These kitchen hacks make food last longer
Store greens with paper towels
Lettuce can quickly go from fresh and crisp to sad, wilted and slimy if not stored correctly. As soon as you get home from the store, make sure to transfer the lettuce to a suitable storage container — a plastic bag or plastic storage container will work wonderfully. Add a few sheets of paper towels at the top and bottom before zipping up the bag or sealing the lid. The paper towel should effectively absorb any excess moisture that would ordinarily result in lettuce going bad before you can use it, allowing you to turn that seasonal produce into crispy, satisfying salads.
Revive old lettuce with cold water
Ever wonder why lettuce wilts? It’s because it loses water. In order to bring that sad, old lettuce back to life and make it last a bit longer, revive it by soaking the leaves in ice water for 30 minutes. This is just one of those kitchen hacks we learned from our parents.
Turn old vegetables into stock
Soup is one of the best foods to make ahead and freeze, and one of the basic ingredients for soup, stock, is easy to make at home. If you notice your veggies and herbs are starting to turn, freeze them in a plastic bag and then repurpose them for some homemade vegetable stock. Avoid using starchy vegetables like potatoes and turnips for stock, but know carrots, onions, garlic, leeks, thyme and parsley all make for flavorful options.
Store cookies with bread
You may be tempted to keep your cookies in that pretty decorative cookie jar, but that won’t keep them fresh. Keep your chewy cookies from turning dry by storing them in a zip-lock plastic bag with half a slice of bread inside. If you’re insistent on that cookie jar, you can place the baggie in the jar.
Store fresh herbs in damp paper towels
Fresh herbs can make or break a number of recipes. To keep them fresher longer, store cilantro, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme wrapped up in damp paper towels, which you then place in a zip-lock plastic bag. If you’re just keeping your herbs in the grocery bag they came in, they are among the groceries you’re storing wrong.
Store milk at the back of the fridge
Your fridge has different zones: a cold zone in the back of the top and middle shelves, a moderate zone in the front and a humid zone, which is better known as the crisper drawers. To keep milk fresh for longer, avoid putting it in the door and move it to a cold zone in the back of your fridge. If you want to continue to not waste milk, consider these recipes to finish off that gallon of milk.