Stretch Your Food Budget with These Fantastic Tips - Kitchen Food Tips, Produce Storage

Produce

Save money by purchasing produce on sale. Before buying, however, examine the product carefully. If you do get any bruised or damaged produce, remove any bad spots and use the produce right away. One bad fruit, vegetable, or even potato, can ruin the whole bunch.

Keep celery crisp by storing it in a cup of water. (Wrapping celery in aluminum foil before placing it in the refrigerator is also supposed to keep celery fresh.)

Asparagus keeps longer if you store it upright in a small container of water.

Wrap a head of lettuce in a towel to prevent it from "rusting" so quickly.

To preserve mushrooms and herbs, avoid washing them until needed. Store in a paper bag in the refrigerator instead of a plastic bag which traps moisture and promotes spoilage.

After cutting tomatoes, oranges, lemons, etc., you can place them cut-side down on a plate in the refrigerator.

While peeling apples, bananas, pears or peaches, place the slices in slightly salted water to help retain their natural color and enrich the flavor. You can also dip them in lemon juice or lemon-lime soda to prevent them from turning brown.

Prevent fruit and vegetable spoilage by lining the bottom of your crisper drawer with a paper towel or dish towel. This absorbs excess moisture that causes faster spoilage.

Extend the shelf life of your bananas by keeping them in a closed plastic bag. If you keep the plastic bag open or place bananas in a closed paper bag, they ripen faster.

Instead of throwing out your celery tops, cut them up to use in stews, soups, roasts, and in stuffing.

Beet tops are rich in vitamins, minerals, and iron, and can be substituted for spinach greens.

Save your orange and lemon rinds, boil in water and add the flavored water to iced tea, lemonade, and fruit drinks.

Buy garlic on sale, roast in bulk, and freeze. To roast in bulk, peel some of the outer layers of the garlic and place in a baking dish. (You don't need to cut the tops.) Lightly drizzle olive oil over each layer of garlic. Cover with foil and bake at 250 until they're soft. Check them about every 30 minutes. Take out those that are soft and bake the rest for a little longer. This will take at least an hour until finished. After they're cool, pop out the garlic and place into two thick freezer bags or a plastic container before putting in the freezer. (Use double bags because of the smell.) To use them, defrost at room temperature, just enough to peel and drop into what you're cooking.

Most vegetables (as well as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or stuffed potatoes) freeze well. However, do not freeze celery, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, or raw tomatoes.

Dairy products

Cottage cheese, yogurt, and sour cream keep much longer if you store the containers upside down.

Buy milk on sale. Remove a little from the container and freeze. Adding a sprinkling of salt keeps the milk from spoiling as quickly.

If you have just a little milk that you don't think you can use before it spoils, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. After they are frozen, pop out and store in resealable bags or freezer containers.

Did you know that you can freeze fresh eggs?

To freeze whole eggs, beat the eggs just until blended. Measure a cup at a time into freezer containers. Add ½ teaspoon salt for every cup of egg. Use within three months of freezing. (The salt does not make the eggs taste salty.)