Comments on: Making Veggies Last

By: Sew Impatient

Sew Impatient — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:13:53 +0000

SO awesome! Your blog came to me at the best time! Great advice!!

By: Kitten Muffin

Kitten Muffin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:07:00 +0000

I wrap fresh herbs in a paper towel and put them in a plastic bag in the fridge too. It works a treat. It also works well for mushrooms.

Ethylene gas is the key to a lot of ripening and spoiling. This explains it quite well.

A lot of places say that charcoal in the fridge will absorb the ethylene gas given off by already ripe produce and so slow the process of becoming over ripe, but I've not tested it, so not sure how effective it actually is. I feel an experiment coming on.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:37:00 +0000

@ Julie — I think the Green Bags are worth the money if they help your produce last longer, and if you reuse them over and over again. I know several people who swear by them!

@ Kathy — I never knew that about green onions! Thanks for the tip!!

@ Val — WOW! I can’t wait to try some of these out!! You are so right about not washing veggies until you are going to eat them. I have noticed that once they get washed, they start to spoil much faster. Great tips, and I am so glad you stopped by to comment!!

By: Val in the Rose Garden

Val in the Rose Garden — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:36:00 +0000

I work for a farmers market up here in WA and many people ask me how to store fruits and veggies. You have some great tips here… and here are a few more:

Any lettuce can be soaked in cold water to perk it up.

Leeks, green onions, cabbage, and onions usually spoil from the outside in. Just take off the outside layers and you have the rest of the veggie to use as usual.

You can freeze most everything you are going to cook.

Cilantro, parsley, and other herbs, store dry wrapped in a paper towel, in a plastic bag, in your crisper drawer. They can last two to three weeks that way. Wilty ones you just toss and use the rest.

Never wash veggies until you are going to eat them. This is doubley important for soft skinned things like berries. Once you wash them, you have about 48 hours before they are all bad.

You can freeze any berries, etc washed and stored in bags. For fresh goodies like green beans, broccoli, etc, you want to blanch it before freezing. This retains more of the color and flavor of the veggie.

Some fruits and veggies have a day limit to the use they are for. Take bananas. Day 1 – 5 every day eating. Day 5 – 9 Smoothies. Day 9 and on… banana bread baby! There are a couple of fruits that work like this and if you remember that, even if you missed eating them when they were ‘perfect’, you won’t waste them. Tomatoes, apples, and avacados come to mind.

If I think of more I will come back. I used to give these to my boss to publish on his blog. I will see if he has a list somewhere I can link you. I know others added to that list too… I bet it is a wealth of keeping veggie knowledge.

Val

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:42:00 +0000

Great post idea! We put our bunches of cilantro and parsley in mugs of water and then place them in the fridge. They last a lot longer. If you want to always have green onions on hand, only chop down to the white part and then place it in a cup of water in a window. The green part will re-grow!

Thanks for all the ideas!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:02:00 +0000

There is a product called “Debbie Meyers Green Bags” (greenbags.com) which you can store veggies in. My husband is a buyer for a retail chain here in Seattle and he got a box as a free sample about 6 months ago. I think they work pretty well. I just wash them out and use them over and over again (except the one that smells like onions is used only for onions!) It says they last 10 times each or something like that but I’m still using mine. They might not be too frugal, seeing as you have to purchase them, but I’ve been happy with the ones I got and will eventually purchase more when these all wear out.