The Tricks

Vic’s Tricks To…Getting the Biggest Bang for your Buck

Posted by Vic on
I am the absolute worst…

…when it comes to eating the food I buy in a timely manner. Well really, I guess you could say I get a liiiiittle, price-tag-gun-trigger-happy when I’m at the grocery store. It’s just…I have all these amazing ideas for healthy meals (to offset the booze, of course) and I buy up the entire produce section.

Apples? I’ll make a tart, I’ll need at least a dozen! And while I’m at it, I’d better get 3 kinds of cheese…ya know…just in case.

Not to mention, my grandmother sent me a 10lb bag of onions to my office the other day. Yes, to my office. Did she tell me beforehand? Nope. Was there a note? Nope. I only found out because her phone number was on the packing slip…

Next thing I know, I have 45lbs of produce taking up ALL the space in my fridge and pantry. And I freakin’ live alone… ouch, walked right into that one…

That’s when I decided to take back control of my life.

I set forth on a journey to crack the code on what makes groceries go bad and how I can avoid it. I researched what I can do to make my freakin’ groceries last longer.

After an exhaustive collection of online research, interviews, and pulling from my own tried and true experiences, I present to you:

Vic’s Tricks To…Getting the Biggest Bang for your Buck

I decided the best way to organize these Tricks(v) were by where and how groceries should be stored – check out the tricks below:

Products to be Stored at Room Temperature/in a Cool Pantry:
  • Avocados
    • Let them ripen on the counter then move to fridge once ripe
      • This can buy you an extra 2-3 days of the glorious green goddesses
    • Ripe = dark green on outside, slightly firm, light green inside
    • Spray cooking oil on your guacamole, before going into the fridge, to preserve it longer!
    • Lemon juice or olive oil on fresh avocado preserves it best
  • Apricots
  • Bananas
    • Keep unripened bananas away from ripe ones!!!
      • Ripened bananas will let off ethylene, a gas that will speed up the ripening of adjacent fruits
    • Bananas in brown bags ripen faster
      • Spoiled bananas? Make banana bread!!
    • A little plastic wrap around the crown of a bundle of bananas preserves them best
  • Citrus
    • Lemons keep best in a sealed plastic bag
  • Cucumber
    • Contrary to popular belief – cucumbers actually last longer out of the fridge
    • They’re also sensitive to ethylene – so keep them away from your fruits!
  • Garlic
  • Kiwi
  • Melons
  • Mushrooms
    • Keep longest in a brown paper bag
  • Nectarines
  • Onions
  • Pears
  • Peaches
    • Big ethylene producer! Keep away from others!
  • Plums
  • Pineapple
  • Potatoes
    • Potatoes prefer the cool over the cold, so keep them in a basement or cool pantry
    • Adding an apple to a sack of potatoes keeps them from sprouting
      • KEEP POTATOES AWAY FROM ONIONS OR THEY’LL SPROUT!!!!
        • You have been warned…
  • Tomatoes
    • Store tomatoes in a bowl on your counter with the stem down
      • Tomatoes hate the cold!
        • Putting them in fridge makes them soft and mealy…bleh
Products to be Stored in the Refrigerator:
  • Apples
    • Beware – one bad apple ruins the rest!
      • When one goes bad, they all do, so try and remove the bad apple ASAP!
  • Beans
  • Berries
    • When you first get your berries put them in 3 parts water & 1 part vinegar
      • Rinse and dry thoroughly then put in the fridge
  • Broccoli
    • Hates ethylene – DO NOT PUT NEAR FRUIT
    • Lasts longest in aluminum foil – it needs the air circulation
  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
    • Like broccoli, lasts longest in the fridge wrapped in foil
  • Cherries
  • Corn
  • Eggplant
  • Ginger
    • Vic Trick: I like to freeze my fresh ginger root and grate it whenever I need it for a dish!
  • Grapes
  • Jalapeños
  • Leafy greens
    • Remove them from their bag and put into a bowl covered with a paper towel – it will absorb the extra water!
    • Also hate ethylene!
  • Zucchini
  • Generic Dairy
    • Freeze your butter until you need a new stick
    • Mayo should be on fridge door – it doesn’t like to be too cold
    • Milk – on the other hand – should be as far into the fridge as possible!!
  • THE HOLY GRAIL AKA CHEESE
    • The technically best way to preserve cheese – wrap it in a vinegar-soaked paper towel
    • The easier way – put it in paper or wax paper, then in a plastic bag in fridge
      • Cheese likes it cold, but not too cold – the cheese drawer is the warmest part of the fridge after all
    • Weird trick I’m obsessed with – put butter on the cut end of your cheese to keep it from drying out!

 

Happy Shopping!

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