12 Kitchen Hacks to Preserve Food & Reduce Waste!

According to the USDA, the average American household wastes up to 40% of their food each year. Imagine throwing 40% of your groceries in the trashcan each week after visiting the grocery store? These alarming rates are mainly caused by improper food storage, and lack of knowledge of how to preserve foods.

The time of this article was written during our state’s “stay-at-home” order due to COVID-19. Our governor instructed us to not leave the house unless it was for essential needs such as trips to the grocery store. Following this announcement, it was important for me to properly prepare, ensuring my family could continue to eat healthy during the quarantine with fresh produce. As such, I was inspired to reach out to my family who lives in the country and who are experts at preserving food! I figured if I could extend the shelf-life of some of my foods, the less trips I would have to take to the store. After experimenting for the past month, I wanted to share with you some of my learnings.

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Store Asparagus in Water

If you have a fresh bundle of asparagus and want to keep it fresh for a long time in the refrigerator, remove the rubber band, cut off the ends of your asparagus, and place these in a cup a water just as you would a plant. I personally experimented with this method myself, changing the water occasionally, and my asparagus lasted for three weeks in the refrigerator before a small mole spore started to appear! The asparagus did not wilt or become slimy, but stayed fresh and crisp while stored in water. My refrigerator has an average temperature of 35 degrees.

Storing Fresh Herbs

Over the past few weeks, I asked a few individuals and fellow bloggers how they personally preserve herbs besides freezing or drying them out. One popular answer I received was to store these in water as well like a bouquet of flowers. However, after 5 days, this method was an epic fail as shown in the photo below!

Fresh herbs go bad in the fridge or in water jars due to a number of factors. Too much moisture on the leaves can turn them slimy and brown, while too little moisture can cause them to dry out. After my learnings, I bought another batch of fresh herbs and was surprised by my findings.

I learned that storing herbs such as Cilantro, Parsley, Thyme, and Rosemary in paper towels prolongs their moisture levels and keeps them fresher, longer. The 4 herbs I mentioned above lasted for 3 weeks in my refrigerator! To prep them I trimmed the end of their stems, washed & dried them, and placed them on a paper towel (or a cotton towel works if you wish to be eco-friendly). Afterwards, I rolled these up, and placed them in a plastic ziplock bag with air removed. I also wrote the name of the herb on the outside of the bag for easy access.

Another creative trick for herbs are boiling them in sugar and water to create a flavorful simple syrup. I have a simple recipe here on my blog. Over the past few weeks, I heard basil leaves are to be treated differently and thrive at room temperature in water. However, I did not purchase any basil during this experiment, so I cannot attest to the accuracy of this advice.

Do Not Store Your Tomatoes in the Refrigerator!

Admittedly, I frequently made it a habit to bring my tomatoes home from the grocery store wrapped in plastic, placing these in the crisper bin of my refrigerator. However over time, I started to notice that tomatoes stored in the fridge developed a mealy texture and lost their flavor over time. After experimenting over the past few weeks, I learned two things – When I stored my tomatoes in the refrigerator, they lasted for 1.5 weeks. When I stored them on the counter, they lasted for 1.5 weeks. As a result, I found that tomatoes performed best when they were removed from their plastic bag and stored on the counter at room temperature, and not in the refrigerator. The tomatoes stored on the counter had more flavor. So my advice for fresh tomatoes would be to use them a few days after purchasing, or buy canned tomatoes longer storage.

Let Your Cheese Breathe!

Most of us love cheese, and one of the saddest sights in a refrigerator is picking up a block of cheese only to see mold growing! Regardless if your cheese is hard or soft, I learned in a cheese class some years ago that it still needs to breathe. Therefore, to prolong the life of cheese in your refrigerator, remove it from its plastic packaging and wrap it in parchment paper. The parchment paper will allow air to flow in, without allowing too much moisture.

Storing Onions & Garlic

Onions naturally produce ethylene gas, which means they cannot be stored with other consumable goods such as potatoes. The ethylene gas emitted from onions will cause other goods to ripen faster. I learned from my mom that onions and garlic like warmer temperatures, which means they should never be stored in the refrigerator. Store these in a bowl or basket together, and store these away from your window. Cool air and condensation rot these vegetables. In my experience, I have successfully stored onions, shallots, and garlic on the counter for up to 2 months!

Storing Potatoes

I also learned from my family and all of their gardening experience that potatoes like to be removed from their plastic bag, and stored in a cool/dark area. So I recommend storing these in a basket, paper bag, cardboard box, or anything that will allow the potatoes receive adequate ventilation, yet in a cool area. If you keep your potatoes in plastic, they will not be able to breathe, and their shelf life will shorten. If you store your potatoes in the refrigerator, the starch will turn into sugar in the cool temperatures, causing them to rot. When I experimented with storing my potatoes in a paper bags prior to COVID-19, my potatoes lasted for 4 months before they started to sprout! Please note: do not wash your potatoes when using this storage method, only wash before use.

