Make your groceries last longer
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We know many of you are minimising time spent outside the house and are visiting the supermarket less frequently. We thought now would be a great time to share some of our tips on keeping food fresher for longer.
Store leafy greens in a paper towel
Doing this will wick away the excess moisture that makes greens slimy. Use this trick on spinach, rocket, lettuce leaves, silverbeet and kale.
Get herb savvy
Want your fresh herbs to last longer than a week? Of course you do! Treat your “soft” herbs like a bouquet of flowers, fill a glass with water, trim the ends and place the herbs in the glass. Put the glass in the refrigerator and cover with a plastic bag, change the water they are stored in every few days. “Soft” herbs include coriander, parsley and dill.
“Hard” herbs (those with woody hard stems) such as rosemary, thyme and sage do better loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel in your crisper. Basil is best stored using the bouquet method at room temperature without a plastic cover. Basil does best at room temperature as it’s leaves turn dark when refrigerated.
Store cucumbers in the pantry
Contrary to popular belief cucumbers actually last longer when stored at room temperature. This may be due to their high water content and susceptibility to mold. For longer lasting cukes, either store them in your pantry or in the fridge with paper towel wrapped around them. Once cucumbers have been cut they should be stored in the fridge.
Keep milk out of the fridge door
Temperature in this area fluctuates the most due to the door being opened and closed so frequently. Store your milk in the main section of your fridge to avoid it spoiling sooner.
Keep potatoes from sprouting
There are a few things you can do to ensure your potatoes aren’t sprouting by the time you are ready to eat them. First, make sure they are completely dry before storing, hold off on washing potatoes until you are ready to use them. Ensure the area you store them is dark and cool, your pantry is ideal. Finally, certain fruits and vegetables will make potatoes sprout faster if they are stored together. Avoid storing your potatoes with onions and bananas. However, there is one fruit that is known to help the storage of potatoes – apples. Store one apple with your potatoes in a basket, the ethylene gas released by an apple is said to slow the growth of sprouts.
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