Give your food some "TLC"
Saving money on food doesn't stop at the checkout, you can save money on food by taking care of it and by avoid the common mistakes.
Follow these tips and you'll see that your food will last longer and will save you money.
Tip 1:
- Placing a paper towel in with your salad lettuce will keep it fresh all week long.
The paper towel acts to absorb the moisture, which oftens wilts the lettuce.
Tip 2:
- To prevent potatoes budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Tip 3:
- Store onions, garlic, and shallots in a paper bag punched with holes.
They’ll be as fresh and firm after 3 months as the first day you bought them.
Source: Buzzfeed
Tip 4:
- Put a clean, uncut celery stick in amongst your bread loaf to keep it fresh
Tip 5:
- Seems obvious, but don't touch cheese with your hands when you use it. Keep the wrapper around it when handling it.
This means that you'll reduce the amount of germs that'll get to it and so your cheese will last longer.
Tip 6:
- If you have loads of types of cereals started, put some in the freezer, it'll stop them from going stale and will of course keept them crunchy!
Tip 7:
- Stop brown sugar going hard but adding one or two marshmellows with it.
Tip 8:
- Putting your greens in ice water, will revive them.
If you want the scientific explanation it's all about osmosis.The crisp texture is revived when the water travels across the permeable membrane of the leafy vegetable’s cell walls into dehydrated cells, making them look fresh again.
^^ thanks to Kitchen Daily
Tip 9:
- I hate it when a recipe requires lemon juice and the rest of the lemon is wasted, just left awkwardly in the fridge.
Cutting them in half enable lemons to dry up quicker, so simply make a small puncture instead. Sounds soo obvious but how many of us actually do?
Source: Kitchen Daily
Tip 9 continued...
- If however you read this post too late, there are loads of (surprising) uses for lemons so you can still make the most of them.
One example is that it acts as a brilliant cleaner and polisher but (to make it food related), if you add a drop of lemon to cauliflower, you'll avoid it turning brown for a while longer, giving you all the more time to eat healthy (yeah yeah we all know you delay it).
Tip 10:
- Using a mixture of salt and sugar can preserve fresh meat as most microorganisms cannot tolerate a salt concentration of more than 10%.
Before it's to be cooked it does of course require a good soak in water to remove the saltiness and bring it down to edible levels.
Source: TreeHugger
Tip 11:
- After we've had food for a while we almost always assume they're "not good" even if we have no proof, well of course we don't want to risk it. However, with eggs, if you put them in a glass of water you can tell.
If it floats the egg's gone bad and if not keep them (or use them for lush omelettes whatever)!
Again, if you want to know the sciency part, here it is: eggs go bad when bacteria gets in from outside through their porous shells. Rotten eggs float as there's been a build up of hydrogen sulfide, which is also why they smell. << thanks for clearing that up The American Chemical Society
Tip 12:
- To avoid onions spoiling, don't place them near potatoes as they'll spoil quicker. The best place is at room temperature with "good air circulation."
If you look after them well enough onions can last up to 3 months!
Source: The V Spot Blog
Tip 13 :
- Break bananas apart or, if easier, wrap the tops in cling film.
Tip 14:
- Know what to store and where:
In room temp:
Avocados
Apricots
Bananas
Bread
Butternut squash
Citrus
Coffee
Garlic
Honey
Kiwi
Melons
Nectarines
Onions
Pears
Pineapple
Plums
Potatoes
Tomatoes
In the refrigerator:
Apples
Berries
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cherries
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Ginger
Grapes
Leafy-greens
Mushrooms
Hope this helps. I'm going to do this now and see if it makes a difference on grocery shopping. Saving isn't just about reducing the amount you spend but also the amount of waste you produce. Be sure to look out for future upcycling and recycling posts!
The Frugal Teen