will have the check to see if freshness varies from store to store.

amaysngrace

With me, it depends on what I am using my fruit for...I usually buy fruit to put in my oatmeal, which I eat daily, so strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, I keep down in the crisper. Now, if I plan on using some of the fruit for a smoothie, I will rinse the fruit off and put it in freezer bags to freeze it, then I can put it in a smoothie later on, when I am ready without having to worry about it perishing. This is what I do with my bananas, I eat them daily in my oatmeal, but sometimes I cannot eat them fast enough, so when they start becoming extremely overripe, I peel them and place them in a freezer bag, sealed tightly and put them in my freezer. Then, when I am ready for a smoothie, I will take it out of the freezer and throw it directly into the blender. Onions, and sweet potatoes, I keep down in the basement where it is cooler, and I keep them out, or loosely in a bag. If I am going to make a dish with the onion, and I only use half of it, then I will dice up the other half, place it in a plastic container or plastic ziplock baggy and freeze it. I also freeze my ginger root, green and red bell pepper, jalapeno, diced tomatoes from the can or not from the can, and tomato sauce. Butternut squash I will keep down in the basement as well. Lastly, with herbs, I just discovered a pretty good method. I keep a small basil plant growing in my window sill for fresh basil on hand. I take cilantro and rinse it off completely and then set it in water with a little vinegar in it, and place it back in the refrigerator soaking in the vinegar, uncovered. I put my parley in a cup or a bowl filled with water, and a little vinegar placed in the refrigerator. Therefore, you could try this with your spinach, or you could rinse it off, soak it in a little vinegar, let it dry, then freeze it for later use by placing it in a ziplock baggy with no air in it. Hope this helps. Message me if you need even more specifics.

ereck44

I have the exact same problem! I can only get to the grocery store once every 2-3 weeks due to a chaotic work/school schedule, and it drives me mad that my fresh things don't stay fresh! I've been getting better about buying frozen veggies and fruits to tide me over between trips.

Some veggies freeze better than others. Which kinds do you use? I love fresh spinach but hate the frozen kind which is still better than the canned stuff.

ereck44

I really need some help with improving shelf life of my perishables. I hate it when I go to the refrigerator and find my spinach rotting, my strawberries with fuzzies, my cheese with mold, my turnips growing leaves. I love produce and am the only one in the house who eats them. I hate having to go the store every week just to pick up spinach. I am in the refrigerator multiple times--so it's not like I am not looking.

Could really use some mfp expertise!

Thanks in advance.

Try putting some kitchen towel in the bag with the spinach, it absorbs the moisture and keeps for longer. You can do this with most fresh veg, I do it with carrots, lettuce, mushrooms etc.
You could try freezing your fruit depending on how you eat it. I freeze bananas and defrost them to add to porridge or yogurt.
Try buying frozen veg like root veggies etc, they are still just as healthy.
Don't store fruit with apples, they increase the way fruit ripens.

Thanks for the tips about the apples. Would a paper towel work as well as a kitchen towel? I also freeze bananas and sometimes grapes.

KarlaH9801

After I core my lettuce, I wrap it in paper towel and put it in a bag. I also read somewhere that bananas keep better if tou seperate them from the bunch. Haven't tried that yet, cuz my kids eat the whole bunch in 24 hours!

SLLRunner

I just buy what I'm going to cook.

alisonlynn1976

If you avoid getting any water on your berries (just rinse the ones you're just about to eat), this helps prevent mold from growing.

happystars82

Google Jamie olivers money saving meals, he shows you tips on not wasting food really helpful!!

ANDREWBRIAN

Check the temperature of the refrigerator should be at 36 degrees

TheLoneMarmot

No. 1 top tip that I recently discovered for carrots.

To prevent the misery of black and limp carrots keep them in the fridge under water. Change the water every two or three days. They stay super crunchy for ages!

It really works.

