how to Make your food last longer

 Control the moisture, temperature, acids and gases around your food, to make sure the gases,  acids and moisture don’t get to places where you don’t want them.

So you need to know your food, what it likes, and how it reacts to being stored in different conditions.

We know what will help you achieve this along the way and we’ll explain the 10 rules below with some examples. Just click on any picture from here on in to get to a recipe or more information.

Next, it’s about planning and organising. I know that will appeal to some of you more than others. ( We’re naturally messy pups, but having things under control and organised just feels so good ! )

2. Deliberately make more than you need when cooking.

Deliberately make more than you need for one meal, portion control, then reuse or re-cycle the next day. You have to agree that stews are even better the next day ! The experts say to think half a plate for vegetables and / or fruit, quarter for protein, and quarter for carbohydrades like bread or grains. the size of the plate matters too of course !

Instead of eating it all – think portion control and refrigerate or freeze the rest in meal size portions. Use smaller plate sizes, and visually divide the plate up so that your get the most of the healthiest or low calorie parts.

Recycle the unused parts. Use extra cooked chicken or fish in a salad, or make a delicious steak sandwich. Grilled or roasted veggies – I freeze the leftovers early if I know I won’t use them. Anything that contains aubergine or tomatoes in particular, makes a great bread spread instead of butter ( and it makes a sandwich into a meal ! )

3. Have the right tools to maximise what you have, and easily expand your cooking skills and repertoire.

It will make life easier, cooking faster, and make the  the most of your food. In the end,  they should all save you money one way or the other too. Exciting new recipes will open up to you, and you will start to get creative with your own inventions more easily too.

I use my hand blender to get creative,  use small portions, my mandoline (it’s a Bron and you don’t need that – (this one is good too), and microplane also get used a lot to get the shapes and textures I need, and my sous vide machine to get the most flavour and nutrients out of my food. A good non stick frying pan and griddle also get used constantly in our house.

Everyone seems to be in baking cake heaven during this world lockdown time, but I use my baking moulds more to store leftovers in the freezer.  Squeeze that last lemon before it goes off, mix leftover chopped herbs from your meal prep with olive oil, then they’re ready to pop into a meal again another day. Once frozen, I empty the moulds into a freezer bag so that I have the mould to re-use again regularly.

Down to flour and water… then a counter top mixer will make you endless breads. I have to admit, our own KitchenAid mixer has even re-surfaced again during this world pandemic. Paul has started on a sourdough journey again.

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4. Use as many parts of the fruit or vegetable that you can 

no food waste

I think we have all gotten spoiled with choices over the years, and throw away too much decent foodstuff.  I hope my dear old friend who threw away some unwanted greens whilst on a zoom call with me this week is reading this. ( You know who you are ! ) I used every part of the broccoli and just chop it up smaller so it cooks at the same time as the florets. 

5. Know how a fridge works, with respect to temperature variations.

Use those salad drawers properly. From the coldest part in the salad drawer at the bottom to the warmest top shelf, and the variable fridge door. Be careful storing food near the back of the fridge… it’s more likely to freeze there.

Use some help with fridge fresheners, cover food in the fridge so it doesn’t dry up, or keep your bananas in this keep fresh bag. Shelf liners that keep food fresh, also keep the inside of the fridge or drawer neat, and stop things going off or getting soggy.

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6. Know how your food, especially consumables, like to be stored.

You can also free up a lot of space in there if you know what food should not be kept in the fridge ( like… bread, cereals, potatoes, onions, citrus fruits, tomatoes, coffee, oils, melon, honey, berries, spices, squashes, courgettes, peppers, pineapples ). 

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7. Plan meals that use a crossover of ingredients

This helps cut down the number of ingredients you have to cook. Extra rice becomes a refried rice dish. A tomato salad one day can become a sauce / salsa dip the next.

8. Be able to actually see your food

I use clear jars as much as possible…then you can see the quantity going down and know when to top up again. I have a special jar shelf in the shed to see them all. For me the shed is just a few steps from the kitchen, so it’s like my pantry. I also use smaller jars to store leftovers in the fridge. Better to see it and use it , than have lots of containers you have to keep opening to check the contents. These ones are much prettier, and have lots of uses, especially if they’re going to be on show. 

Time to get organised too and use the age old FIFO (first in, first out) system that professional kitchens use. You can assemble these easily and put them in cupboards or on shelves or the worktop. This way you don’t need to keep checking the use by dates on the tins, just feed the new ones in the back and the one you need to use will always be at the front.

10. Keep your fridge clean

If your fridge is clean, your food won’t get damaged or contaminated easily with spoilage or mold from other food. It also keeps any unwanted smells away too.

A – Z of food storage tips

A work in progress, and we’re testing them out. We’ll keep updating this page so do refresh the page if you have visited more than once. If we don’t post this page now, we’ll never be done writing, and we want to get the information to you now !

If you have tried these too, or have any other tips, please use the comments box at the bottom to let us know. OR email us on hello@fromcooktochef.com 

Asparagus – trim the ends like flowers in a vase and pop then in a jar with a little water ! Loosely wrap a plastic bag over the top and pop in the fridge. Again this one is a new one on me ( ref: housebeautiful.com) . If we are lucky enough to get asparagus, we tend to use it pretty quickly whilst it’s fresh !

