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16 Comments
Dean H.
July 12, 2016
I am alone and my fridge and freezer has sufficient space for keeping everything. So I never have a problem.
Bunni J.
March 14, 2016
What are your thoughts regarding tomato paste (and garlic or basil ) in the tubes available at my local Italian deli? I find them to be quite convenient when fresh is not readily available.
btglenn
March 13, 2016
for budget reasons, when they are on sale, I always buy more poultry and meat than I need immediately, and freeze portions to cook later.
I cook soups often, making a large pot to serve about 3 times during the week -- a small portion for lunch or a mealtime size for dinner. If I cook any main dish, make the full recipe (usually for 4) and freeze portions for a later time. Of course, you need a large refrigerator/freezer for this, but that I what I first purchased when living as a single, and have done so ever since.
My pantry consists of the usual staples (for me, yours are probably different) - canned sardines and tuna, tomatoes and Mexican style hominy, beans, canned soups to be doctored up. flours and polenta, stored in the fridge, a variety of pastas, couscous, and grits, oatmeal and corn meal, barley and beans, all stored in glass jars. I look for sales when I buy canned goods and other staples like "save when you buy 4," and store them in a corner of a closet if there is no room in the pantry.
I also like to have some frozen vegetables on hand like frozen corn, a bag of mixed veggies for soup, frozen spinach - great to cook in a cream sauce - sliced okra, and Italian green beans, which are never available fresh.
I store onions and potatoes refrigerated, and buy small portions of fresh vegetables in variety, since they don't keep for more than a few days.
Apples and oranges do keep for at least a couple of weeks so I buy more of those.
Everyone has their own list of food and snack preferences, so figure out what yours are and store, intelligently.
I cook soups often, making a large pot to serve about 3 times during the week -- a small portion for lunch or a mealtime size for dinner. If I cook any main dish, make the full recipe (usually for 4) and freeze portions for a later time. Of course, you need a large refrigerator/freezer for this, but that I what I first purchased when living as a single, and have done so ever since.
My pantry consists of the usual staples (for me, yours are probably different) - canned sardines and tuna, tomatoes and Mexican style hominy, beans, canned soups to be doctored up. flours and polenta, stored in the fridge, a variety of pastas, couscous, and grits, oatmeal and corn meal, barley and beans, all stored in glass jars. I look for sales when I buy canned goods and other staples like "save when you buy 4," and store them in a corner of a closet if there is no room in the pantry.
I also like to have some frozen vegetables on hand like frozen corn, a bag of mixed veggies for soup, frozen spinach - great to cook in a cream sauce - sliced okra, and Italian green beans, which are never available fresh.
I store onions and potatoes refrigerated, and buy small portions of fresh vegetables in variety, since they don't keep for more than a few days.
Apples and oranges do keep for at least a couple of weeks so I buy more of those.
Everyone has their own list of food and snack preferences, so figure out what yours are and store, intelligently.
Bettye J.
March 10, 2016
Why are we told not to keep meat in freezer over 6 months? Does it go bad or just lose flavor?
Laura415
March 14, 2016
If it's wrapped or cryovac(ed) well I've had little to no problems with grass fed steer staying perfect for a year. However, stuff I hadn't wrapped well or sealed got freezer burn in the same time frame. For me wrapping and sealing the meat is important to how long it stays good in the freezer.
Jennifer S.
March 9, 2016
If you tear and wash your salad greens, lay them flat on paper towels and roll up the result into a zip-top bag (get the air out) in the back of the fridge, you've got ready salad for about a week. Bacon is another longer-keeping protein, along with vacuum sealed white anchovies and canned tuna fish. About the leftover cooked fish though, be careful. If it's shellfish, it won't keep once cooked. It can make you sick. I have better luck with onions and garlic in a dark cool place like the pantry floor rather than the fridge, and not in a plastic bag. Finally, cream keeps much longer than milk. If you want to have a little dairy readily available, but can't get through a whole carton of milk before it spoils, this is handy.
Fredrik B.
March 10, 2016
Well, regular cream doesn't keep any longer than milk does, which is 8 days. Cream with the additive carrageenan keeps for a month.
ReisTanzi
March 21, 2017
Be careful storing salad greens at the back of the fridge! The back of mine is colder than the front, and I have to be careful to keep delicate produce closer to the front to avoid freezing!
Ann R.
March 9, 2016
Once the local Farmer's Market opens, I begin buying berries and peaches. I freeze them on a cookie sheet and then transfer them to freezer storage bags. I save them for fall and winter when prices begin climbing.
EL
March 9, 2016
Rather strange that fresh veggies diced and then frozen are not mentioned above. I do a lot of that, including things such as rhubarb. I also freeze any fresh fruit that I don't eat. It thaws pretty quickly. I also freeze roasted peppers and corn. In fact, I've found that pretty much anything can be frozen (even some soft cheeses (contrary to what one is told)) although that takes experimentation. For instance I freeze feta. I also freeze cream cheese (although only a particular brand which I've found doesn't get watery or grainy). I don't freeze cottage cheese or yogurt as they keep pretty well in the fridge. So I freeze a lot of single servings to be reheated later. Much better than store bought frozen meals.
I put leftover celery and green onions and large bunches of herbs such as cilantro in water and leave them in the window sill (they are lovely as well as functional).
I make yogurt in small (10 oz) jars (left over from jam) and then have single servings for snacks or dessert whenever I want.
I absolutely freeze all bread as I've found that it gets moldy a lot faster than I can eat it. It's so simple to defrost (a few secs in the microwave) that I never have a problem with it. I freeze leftover rice if I'm not going to use it within a week, but I run my fridge as cold as possible without freezing.
I put leftover celery and green onions and large bunches of herbs such as cilantro in water and leave them in the window sill (they are lovely as well as functional).
I make yogurt in small (10 oz) jars (left over from jam) and then have single servings for snacks or dessert whenever I want.
I absolutely freeze all bread as I've found that it gets moldy a lot faster than I can eat it. It's so simple to defrost (a few secs in the microwave) that I never have a problem with it. I freeze leftover rice if I'm not going to use it within a week, but I run my fridge as cold as possible without freezing.
Smaug
March 8, 2016
Never heard of keeping uncut onions or garlic in the refrigerator. Definitely tomato paste in a tube. They also sell various herb pastes in a tube; seems like a good idea, but the ones I've tried were lousy; fortunately, I'm able to keep herbs in the form of plants, which keep very well for the most part.-
Greenstuff
March 8, 2016
Tomato paste in a tube has a best-by range of about 45 days in the refrigerator after it's opened, and it remains safe to eat much longer than that. Plus, you can use as much or as little as you want.
henandchicks
March 8, 2016
Indeed! I have found, too, that the taste of the tube is much nicer than the canned product.
Fredrik B.
March 8, 2016
Refrigerators are hell on rice. Freeze it in portions, rice reheats very well. Just moisten with a few tablespoons of water, cover, and put it in the microwave. (Unless you have a rice cooker with a reheat option, of course, but that's a given.)
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