FRUGAL FRIDAY

I read an article recently that said the average American family throws out 14% of the food they buy because of spoilage. That statistic reflects quite a waste of the money we spend in the grocery store! The following are a few hints that may help you extend the life of the food that you have picked from your garden or purchased at the store:

1) I read that apples give off a gas that speeds ripening so I don’t store them in my fruit bowl or in the refrigerator with other fruits and vegetables.

2) I keep tomatoes in a bowl on the counter because cold temperatures can actually damage them and they really do taste better than they used to when I kept them in the refrigerator.

3) I put meat in a plastic freezer bag with the air squeezed out to protect it from freezer burn because packaging from the grocery store is not strong enough to protect the meat.

4) I store flour, cornmeal, rice and other grains in the freezer where they will be safe from bugs that can contaminate them. I learned that after a couple of episodes of weevils in everything in my pantry.

5) We recently started chilling our bananas to keep them from ripening too fast. My husband sets one or two out each day to eat and the rest stay nice and firm in the refrigerator.

6) Fortunately, my husband does not mind leftovers, so I try to serve the leftovers within at least a couple of days.