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Photo: Satapat/Shutterstock
One of the most important keys to reduce your food waste is to know how to treat them in a way so that they will stay good the longest. There are many, many tricks to do so, but here’s a few that I have found the most useful:
Treat your veggies like flowers!
Noticed that leafy greens go bad really soon after you bought them? There is actually a really easy way to prolong their lives; Instead of just having them lay around, put them in a vase as if it were a nice bouquet of flowers! It’s time to treat them with some more respect, because even though they might not look as pretty as most flowers, they are just as worthy of your love and care. (Note: this also works for many other vegetables such as leek, spring onions, asparagus, artichoke and many many more. The rule of thumb is basically: Does it look like it can suck up water? If yes, then put in a vase.)
Don’t keep bread in a plastic bag!
The only valid reason to ever throw out bread, is when it has become moldy. So how do we prevent this? Simply not putting it in a plastic bag, but in a tin box, paper bag, or kitchen towel instead. This way, you can store it much much longer and when it gets old, it will only get really dry, but never moldy! If you’re curious about what to do with dry bread, have a look at our Bread Recipes; There’s plenty of options! (Note: You can also keep your slices of bread in the freezer and they will never get old.)
Take out the rotten ones!
Do not let your good pieces hang out with the bad ones: They will turn them bad as well! In order to prevent this, just make sure to remove the rotten pieces on time (if they’re not too bad, you can simply put them in the blender to make some juice, sauce or, if frozen, ice cream).
Separate your veggies from your fruits!
Like cats and dogs, most of them don’t go well together. Most fruits contain enzymes that speed up the ripening process, so you’ll want your bananas and apples (etc.) to stay away from the vegetables. Simply storing them in different cabinets or different drawers in the fridge will do.
Keep your potatoes with your apples, but away from unions!
This trick is an exception to the previous rule. Apples will in fact decrease the potatoes tendency to sprout, whereas unions actually speed up the process.
Put your overripe bananas in the freezer for ice cream!
If, for example, they look very brown and you don’t feel like a smoothie at that very moment, or you are about to leave for a small holiday trip and won’t be able to finish them, just store the bananas in your freezer. You can take them out anytime later, peel and cut them, and after blending them a bit, you’ll have perfect banana ice cream! No need to add sweetener, considering the fact that the bananas were overripe and therefore very rich of taste. Just one last thing: They will turn even browner once they freeze, but this means nothing. It’s just the peal changing color, but the inside stays all the same.
Go save some Fruit & Veggies!