Pine Apples

You made the commitment to healthier eating, and decided to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. Fruits and vegetables can be expensive, and you don't have time to shop at the market every day. How can you make that precious produce last longer at home? Follow these tips for proper fruit and vegetable storage.  

With a little planning, eat the produce that will spoil first, and work your way through the other produce as the week progresses. To avoid conducting a séance to bring your lettuce back to life, use following ideas help keep produce fresh.  

Two main things to remember:  

o Do not wash produce until you are ready to eat it.  

o Store fruits and vegetables separately.  

Proper Fruit Storage  

1.    Fruits like low moisture. Berries last about three days so eat those first. Store unwashed strawberries on a paper towel in a sealed plastic storage container.  

2.    Berries, oranges, pineapples, cherries, grapes and watermelon do not ripen after picking. Put them directly into the refrigerator. Lemons and limes can be kept on the counter, but last longer in the refrigerator.   

3.    Buy bananas green, and let them ripen to use when you want them. Banana skins turn black in the refrigerator, but the fruit will still taste the same. When bananas are overly ripe, peel them, put them in small food or fruit storage bags and freeze them for smoothies.  

4.    Ripen certain fruits on the counter and move them to the refrigerator when they are soft to the touch. Unripe pears, apricots, peaches, plums, mangoes, honeydew melons, cantaloupes, bananas, kiwis, and avocados can soften on the counter. Once they turn soft to the touch, move them into the refrigerator.  Apples will also continue to ripen.  Put un-bruised apples in the refrigerator to keep them crisp for many weeks.

Vegetable Storage

1.    In general, vegetables stay fresh in a moist environment, which means the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.  Keep only the broccoli in a bag so the whole refrigerator doesn't smell like broccoli. If you don't have a crisper drawer, store the vegetables wrapped in a plastic bag on in a plastic container.    

2.    Too much moisture can be bad for your vegetables, and brown spots will develop especially on lettuce if it is too damp.  

3.    Store tomatoes on the counter and only chill them right before serving.  

4.  Potatoes, onions, eggplant, and hard shell squashes should be stored in a cool, dry place.  

Following these guidelines will ensure you get the most value and flavor from your fresh fruits and vegetables.

For more ideas on produce storage and healthy eating on a budget, visit http://www.healthy-diet-mom.com/healthy-eating-on-a-budget.html

Mary Rentoumis writes about her humorous adventures in feeding her family a healthy diet on her website, http://www.healthy-diet-mom.com Although Mary cannot cook, she endures kitchen disasters and grocery store mishaps to create a healthy diet program that can be adapted to fit a whole family, or just a single person. With an Ivy League degree in History and Chemistry, Mary Rentoumis is comfortable understanding on a molecular level why some foods are not healthy choices. Mary regularly uses her scientific background to explain to her youngest son why he can't have candy bars for breakfast.

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