Grocery shopping can really become an irritating task when you are a working mom or a mom on the go. Making time to do grocery runs all week can get irksome and make you wish you had some way to make your groceries last longer. The thing is that we are unable to use the products we buy in the right manner, hence groceries either finishes before they should or the produce goes bad or the children refuse to eat anything you cook, or the kitchen smells bad.
Below are a few tips that will help you store your grocery in a proper way that will help your food to last longer and will save you from grocery runs daily and in the long run, will save you a significant amount of money, time and effort. If you plan to be environmentally friendly, the best option is to replace plastic wrap with silicone food wrap. It will not only help you be responsible for the waste you add to the world but it also is healthier to use and is reusable saving you money eventually.
- Dairy Products
It is said that when you store the dairy products at the back of your fridge they tend to last longer. This is because when we store things like milk or cream in the door of the fridge, the constant change of temperature due to the opening and closing of the fridge might result in the spoiling of dairy products. This is why, it is better that you store all dairy products like milk, cheese, and cream at the back of the fridge, meaning on one of the shelves. Even though it won’t be as convenient as it is to get milk out of the door, it will definitely last longer and taste fresher as there is the constant temperature at the back of the fridge.
- Meat
When you store meat, make sure to do so, on the bottom shelf. This is because meat drips and the juices might mix in with some of your vegetables, which will lead to a disaster. When you store the meat, make sure you do it away from your produce so the juices do not mix in any way as they will most definitely spoil your produce. Also, it is advisable to store your cold-cuts of meat away from raw meat as that may lead to cross-contamination and eventually make the cold-cuts unsafe to eat.
- Herbs
Herbs should be treated like flowers. That sounds weird, but if you put them in a vase with water and trim the stems, they really will last much longer and will be fresher. To check the freshness of a herb, you can touch a leaf; it will still be crisp and fresh. Use a plastic wrap or silicone covering to cover them from any smells.
- Fruits and Vegetables
The biggest mistake we as mothers do is that we do not differentiate whether the fruit or vegetable needs to go in the fridge or not. Fruits like bananas and avocados are not stored in the fridge. If they are, they usually over-ripen and your kids will refuse to eat the blackened banana. Some vegetables are also not supposed to be kept in the refrigerator such as potatoes and onions.
- Bananas
Bananas are fruits that ripen very soon and can become black in color which is why you feel like you need to toss them away. That is not true. Use plastic wrap and cover the top of the banana bunch with it. This will slow the release of ethylene gas, which ripens bananas. If they do become overly ripe, you can make delicious recipes like ice-cream or banana bread.