What's Cooking? Food Storage Hacks to Keep Your Favorite Foods Fresh

Nobody likes stale bread or when their apples turn brown, right? Throwing away half a carton of chicken broth, what more if you made your own? Nope, nobody wants that! Unfortunately though, preventing food waste is becoming a challenge that oftentimes, you find yourself throwing out rotten fruits and leftovers, not to mention the stinky trash and hard-earned cash.

So, how can you stop this sad habit? Proper food storage - starting from your kitchen and at your home.

Become a food storage savvy and make sure your food fills your tummy and not the landfill with these simple tips and useful hacks.

Menu Planning
Prepare a list of meal ideas for your household throughout the week and then review which ingredients are already in your kitchen. Only buy those items that are still needed, thus avoiding unnecessary purchases that could go to waste.

There's Always a Twist!
Channel your inner Rachael Ray or Gordon Ramsay and get creative with your recipes. Look for alternatives and try out different ways to prepare your food from what was originally planned. Make something else just as rich, for instance, for fruits that are a bit past, you can make delicious jams, smoothies, or juices. For foods like chicken, which ones cooked can be made to something else like soups and stews. The latter can be reused and made into pasta dishes - use your imagination!

Rice, Please!
Cooking rice? To prevent bacteria from multiplying on leftovers, make sure to refrigerate it just after cooking it. With a few more ingredients, use your cool, firm, and less sticky rice to make the best fried rice ever!

Enough is enough
Measure your portions. Controlling food portions will not just help you manage and maintain your weight, but a great way to avoid wasting food as well. Just serve the right amount on your plate and get more ONLY if you're still hungry.

Getting to Know You
Know your food to make the most out of them. For instance, hard cheese freezes well. You may want to cut it into smaller portions though before freezing. Meanwhile, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk freeze better than whole milk. Just give it a good chill if it separates once defrosted. Make your own breadcrumbs using stale bread. Mix them with onions and your chosen herbs to top baked fish or chicken stuffing.

Household Storage Hacks

● Brown sugars contain more moisture than white sugars so they tend to clump. Prevent it by tossing a marshmallow or two into the container and you'll never have to toss a hardened rock of brown sugar ever again.

● No one wants those mold spores lurking on their berries and vegetables. Get rid of them by rinsing them thoroughly in vinegar water just before placing them in your fridge. Do this especially when you know it will be a while before consuming them. Done washing? Put your produce in a glass container or plastic bag with a folded-over paper towel inside. This will avoid condensation that may occur after washing.

● Can't quite bring yourself to throw away that can of tomato paste minus 1 tablespoon? Freeze it! All you need is a cookie scooper, a cookie sheet, parchment paper, and plastic storage to freeze it. Put them in a plastic bag afterward and the next time you make some pasta, just pull out what's needed and add it frozen.

● It's better to double the portion when making cookie dough. Just divide the layers using wax paper, freeze them, and have them ready for baking the next time friends come over. You can also do the same thing with a sliced chocolate cake.

● Keep peanut butter from separating by storing it upside down. You don't have to stir, blend, and re-blend separated nut butter ever again with the oil spilling everywhere including your shirt with this tried and true storage hack. This is because the oil that accumulated at the top of the jar will just work its way to the bottom slowly, redistributing throughout for smooth, creamy peanut butter. To avoid any leaks, make sure to keep the lid tightly sealed.

● Just in case you can't finish your avocado, keep the halves fresh by storing it in an airtight container on a bed of chopped onions. It may sound odd, but this trick sure works!

● Wine storage? It's fine to keep your bottle refrigerated, but only for a couple of months. Just make sure to know the basics of wine storage to experience your favorite wines at their best.

Follow these tips and clever hacks and keep everything in your kitchen crisp and fresh. For your growing wine collection, however, it is best to consider a safe, secure, and climate-controlled storage unit. Let us preserve your precious wines like liquid gold in one of our storage facilities. Contact us today.