Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.
Because we go shopping less often during this time, I bet most of us sometimes buy too much food (more than needed!). That’s why today I’m discussing the issue of food waste and how we can reduce it , giving you some practical tips on how we can store fresh food for as long as possible.
Fresh vegetables and fruits
First, if you want to keep veggies fresh for longer, they should be stored in the refrigerator in dark paper bags . Why is it like that? Well, there are 3 important factors that contribute to the loss of nutrients and vitality of food: heat, light and oxygen. As long as we reduce the 3, the freshness of our vegetables can be prolonged.
An ingenious way to keep carrots and celery for longer is to cut them into sticks and put them in a jar full of water. In this way, you can also use them as a crunchy snack with a little hummus or guacamole. You just have to change the water daily or once in a couple of days.
This is already known, but try to freeze fruits and vegetables before they spoil. Cut them into small pieces and put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. And don't worry! Even taken from the supermarket, frozen fruits and vegetables usually have a maximum intake of nutrients, because they are harvested ripe and immediately frozen.
Keep fruits away from vegetables and unripe fruits from ripe ones if you want to keep them for longer. Fruits are large producers of ethylene gas, which begins the ripening process. The more ripe a fruit is, the more ethylene it produces, and even if some vegetables do not produce it, they are still sensitive to its effect. So don't store your broccoli in the same bag / drawer as the bananas, if you don't want to see the broccoli getting broken while you take the courage to eat it…
If, however, you want the fruits to ripen faster, put them in a paper bag (good advice to avocado lovers). This will speed up the ripening process due to ethylene gas (a hormone that many fruits and vegetables produce naturally).
In the case of onions and potatoes, you can keep them in the fridge, or in a dark, cold cupboard . Avoid putting them in the light, because the potatoes turn green and also keep them away from the onions , because the potatoes also release ethylene and the onion is sensitive to it.
Green leaves
If you have too much dill, parsley or basil, cut them and put them into ice molds with a little water and freeze them . This way, you avoid throwing them away and you can still use them in food, for an excellent flavor.
Avoid leaving lettuce, spinach or any other green leaves in the water, especially since you can take them from the store already wet (they look nicer and fresher on the shelves with sprinkled water, right?). They tend to decompose very quickly, and the best way to keep them fresh is to move them to a container with a clean towel underneath to absorb extra moisture and cover them. You can do the same with other vegetables…
You can put fresh parsley or dill in a jar of water (just like a flower bouquet). This way, it could last up to 5-7 days if you don't forget to change their water daily. Tested by me!
Freshly squeezed juices and water
Water should be stored in dark glass containers . As you already know, water should not be stored in plastic, especially in a warm or sunny place, because you risk ingesting a few microplastics along the way. However, if plastic bottles are used to freeze fresh squeezed juice, then there is no problem. In case you are left with too many fruits or vegetables and you do not know what to do with them, you can juice and freeze them , and thus the nutrients are kept alive and do not reach the trash.
Walnuts and seeds
Walnuts can easily turn rancid if kept in a plastic bag and quickly catch that dark color. The best way to keep them fresh is to keep them in dark paper bags (not plastic), or in air tight container . If they are wet, let them dry on a towel before storing them at room temperature (up to 3 months), in the refrigerator (6 months), or in the freezer (12 months).
Hemp seeds are also pretentious and get bad easily. They should be kept in refrigerators, bags or dark containers . Why? To preserve the quality of the seeds and as much Omega3 essential fatty acids as possible, which are easily destroyed by light and oxygen (which walnuts also contain in smaller quantities).
I don't recommend keeping nuts and seeds next to onions or other foods with a strong odor (unless you want some onion or garlic flavored nuts).
What other tricks do you use? Leave a comment below :)
Lavinia Dinca
Nutritionist
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