by Shameera Nair Lin

Let’s be honest: at times, some of us buy groceries and end up watching items rot away at a pace that feels far too quick. Perishable items sometimes end up in storage a day too long. As we have had to adapt to an altered way of going about our daily lives, every bit of help does, in fact, go a long way. There are many ways to ensure your weekly shop is maximised. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Store certain vegetables and herbs in water

Bought a big bag of carrots because that was all you could find at the supermarket? Want it to stay fresh beyond a week? We’ve got you covered! To maintain the freshness of vegetables such as celeries and carrots, wash them and store in a jar of water. You could do the same with most fresh herbs, extending their storage lifespan and allowing you to plan your meals without rushing to finish all those rosemary stalks. Take your thyme. We’ll see ourselves out now.

2. Wash your greens!

If you’ve bought a few bundles of green vegetables from the supermarket and are trying to figure out a way to make them retain their freshness beyond a few days, there’s a simple way. When storing your groceries, give your greens a rinse under the tap, dry them up and wrap them in towels (or newspapers) before placing them in your crisper.

3. Know your optimum temperatures

To make things simple, we have included a chart below, courtesy of the UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center. When storing fruits and vegetables, be sure to store all goods under the right conditions. For instance, don’t put bananas in the fridge before they ripen. I learnt this the hard way. With poultry and seafood, freeze in separate containers to ease the defrosting process.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center

4.  Freeze right there!

This is an extremely important tip. If you believe you won’t be using fresh ingredients for a while, freezing them means allowing nothing to go to waste. Before freezing anything – be it ginger, fish or long beans – prepare them the way you’d want to use them later and place them in separate containers.

5. Do onions and potatoes go together?

Yes, just not in the storage process. Do not store onions and potatoes together, as gases from the onions will cause your potatoes to sprout more quickly. While sprouted potatoes are safe to eat, potato sprouts are considered toxic and removing them will be an unnecessary hassle.

We hope this has been a helpful starting point. If you have other tips you’ve found helpful in storing your groceries, drop us an email at [email protected] – we promise to share them!