Keeping food fresh is an important skill for any homemaker. With rising food prices it’s more important than ever to avoid food waste. Throwing away spoiled food is like tossing cash in the garbage can. I’ve collected five great tips to share with you. 

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Keeping Food Fresh

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels terribly guilty about throwing away food I’ve allowed to spoil. I overestimate the amount of produce we can use. Something gets pushed to the back of the refrigerator. We end up eating out more nights than I had anticipated. There are any number of reasons this happens.

I also do my major grocery shopping once a month (Note: That was pre-pandemic) so it’s really important for me to be able to keep produce fresh as long as possible. Here are 5 of my favorite tips:

Keeping Food Fresh

1. Keeping Lettuce Fresh With This One Tip by A Modern Homestead

We love salads. In fact, I serve a side salad with dinner several nights a week. But keeping salad greens fresh can be a real challenge.

This tip works for home grown lettuce or heads of unwashed lettuce from the grocery store. If you buy the bags or plastic boxes of pre-washed salad greens, your best bet is to put it in a zipper bag with a piece of paper towel in it to absorb moisture. 

 

2. How to Keep Lemons Fresh Longer by The Happier Homemaker

I love to have plenty of lemons on hand for my morning lemon water. And let’s be honest – I like a twist of lemon in the occasional gin martini. 

Lemons (and limes) tend to dry out and shrivel up fairly quickly, though. But this little trick will keep them fresh for a very long time!

 

3. How to Store Celery by Eating Well

Celery is one of those things I don’t use large quantities of. I do have several recipes I use it in but only a stalk or two at a time. Fortunately, this trick will keep a single package of celery fresh for weeks!

 

4. Make Berries Last Longer by Pulling Curls

I love berries and we all know how healthy they are. All those antioxidants! But they rarely last more than a few days. If you’d like to keep them fresh longer, this simple tip helps. 

 

5. How to Store Fresh Asparagus by Urban Strawberries

I love fresh asparagus and am happy that I can get a large package for a reasonable price at Aldi’s. However, the package holds more than our small family can eat at one meal. Keeping the rest of the package fresh for another meal several days later is important for us. 

 

Those 5 tips don’t require the purchase of anything beyond what the average kitchen already has. But if you are willing to purchase specialty items here are a couple of other ways to keep food fresh. 

Bonus Tips and Products!

Green Bags

Put your produce in these bags and it will stay fresh longer. 

FreshPaper Cheese Wrap

Honestly, we tend to eat cheese often enough that it rarely goes bad at our house. But if you are able to exercise better self control and sometimes experience moldy cheese, these reusable cheese wraps are a great idea. 

 

Another important way to save food dollars is to meal plan. If you struggle with that, why not let someone else do the planning for you? 

The Eat At Home Meal Plans have taken all the struggle, guesswork and misery out of meal planing even if:

– You have picky eaters.
– You are trying to feed your family a more wholesome, nourishing diet.
– You aren’t the world’s best cook (or you hate doing it!)
– You need to get dinner on the table in 15 minutes.

Check it out!

In addition to these handy tricks and tips, there are other strategies for reducing food waste. Take a look at this excellent post on the subject:

 

Have you tried any of these tips? What are YOUR favorite food-saving tips?

You may also enjoy…

The Frugal French Housewife: Saving Money With Style

Ditch the Disposables ~ Save Money and the Planet

 

Originally posted: May 25, 2016
Updated and additional information added: April 19, 2022