Some Berry Good Advice

I love eating grapes and berries. However, these fruits are not only very delegate, but they can also be very expensive. Therefore, knowing how to properly wash and store them is very important to prevent waste. Every time I come home from the grocery store, I always wash my berries in a vinegar and water solution before storing them in the refrigerator. Some of you may have also seen me do this on Instagram.

I recommend a 1:5 vinegar to water ratio when cleaning your berries. Allow them to soak in this bath solution for 5-10 minutes, rinse, and allow these to properly dry. The vinegar will safely remove any harmful chemicals, bacteria, or any mold spores that will throw off the pH level of the fruit. Once your berries have time to dry, place these back in their original packaging lined with a towel to absorb the moisture. Another method I use is grabbing a large Tupperware container, lining the bottom of it with a paper towel, covering the top with foil or Saran wrap with holes. The holes at the top of the container will allow proper air circulation preventing fermentation, and the towel will absorb any moisture buildup which causes mold. This method has allowed me to store berries for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator (if they last that long before we eat them!)

Washing & Storing Leafy Greens

Wash your loose leaf greens such as lettuce, spinach, or kale, and remove any damaged leaves. Dry your leaves thoroughly by using a salad spinner, or pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Wrap your leafy greens in a dry paper towel and place it in a plastic ziplock bag. Once sealed, store these in the crisper bin of your refrigerator to manage moisture levels. Every few days, be sure to check on your greens and replace the towel if it becomes moist. I have successfully stored my leafy greens for 2 weeks using this storage method!

Nuts & Seeds

Nuts and seeds can be stored in a dark cool place such as your pantry, but to extend their shelf life, these are also best stored in the refrigerator. For example, I enjoy adding chia seeds to our smoothies. Storing these in an airtight container in the pantry would allow my seeds to last up to 2 years from its manufacturing date. However, storing my chia seeds in an airtight container in the refrigerator extends their shelf life for up to 4 years!

Storing Celery

I also learned over the past few weeks that the plastic bag celery comes in is also bad for it’s long-term storage in the refrigerator. When stored improperly, celery will eventually turn colors and become limp. Celery wilts and goes limp because it lost water. So I used two methods that seemed to work very well for preserving celery. The first method was wrapping the celery very tight in aluminum foil and placing these stalks into the fridge to prevent the celery’s gases from easily escaping. The second method was storing the celery in an air tight container, submerged in water to keep the stalks hydrated, storing these in the refrigerator as well. Each of these methods allowed me to store my celery for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Storing Bread

After experimenting with different storage methods of bread, I learned that freezing bread after a few days and allowing it to defrost in the refrigerator is the best sure method to store bread the long-term. Bread should be kept in a cool dark place such as pantry. So if you have room in your freezer, freeze your bread by the slice or the loaf if you think it will go bad before you finish eating it.

Storing Flour, Sugar and Oats

For years I kept my flour in the pantry after opening the bag, or in a cute flour jar on my kitchen counter. One weekend my mom came to visit and insisted that she raised me better to know not to store my flour on the counter! Lol! She taught me that flour and other grains can indeed go bad, and should always be stored in an airtight container. Therefore, when handling flour, this grain should be stored in an airtight container, and placed in the back of the refrigerator where it is the coolest. Flour can be stored up to one year using this method.

The enemy of oatmeal and granulated white sugar is moisture. So oatmeal (not the sugary kind, but raw oats) or sugar, should be stored in an air-tight container such as a canning jar as well. This is not true however for brown sugar. Brown sugar actually thrives in moisture and is best stored in a way to preserve moisture.

Wrap Your Banana Tips

Bananas also release an ethylene gas, which means they can cause other fruits and veggies to ripen faster. Bananas are also a tropical fruit, which means they do not belong in the fridge. A simple trick to slow down the ripening process is to wrap the stem of the bananas in plastic wrap, which will prevent the gases from escaping. If your bananas start to go bad before you can eat them, don’t throw them away! You can freeze them by removing the peel and saving them for a smoothie later (here’s one of my favorite smoothie recipes), or old bananas are perfect for bread / muffins!

The bananas in the photo above have been in my kitchen for 9 days, and are finally starting to ripen.

Storing Green Onions

Another simple trick I have enjoyed is treating my green onions like a bouquet of flowers and placing them in a glass jar with water as well. When you bring your green onions home form the store, remove them from the plastic bag, and set your bag to the side. Place the root part of the onions down into a glass jar, and add a little bit of water, just enough to cover the roots, but below the green portion of your onions. Take your produce plastic bag from the grocery store and place this on top of the onions and jar, a store these in the back of your refrigerator. The plastic bag will build humidity, which green onions enjoy. I was able to store my green onions in the refrigerator for 3 weeks using this method!

I hope you found this list of kitchen hacks useful for you and your family! If there are any other storage tips you wish to share, please let me know in the comments below! Enjoy!