Storage Need idea's on the best way to store my veggies and fruit

[anwaflynurse]

I am wondering what everyone is using to store their fruits and veggies? I have been using zip lock zipper seal bags mainly for the convenience of it, but I am so tired of throwing away good food. I am having the worst trouble with the cilantro, lettuce, cucumbers and fruits. After about 4 days they get soggy and brown. I found a Tupperware FridgeSmart container with adjustable vents that let you control the airflow and reduce spoilage and waste. I just hate to spend $27 a piece if there are more or better options out there.

 

[Silverbeat]

I use those big plastic tubs that pre-mixed salads come in. I pre-mix all of my salads for the week, rinse and spin out really well with my salad spinner. My veggies stay fresh for 7 to 10 days. I made a blog post about it here: Tasha's Tails: Writings from Amy and her cavies: How Do You Do It?! Episode 1: salads.

 

[Nicolene]

I cut everything up and put it in plastic boxes from the dollar store, and I wrap the veggies in damp paper towels before I put them in the boxes. Then we just rinse them as we put the piggies' salad together. I buy 4 heads of lettuce, cut the end off, rinse it and then wrap it in dry paper towels and put it back into the store produce bags and close off the ends (I do the same with cilantro, minus the rinse). All my veggies last and stay good for a week. It's important for veggies not to sit in juice in a bag, it'll rot quickly.

 

[FlowersGrandma]

I am wondering what everyone is using to store their fruits and veggies? I have been using zip lock zipper seal bags mainly for the convenience of it, but I am so tired of throwing away good food. I am having the worst trouble with the cilantro, lettuce, cucumbers and fruits. After about 4 days they get soggy and brown. I found a Tupperware FridgeSmart container with adjustable vents that let you control the airflow and reduce spoilage and waste. I just hate to spend $27 a piece if there are more or better options out there.

I bought several Progressive International Lettuce Keeper's on clearance from Walmart. They really do keep produce fresher longer as long as you make sure the top is on tight. I have one for veggies that have to be kept closed, one for veggies that have to be kept open and one for berries. I love them, though they do take up a lot of room in the fridge. But I bought two bags of lettuce today (we eat a lot of salads, as well as feed it to the pigs. I put my lettuce and cut up peppers in there). Put my cucumbers and carrots in the other one. My grapes in the berry one. It tells you on the outside which veggies go into a closed one, which for open.
The lettuce one held two bags of romaine lettuce today. I don't wash it until we eat it. I can go longer in the Lettuce Keeper than I can in the bag from the store or in a ziploc bag. Amazon currently has them for $13.50. I paid less on clearance for them, but that was about 4 months ago. But they have saved me money. I buy a lot of salad stuff that I was throwing out pre-piggies. Now most of it gets eaten. The only stuff that doesn't is if my daughter forgets to put the top on good. It's not hard, she just doesn't make the effort. >(

 

[anwaflynurse]

I found the Progressive Lettuce Keeper at Amazon for $11.95. It's a lot like the Tupperware so I am going to order a couple, much cheaper and they will fit in the back of the fridge and will give me more room in my piggie drawer. Thanks FlowersGrandma, good suggestion and worth a try. Did you get the lettuce or produce keeper? I compared sizes and the lettuce keeper is larger, so I am going to order 2 of those. I took Silverbeats advise and ordered a spinner. I am going to store some in the containers and some in regular tubs, will be interesting to compare the two.
How does everyone store things like beets and yams? My aunt said to cut the beets and store them in water, and I have no idea how to store the yam. I have been peeling it and keeping it in a zip lock, cutting pieces off every couple of days, but it gets slimy after 3-4 days?!

 

[thebeachdreamer]

I was using the green bags by Debbie whatshername, but found a knock off brand at CVS (a box of 10 for $5 dollars) which is costly, but the bags can each be used for a long time. I just discovered some ziploc ones the other day so I grabbed a box just in case CVS doesn't carry the other ones forever. So far they are doing just as well as the others.

I have 4 piggies so I buy A LOT of veggies every Saturday at the local Farmers Market and I just don't have the room for the bowls in the fridge. I squeeze most of the air out of the bags and all of them fit in the drawers at the bottom of my fridge.

What I do is pull all the leaves off the lettuce and put them in the bags so I can just pull out 4 large or 8 small leaves each time. I put the baby carrots in one, the bell pepper I slice into 8 pieces and get the seeds out and then I can just pull them out as needed. I do the same with all the other veggies. Everything is still fresh until the last serving at the end of the week and nothing has ever been slimy!