Pangea250

Separate spinach and/or lettuce leaves & wrap them in layers of paper towels. I lay out a length of paper towel on my counter & then place 1 layer of leaves on it, then roll it up. Store that roll in an airtight bag in the fridge.

ETA: don't wash *anything* until you are ready to eat.

Francl27

That's why I do groceries twice a week

1stday13

Green bags work great!!( Debbie Myers Green Bags) can get them on line. My daughter & I both use them. Keeps fresh at lseast 2-3 Xs longer. :drinker:

ereck44

Thanks to everyone for your excellent ideas!

Mr_Knight

If your cheese in the fridge so long that it's molding, it sounds like you're simply buying too much for your needs. The solution to that is buying smaller quantities, more often.

elyelyse

If you can, cook a few freezable meals (caseroles, lasagna) within a day or two of shopping, stick em in the freezer and start working your way through your unfrozen stuff. The goal would be to eat what isn't frozen first, before it spoils...then you have a few more days worth of meals ready to defrost from the freezer before you need to shop again.

For fruits, sure fresh fruits are awesome, but have you ever frozen, then heated up berries? SO good. They get syrupy. Mix with plain yogurt. Or smush them up, let them cool, and treat them like jam.

ETA: there's nothing wrong with buying frozen fruits and veggies either.

jrhm

I use the green bags too; Also, if I have fresh spinach I like to eat it instead of lettuce so don't want it canned (yuk) or frozen. I put it in a green bag and check it every day to be sure that if a leaf is starting to go bad it doesn't rot the whole bag. I am going to try the idea about covering the stems of the bananas, I usually put the bunch in the frig (separated) and only put a couple out at a time. Celery, I take out of the store pkg, wrap in paper towels, then in aluminum foil and slid it back into the original bag; keeps a long time, if the tops start to turn, I just cut them off, lasts up to a month this way. When things like carrots, greens, onions etc start to look "funny" I cook them and freeze them in small amounts and add to soup. I have the green mats in my crispers and they work great. Grapes..I wash, separate into serving size bunches and put back into the box they came from with a paper towel on the bottom to absorb any moisture, keep about two weeks - or freeze them and eat directly from the freezer for a really great snack on a hot day. I agree that produce from different stores keeps a different amount of time. And, sometimes it is really cheaper to buy that big bag, use what you can and toss the rest than it is to buy in small amounts - seems wasteful, but, maybe find someone to share buying product with so each of you has a variety of "stuff".

pompoms40

Too keep cheese ,wrap it in tin foil or put some vinegar on a paper towel ring it out then wrap around the cheese. Then I put plastic wrap to seal the cheese )

jhenson11

In addition to green bags and being careful where you store things that interact with each other/need to be in paper rather than plastic, etc. etc. - If time is your issue and you can only make it to the regular grocery or farmer's market every two or three weeks, then perhaps consider a local delivery service. You may not find them everywhere, but some cities have local/organic deliveries, sometimes without delivery fees, that will bring produce to your door a couple of times a week. The prices can range from comparable with an organic grocery to a little on the pricey side, but you really pay for the convenience as much as the food. As a bonus you also get to support local growers (and cattle keepers, if you eat meat)! Yay!

I work at night and study in the day, outside of trying to keep a regular workout schedule, and have found this to be very helpful and totally worth any added expense. If you try this, maybe also see if there is any sort of city-wide local business discount: some places also give freebies with orders if such a program exists.

Ed98043

I belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) co-op that delivers fresh, organic produce to my doorstep every Sunday. It still goes bad if I don't eat it, but since you said one of your issues was having to go to the store frequently, it might be an idea to look at.

Some CSAs are seasonal and only locally-grown so they have limited choices and don't operate in the winter. Others like the one I belong to (Full Circle Farm, serves West Coast/Alaska only) source foods from all over North America including meats and other types of groceries and operate year-round. I pay weekly, some want you to pay seasonally. When I'm out of town or otherwise don't want a box I just put it on hold.

Here's a website that you can look at to see which CSAs serve your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/