Tips to stretch fresh produce:
- Green and Red Bell Peppers keep best if you remove them from the plastic bag you brought them home in before placing them in the crisper drawer. You can also dice them and place in freezer baggies and freeze for using in recipes and casseroles later.
- Dice onions and celery and freeze also.
- Place a paper towel in the plastic bag you brought your zucchini, cucumbers, green beans and grapes home in but leave the bag open. The paper towel will soak up extra moisture and prevent rot.
- You can also place a paper towel in the bag with your lettuce, but be sure to close it up.
- Store onions away from other fruits and veggies. Onion fumes make other produce rot faster.
How do you keep your fresh produce fresh longer?
Be sure to catch up on all the previous Let’s Save Some Money posts.
Joyce@Joyful Creations at Home says
I love the paper towel tip. had not heard that before, but is so simple. I store my onions in a basket on my dining room. It makes for an old world feel and keeps them away from everything else:))
Dana says
Something I learned at Aldi is to leave the bananas in the little bags they sell them in. I was notorious for getting home and throwing away the bag until I read on a sign in the store that the bags actually extend the life of the bananas and make them ripen slower. You could also get a bag and use it for bananas bought at the regular store. The ties come off and I suspect they are the same kind of “fresh bags” that were advertised on infomercials a few years ago. Leaving them in the bag definitely makes them last longer!
Jennifer says
Sometimes when making a salad for just myself, I only use part of the whole head of lettuce. I always use the part farthest away from the ‘core’. My husband works in the food service industry, and they were taught that lettuce will last twice as long if you leave the core intact.
tinksmagic says
Our Dollar Tree stores have the “fresh bags” in stock. I bought 3 boxes, giving them a chance to see how well they work.
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Let me know how they work out for you! :)