- A surplus of spuds?
If you have peeled too many potatoes for a potato salad or casserole, don’t get rid of the uncooked extras. Put them in a bowl, cover with cold water and add a few drops of vinegar. Now they will keep in the fridge for three to four days.
- Bag your lettuce
Lettuce will keep longer if transferred from a plastic bag to a larger paper bag before storing it in the fridge. Lettuce likes a little air, but you don’t need to remove limp and discoloured outer leaves; they may not be edible, but these leaves help to keep the inner leaves crisp.
- A gentle touch in the crisper
Line the crisper drawer of your fridge with paper towels, which will absorb the excess moisture that stops the vegetables inside from staying fresh. Replace the towels as they become damp. Another way to dehumidify the drawer is to tuck two or three brand-new kitchen sponges among the vegetables, squeezing out moisture as needed.
- Toast freshens lettuce
You can keep lettuce crisp in the fridge for longer if you store it in a sealed plastic bag with a slice of almost-burned toast. The ultra-dry toast will absorb some of the excess moisture that would otherwise cause the lettuce to wilt. As long as you replace the toast when it becomes soggy, the lettuce should stay crisp for up to two weeks.
- Keep greens fork fresh
Keep kale, spinach and other greens fresh for longer by storing them in the fridge along with a stainless-steel fork or knife. Just open the storage bag, slip in the utensil and reclose.
- Special care for celery
It’s crucial for celery to be crisp, so when it starts to go soft try this: put limp stalks in a bowl of cold water with a few slices of raw potato. After an hour or so in this starchy bath, the stalks may be restored to their crunchy best. To stop celery from going brown, soak it for 30 minutes in 1 litre cold water mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice before storing — a trick that will also crisp celery just before it’s served.
- Get the most out of a lemon
When a recipe calls for just a few drops of lemon juice, simply puncture the rind with a toothpick and gently squeeze out the small amount of juice you need. Then cover the hole with a piece of tape and store the lemon in the fridge for later use.
- Oiled eggs
Prolong the life of fresh eggs by dipping a paper towel into vegetable oil and rubbing the shells before storing in the fridge. The oil will keep the eggs fresh for an extra three to four weeks.
- Vinegar and cheese
To keep cheese fresh, wrap it in a piece of soft clean cloth dampened with vinegar. It should come as no surprise that washed cheesecloth is ideal for the purpose.
- Store potatoes with ginger
Unused potatoes will last longer if you add a piece of fresh ginger root to the bin that you store them in. It’s said that one root vegetable helps to keep another root vegetable fresh — and a potato tuber is a kind of root.
- Longer-lasting milk
If you buy more milk than you can use before the use-by date, extend its life with a couple of pinches of bicarbonate of soda. Bicarbonate of soda reduces the acidity of milk and will slow down the rate at which it goes off. But don’t add too much or you’ll notice the taste of the bicarb in your milk.
Credit : Reader’s Digest
Picture Credit : Google