Avocados – once cut, put lemon or lime on it to stop it going brown ( It’s the absorbic acid that does it… same rule applies to stop cut apples from browning)  Keep them out of the fridge to ripen but once they are ripe, store in the salad drawer to extend the life. Once they are at the point to use, but you aren’t ready yet, it’s safer to store them somewhere you will see them ! So I store on the top shelf of the fridge where it’s a bit warmer but I out it in a plastic bag, loosely. Don’t seal the bag. Leave it open a little to get air in . I extended half an avocado life by 2 more weeks doing this – 1 week in the bottom salad drawer, 1 week in a bag on the top shelf. If you think you aren’t going to use them up in time, then cut them up and store in the freezer till you need them, then if you get a surprise guest,  get them out a make a great guacamole or something ! Use a hand blender, add cocoa powder and vanilla extract  and avo a healthy ice cream !

By the way, leaving the stone in may keep it fresh but it doesn’t seem to stop it from going brown ! I do it all the time.

Bananas – keep separate from other fruit as it makes them all ripen too fast. Usually you should keep them out of the fridge but someone gifted us a ‘banana bag’ . Yup it’s a thing ! You store the bananas in this special wee bag in the fridge and they can last for weeks. We love it. If you’re storing them outside the fridge, hanging them helps prolong the life, or you can wrap the stem in tin foil or cling film to extend the life longer.

Broccoli, white & red cabbages, cauliflower and celery – chop off the ends, celery flowers and any bad bits and wrap in 3 weeks so far  for me.

Bread – remember granny wrapping it in a tea towel – well that makes it last longer . Even better to store the wrapped bread then in a loose plastic bag. Or combine both tips by using this cool bees wrap.

Butter – It doesn’t need to go in the fridge. Keep it in a covered butter dish – the temperature stays a lot more stable inside.

Cheese – In the fridge, use the bees wrap, or a waxed paper or a porous paper like baking ( parchment) paper if possible to store opened cheese. Hard cheese storage out of the fridge, use a wire cheese box if you can and store in a cool place.

Cucumber, courgettes & lettuce – Cucumbers all come in a plastic wrap – a friend once brought us fruit and veg from their grannies farm and the cucumber was already in the plastic wrap! Hilarious –they obviously supply the local supermarkets or export or something. It keeps the moisture away , and protects it a little from bruising when handled because these babies bruise easily ! So that’s your clue, don’t put them in the fridge – yet. I’ve done that and you just get these big wet patches developing on them and ruin the texture. They go downhill quickly after that. So. Once you have started to use the cucumber or courgette, then you’ll have washed the outside. Make sure its dry, then wrap in a towel or paper towel and put that in a loose ( not sealed) plastic bag and store at the top of the fridge. You don’t want it to get toooo cold, so also be careful about where you place it . I place at the front so that there is no risk of it getting pushed to the back and freezing. 

This is may favourite find. I’ve been able to make lettuce last a lot longer. I wash the lettuce in a bag, spin it dry, and store it like this and it’s amazing ! My cucumber, even better… I still have it looking fabulous at least 2 weeks later !

Eggs – keep them out of the fridge.

Cheese – In the fridge, use a waxed paper or a porous paper like paking ( parchment) paper  if possible to store opened cheese. Hard cheese storage out of the fridge, use a wire cheese box if you can and store in a cool place.

Flour and powdered goods – keep them in a tightly sealed ( preferably dark) container. I use jars a lot. Over time mites love living in your flour (yeuch!) so keep it airtight.

Ginger – Best not to store it in the fridge ( goes off fast) , and not in a sealed jar ( goes mouldy) . So store it on the counter where you see it and use it . If you don’t use very much, very often, divide it up and store some in the freezer. It makes it even easier to peel too, and don’t forget … the best way to peel is to use a tea-spoon, and the best way to grate is to use a micro-grater.

Herbs – usually they shouldn’t be stored in the fridge. If you do, then treat  them like flowers ! Tall and in a jar with a little water and at the top of the fridge. If you aren’t going to use them all then cut them up and store In an ice cube tray with olive oil. Hey you can do the same with extra chopped up garlic too ! Just take it out and melt when you need it …for cooking or in a salad dressing or sauce.

For more woody herbs like rosemary and thyme, just roll them loosely in a paper towel and pop them in a bag. Put them at the top of the fridge or in the door, where you ca seem to reuse. I put my dressings etc there so it works for me.

Lemons – I’m still testing this. I assumed they’re better  in the net bags they come in sometimes, but it’s not good for them to be touching – especially if one is riper than the rest. It will go mouldy more easily. Apparently storing in a plastic bag ( and NOT in the fridge ) is best too, so I will give this a go.

Onions, shallots, garlic – they come in nets for a reason ! Store or rather hang them in a cool darkish if possible place. Once cut they can go in the fridge, but put them in a container as the gases are not god for the fridge door seals – erodes them apparently.

Strawberries – Housebeautiful.com say to wash them in a vinegar solution ( 1 part distilled vinegar to 10 parts water) before storing and they can last up to 2 weeks longer. I haven’t tried this myself yet but will do when strawberry season comes along When you buy them, make sure you don’t have any mouldy ones in the punnet – check again when you get home and hook those out and throw them away immediately.

Tomatoes – keep out of the fridge and store this fruit  in a fruit bowl – even with other fruit to ripen it faster. It loses its taste if it’s kept cold in a fridge, so it likes to be at a warm room temperature to be super tasty.

Peppers – don’t need to be in the fridge.

Potatoes – keep them in a cool dark place if possible. Apples is another ethylene gas emitter but apparently you need to store them ( or at least one) with potatoes.  Apparently, it stops the potatoes from going off . Then there are to schools of thought on this – some say they make things go off faster, but when it comes to potatoes apparently not !  Sprouting – is ok for some foods like beans, but not for veggies.

I’m on the fence with this at the moment as a few weeks in, I’m seeing some sprout a little but I’ve no idea how old the potatoes were to begin with.

So I store an apple with my potatoes… but how will I know if it works. I’m Irish, so potatoes get eaten up quickly in this house !