Too busy juggling school, work, and life to eat healthily? Or perhaps you’re a working mom with not enough time during the day to monitor what your children eat, let alone shop for fresh produce daily.
Whichever category you fall under, you should know that you’re not alone in your plight. Many people fail to eat healthily because they just can’t say no to the quick-and-easy solution offered by fast-food take-outs and easy-to-cook processed foods.
Fortunately, technology has made it possible to buy meat online in Dubai and other fresh ingredients you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Of course, that is just half the solution. The remaining half entails having proper knowledge about the healthy foods you buy to extend their freshness for as long as possible.
Ready to live a healthier lifestyle? Here are the top eight hacks you can use for better food management:
1. Keep banana stems together and cling wrapped.
Never separate bananas until you’re ready to eat them. This will help slow down the browning process and keep the fruits in their best state for as long as possible.
To get an extra three to five days, wrap the bunch straight from the grocers to maintain their freshness, which you can gradually remove as you snap off a banana for immediate consumption.
2. Line your salad drawer with a paper towel.
Notice how your vegetables sweat when stored in the crisper? That excess moisture can cause fresh produce to wilt much faster, so the trick is to keep them as dry as possible.
One way to do that is to line the salad drawer with a paper towel. When condensation starts, the paper towel can absorb the excess moisture and extend the freshness of your salad ingredients.
As a bonus, this also helps maintain your fridge’s cleanliness by preventing fruit and vegetable gunk from accumulating.
3. Wrap cheese in paper.
Most people wrap cheese to keep it fresh (and potentially prevent the stink from spreading). This is a good idea, provided that you make sure that you use the correct material for the job.
Stick to baking paper or any type of porous paper to wrap your cheese before storing. Don’t use cling wrap, as the cheese needs to breathe to stay fresh.
Some even find that putting cheese in a paper towel sprayed with vinegar can help eradicate any bacteria on its surface.
4. Rinse berries with vinegar.
The most expensive fruits tend to be the first ones to get moldy – this is a cruel fact of life. However, you can alter the fate of your berries with one simple hack: a vinegar rinse.
Combine one cup of vinegar into three cups of water and use the mixture to wash your berries before putting them in the refrigerator. This will kill any bacteria and mold spores that could turn them fuzzy in a few days.
Just don’t forget to dry the fruits thoroughly before putting them in storage.
5. Wrap celery in foil.
Want crisp celery for longer? Make sure you replace the plastic wrap they usually come in with aluminum foil. This will allow the gas that causes spoilage to escape instead of trapping it in with your crunchy, healthy snack.
6. Treat herbs like you would flowers.
Herbs can be used fresh or dry, but they are definitely no good when they turn mushy.
Fortunately, there are many ways to keep herbs fresh for longer, including treating them like you would fresh flowers. Here are a few examples:
- Wrap fresh herbs in newspaper before putting them inside the fridge to maintain dryness and their ideal temperature.
- Place them in water with a plastic bag over the top, with an elastic band keeping the bag in place to create a greenhouse environment.
- Hang them to dry at the stem in a well-ventilated area (e.g., near a window). This is best for oily herbs (e.g., rosemary and thyme), which don’t do well when refrigerated.
7. Toss an apple into your potato basket.
Nobody likes to eat sprouted potatoes, so make sure you keep your stock sprout-free by putting an apple in with them. The fruit produces ethylene gas that keeps the potatoes firm and fresh for a few more weeks.
8. Know what not to refrigerate.
Not all types of food fare well in the fridge. To make sure you don’t waste those precious fruits and vegetables ordered online in Dubai, use the list below as your reference for foods that should not be kept in the fridge:
- Fresh herbs: The cold saps flavor and dries out herbs (and not the good kind), so make sure you keep your rosemary, thyme, basil, and other spices stored under room temperature and away from direct sunlight.
- Tomatoes: These go into your countertop and not your refrigerator if you want them to stay delicious.
- Potatoes: Potatoes are a room-temperature-only type of vegetable. Just make sure that you don’t keep them with onions (which are also no-fridge vegetables), as the gases from the two cause accelerated spoilage.
- Bread: The cold air inside the fridge dries out bread, not to mention it leaves a stale flavor.
- Melons: Watermelons, cantaloupes, and other fruits in the melon family do best on the counter until you cut them up. Once they’re cut, you can keep them in the fridge.
- Avocado: Any unripe avocado should stay out of the fridge to finish its ripening process.
- Honey: Stash this in its original container and keep it in the cool and dark area in your pantry.
Eat Fresh and Healthy Food Anytime
Most fruits and vegetables offer support to health when consumed at their prime state.
Extend the life of fresh and healthy foods with the help of these hacks.
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