Say Good-Bye to Moldy Berries and Stale Bread
Buying food in bulk can drastically cut down on your weekly food bill but can often lead to a lot of food waste. If you have had enough of wasting money by throwing out expensive food because you did not get to eat it in time, these storage hacks will help your food last longer.
1. Keep Bread in the Freezer
If your trashcan ends up seeing more of your loaf of bread than you do then you should think about freezing your bread. Each morning, you can take out bread from the freezer to pop straight into the toaster, or you can take a few slices out the evening before if you want to make sandwiches for lunch the next day.
2. Wash Berries in Vinegar
Vinegar has so many uses and often appears on lists of household hacks —we think this top tip is simply genius! By washing your berries in three parts water and one part vinegar they will keep fresher for longer so you no longer have to pick out moldy berries from your fruit salad.
3. Don’t Put Your Tomatoes in the Refrigerator
When you buy tomatoes from the grocery store you will find them on a shelf rather than in the refrigerator for a very good reason. Keeping tomatoes in the refrigerator does mean they will take longer to ripen, but if they are left in too long they will lose their flavor and will become watery.
4. Put Kitchen Roll in Your Salad Drawer
Soggy lettuce is one of the top food items that ends up in the trash rather than on your plate. To keep it looking crisp and tasting fresh, line your salad drawer with a few layers of kitchen roll or paper napkins to absorb excess water from the refrigerator. If you buy ready-made bags of salad then you can pop a paper towel inside the bag itself.
5. Keep Raisins Airtight
Raisins are a staple ingredients when it comes to making breakfast and baking, but hard raisins that are past their sell-by date are far from appetizing. Using an airtight glass jar or Tupperware box will keep your raisins from drying out and getting too hard.
6. Put an Apple in the Bottom of Your Bag of Potatoes
The ethylene released by apples keeps potatoes firmer and sprout-free for a number of weeks so you no longer need to throw away those potatoes that have developed eyes when you are desperate for buttery mashed potatoes!
7. Store Milk in Bottles
Old-fashioned milk bottles work better at keeping milk fresh as the liquid can reach lower temperatures and can seal in freshness much better than plastic or cardboard containers.
8. Brush Avocados with Lemon Juice
If you often eat one half of an avocado and leave the rest for lunch the following day you will understand the disappointment when you find it has gone brown. Brushing an open avocado with lemon juice will stop the browning of the fruit due to the citric acid found in lemons. This hack also works for aubergines and chopped bananas.
9. Keep Mushrooms in a Paper Bag
Mushrooms will go slimy when they are left for too long, but keeping them in a paper bag will help keep moisture at bay — traditional greengrocers sell them like this for a reason. If you find your mushrooms are dry when you come to use them, simply run them under water for a few seconds and they will soon become plump again.
10. Keep Herbs in a Vase
Mushed-up herbs are the last thing that you want to see when you are looking to add garnish to a dish that you have spent hours prepping. Not only will herbs begin to look mushy if they are not stored correctly, they also lose their flavor and your recipes will not have the wow factor you are looking for.
To keep your herbs — especially basil — fresh, treat them like flowers and put them in a glass of water to keep them looking vibrant for longer.
11. Keep Your Onions in Tights
Yes, you heard that correctly! Instead of throwing out old tights you can wrap them around your onions and hang them in a dark and cool space so they stay crisp and dry for longer.
12. Keep Spring Onions in Bottles
Spring onions are a great way to freshen up a meal or a side salad but they can often turn brown and squishy quickly. Instead, chop the onions up into small rings and place them inside a clean and dry water bottle. Once the bottle is full, store them in the freezer so they will be ready for when you need them.
Not only will your onions be fresh and ready to use when you are cooking in a hurry, you also earn points for recycling your plastic bottles.