If you’re not planning your meals for the week, you’re more than likely planning to throw about one-third of the groceries you buy into the garbage.
That might sound harsh, but it’s a fact of home-kitchen life. We all make this mistake. Storing food properly can help, but planning what you buy in advance makes a difference in terms of food waste, food freshness and better food choices.
The dietitians at Avera recommend taking time to plan your meals for the week to focus on freshness. It makes decisions easier and you can purchase the ingredients you’ll need just for the week. Using proper food storage can save time and money in the long run.
Read more: Tips to Stop Food Waste
Making the Most of Meat
Meat is a higher-priced food that a plan can help you make the most of. Fresh poultry pieces and ground meats should be used within 1-2 days, and chops and roast within three to five days of purchase.
If the fresh meat is specially packaged in controlled-atmosphere packaging, you may have longer, but make sure to check the “use or freeze by date” on the package and plan to freeze it or use it. Most meats can last and still maintain quality just fine after six months in the freezer.
- Ground meats are more likely to have issues with freezing, and they should not be kept frozen longer than three to four months for the best quality.
- Chops can last a little longer without compromising quality.
- Roasts can last up to a year in the freezer.
Every once in a while, go through your freezer and make sure you are keeping track of when things will no longer be optimal. If your meats are older than the guidelines, make plans to eat them soon or do away with them. Planning meals – along with regular inventories and shopping lists – can prevent the pain of throwing food away.
Fresh Produce Guidelines
When it comes to veggies and fruit, use the lessons you learn while shopping.
Many fresh foods are displayed in the supermarket like you should store them at home.
An example is potatoes displayed at room temperature (not refrigerated) in a supermarket. If you refrigerate them, the starch turns to sugar, giving them a sweeter taste, which is not what you want with a potato.
Veggies like peppers and tomatoes do well at room temperature. Those rules apply for fresh basil, too. You can trim the bottom stems of the basil and put them in a glass of water with a plastic bag over it to get the best flavor.
Apples are a case where you need no refrigeration if you plan to eat them within seven days.
Mangoes and oranges are other fruits that do not need refrigeration.
Berries go south quickly. Try to use berries within a day or two to get your money's worth.
Keep Foods Handy Without Going Bad
Pre-rinsing grapes and having them in an easy-to-get container in the refrigerator, for example, means more folks will dig into them and finish them off before they spoil. Once you cut up fruit, though, the rules change.
Anything you cut up should be kept refrigerated
Freeze nuts to avoid having them go rancid. You can also consider your oils as a food to rethink. Some will develop the same taste that nuts get from spending too much time in warm or room temperature areas.
Oils will last longer if they are kept cool. It's best kept away from the stove and sunlight in a cupboard.
