- Nope. (crash)
(laughs)
Hi everybody, my name is Merle.
I hope you're staying safe and sane out there.
Obviously I'm not shooting in the Tasty kitchen today
so I'm going to be shooting right out of my own apartment.
Bare with me, if some things look a little different,
we're still gonna have a lot of fun.
Today I'm gonna be showing you some of my favorite tips
and tricks to make your groceries last as long as possible
and stay fresh and delicious for
as long as they possibly can.
All right, let's start with America's sweetheart, onions.
One bad onion can, in fact, spoil the bunch.
Onions and potatoes are a no go,
it can actually cause them to spoil faster.
When you're storing your bananas,
be sure to hang them above the rest of your fruit
or keep them separate because they can actually
cause them to ripen faster.
Oh, hello Genevieve.
Hello little girl.
Okay, get out of here.
All right, you wanna make your berries last longer?
I'm always annoyed that mine are going bad.
All you want is a five-to-one ratio of water to vinegar.
After you let 'em soak in the solution for a couple minutes,
drain 'em, dry 'em, store 'em in an airtight container.
Lemons will last four times as long if you store them
in a resealable bag in the fridge.
I'm tryna save the world over here, so I use a reusable bag
but any plastic resealable bag will work.
Speaking of bags, do not keep tomatoes
in plastic bags, that tricky ethylene gas will actually
make them ripen faster.
Instead, unripe tomatoes should be stored stem down
and already ripe tomatoes can be kept at room temperature
on the counter away from sunlight.
Mushies!
You want mushrooms to be stored in a paper bag
because moisture is your worst enemy,
it will only cause them to go bad
and to smell really horrible.
Don't you love it when you put a half a avocado
in the fridge and 10 minutes later it's disgustingly brown?
Well, if you brush a little bit of olive oil
or a little bit of lemon juice on there,
you won't have to deal with that unsightly mess.
Also, if you keep a pit inside an avocado,
it'll actually reduce it from browning as well.
(sultry jazz music) Mysterious beautiful things
those avocados.
When you open something out of a can
and take all of it out of the can,
do not store it in the can because that could lead
to botulism which is very, very, very bad.
Instead, you want to store the remainders
in a safe airtight container.
I'm just saying this 'cause I love you.
Bread's another one of those tricky things
that you buy and it goes bad before you can finish it.
I always put mine in the freezer right away
and just take it out as I need.
To keep hard stem herbs fresh,
wrap them in a damp towelette
and put them in a resealable bag in the fridge.
While soft stem herbs can be kept right on
your countertop in a glass jar with
just an inch of water at the bottom.
Make sure you change out that water every couples days,
or it will get unsightly.
Greens, place a towel on the top that'll soak up
any excess moisture, it'll give you way more shelf life.
Pop 'em in the fridge.
When it comes to nut butters,
don't laugh,
especially if you're using natural nut butters,
don't laugh,
the best way to keep them fresh longer is
to flip them upside down that'll help to block
any air from coming in and turning your nut butter bad,
don't laugh.
These are examples of some things that should always
be stored in a refrigerator.
Here are some examples of things that should always
be stored on the countertop, or at least not in the fridge.
And then here that should be stored on the countertop
until they're ripe, and then you can refrigerate them.
Let's utilize our freezers, people!
Your freezer is like a big pause button.
Great for berries, banana, avocado,
just to name a few.
And don't underestimate the power of your ice cube tray.
It's great for any stock you have,
maybe you opened some, maybe you used cup,
you got five cups left over,
you can just put the pause button on 'em,
pop 'em in the freezer, and they'll come out
in these cute little cubes.
You can feel free to use these cubes for
any sautees you might be making,
your favorite beans, pasta,
and of course stew or soups.
Alright, remember those herbs we were talking about earlier,
they're not gonna last forever.
So if you've got some extras you don't know what to do with,
you can put them in your ice cube tray with some oil
and there's another really cute cube.
These will come in handy for anything
you're sauteing or frying up.
Maybe you just want some easy pasta,
toss that pasta in there, call it a day.
And, of course, tomato paste.
We all know how it goes with tomato paste.
It's always the same, you use one tablespoon
and then you've got the whole can.
Pop that in the freezer and then you can save it to use
for any recipe you might need it for.
Whether it's a curry or a tomato sauce, you name it.
Here's another way to store avocado.
If you mash it up, you can make little avocado cubes,
and they're a great thing to pop into your smoothies
for a little nutrition boost
and for that great creamy texture.
Your fridge and your freezer, they love you, you love them,
so we gotta keep 'em clean, people.
Any bacteria or mold that's left in your fridge is gonna
spread to your other good food!
Now that you've got your fridge all disinfected,
it smells so good, I can smell it from here.
Upper shelves have the most consistent temperatures,
bottom shelves, these are cooler shelves,
particularly towards the back,
and then the crisper drawers,
the higher humidity is what's gonna help your produce
from drying out.
And, finally, the doors.
They are the warmest area of the fridge,
so you wanna keep your least perishable items here.
Stay safe, stay well out there.
Sending everyone my love.
And don't forget to smile.
Hey, you've got some extra time these days,
maybe it's not a bad time to learn how to juggle.
(upbeat guitar music)