I've been limiting my trips to the store and buying a little more than usual when I go. But I've been struggling to keep my produce fresh too long. So I decided to do some research. Here are some tips and websites I've found helpful.
Did you know if you store your scallion roots down in a glass of water at room temp, they'll keep growing that way forever? I learned that and 9 other helpful hints to preserving your produce from this article on Bon Appetit.
Did you know if you blanch vegetables before you freeze them, you'll kill bacteria and stop the action of food degrading enzymes? Here's a step by step guide to freezing fruits and vegetables from Eating Well.
Use it or lose it. If your citrus looks like it's past it's prime, you can still juice it and freeze it in ice cube trays for future recipes. Drop some cubes in your favorite beverage, toss a few in your soup or chili, or drop a couple down your garbage disposal to freshen it up. Check out more ideas like this and recipes that will help you save your produce before it goes bad from Food Network.
Tomato Concasse--this is a recipe I've made recently with some tomatoes that were on their last leg. Using this technique will give you a base of fresh tomatoes without the skin and seeds that you can use to start a pasta sauce, chili or soup, or a fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella salad! I baked mine in the oven with some basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil topped with some finely chopped onion, mushrooms, garlic, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. And I served over some buttered egg noodles and it was amazing!
It seems like Avocados can ripen overnight. If you're not quite ready to eat them yet, freeze them! Here are some helpful tips for freezing avocados from Huffpost. When I halve my avocados to freeze, I like to place the individual halves on a baking sheet and freeze them separately first before i put them in the ziplock to store. It's an easy way to keep them from freezing together without having to use individual plastic baggies or parchment paper.