 

[anwaflynurse]

That's what I have been using, the ziplock zipper bags. I even use a straw to suck the air out (saw that on food network!) but I am lucky if I get a full 5 days out of the lettuce and cilantro. I just had to throw a bunch away that are not even 5 days old, the lettuce turns brown and the cilantro gets black and mushy. I wonder if my fridge could be too cold?

 

[thebeachdreamer]

It's not the regular ziploc zipper bags, they are new and are called Fresh Extend for veggies. They breathe where the regular ziploc holds in all the moisture and turns them to mush!

 

[Silverbeat]

That's what I have been using, the ziplock zipper bags. I even use a straw to suck the air out (saw that on food network!) but I am lucky if I get a full 5 days out of the lettuce and cilantro. I just had to throw a bunch away that are not even 5 days old, the lettuce turns brown and the cilantro gets black and mushy. I wonder if my fridge could be too cold?

It's not that your refrigerator is too cold, it's that you're trapping too much moisture in with your greens. And it's better not to take the air out, that puts pressure on the greens plus they can't breathe and thus they ferment faster. That's why I use plastic bins and dry my greens very thoroughly before storing them.

 

[FlowersGrandma]

I found the Progressive Lettuce Keeper at Amazon for $11.95. It's a lot like the Tupperware so I am going to order a couple, much cheaper and they will fit in the back of the fridge and will give me more room in my piggie drawer. Thanks FlowersGrandma, good suggestion and worth a try. Did you get the lettuce or produce keeper? I compared sizes and the lettuce keeper is larger, so I am going to order 2 of those. I took Silverbeats advise and ordered a spinner. I am going to store some in the containers and some in regular tubs, will be interesting to compare the two.
How does everyone store things like beets and yams? My aunt said to cut the beets and store them in water, and I have no idea how to store the yam. I have been peeling it and keeping it in a zip lock, cutting pieces off every couple of days, but it gets slimy after 3-4 days?!

I got the lettuce keepers, because that is all they had. Wish I could have gotten a berry keeper, but the lettuce keeper does great. I keep one on open, and only use it for the veggies that have to be open (it tells on the keeper) and one for closed and then I use the third one for berries, like grapes. My guys wouldn't eat beets, haven't tried yams.
My daughter loves salads and so do I and I find having the salad stuff all ready to go means we eat more, plus it's easy on her to fix for the pigs. They are currently munching away on romaine, carrot, cucumber and a bell pepper behind me.

 

[FlowersGrandma]

That's what I have been using, the ziplock zipper bags. I even use a straw to suck the air out (saw that on food network!) but I am lucky if I get a full 5 days out of the lettuce and cilantro. I just had to throw a bunch away that are not even 5 days old, the lettuce turns brown and the cilantro gets black and mushy. I wonder if my fridge could be too cold?

I have that same problem if I leave the lettuce in the bag it is shipped in. I do think the problem is that it lays together and can't breathe and once one piece started going bad, it affected the whole bag. One thing I do try and do especially if I am using the prebagged lettuce (which I have been lately because it's by one get one free) is check and see if I see any brown pieces and remove them as quickly as possible. One thing I like about the Progressive Lettuce Keeper is it allows air to flow around the food and it doesn't smash the lettuce together. I fluff the lettuce whenever I get some out to feed the piggies or to feed me. If I am buying the leaf lettuce, I just lay it in there whole and only cut off one piece at a time for my salad or the pigs.
Around here, I am lucky it stays around 5 whole days. lol I do try and only purchase a few days worth as well. That way we all are getting the freshest food available. In the summer with the garden that wasn't always easy to do because it would come in spurts.

 

[Sirene]

I've got those Produce Saver containers from Rubbermaid, which work really well. I keep odd bits of cut pepper, sweet potato, celery leaves, cilantro, cucumber, etc, in them - basically any part of a veggie that I want to save for the pigs for a few days - and I'd say most things last about a week in them. They have vents in the lid and a raised insert that keeps the veggies dry and stops them going slimy. They work really well and are fairly cheap as these things go. I've just found this set on Amazon for $9.99 and am tempted to add it to my collection, as the 14 cup container is BIG!

(broken link removed)

 

[anwaflynurse]

I got my Progressive lettuce keepers in the mail the other day. Yea! I love it! I also ordered the Progressive salad spinner to dry the lettuce before I put it in the keeper. Not sure if it is the spinner or the keeper, but what a difference! The lettuce looks so much fresher, not so limp. I have 2 keepers and it is not enough! 2-3 kinds of lettuce in one, cilantro, gr. peppers and parsley in another. I am going to look at the Rubbermaid ones just because the Progressive keepers are so large. I just need a couple of smaller ones for the misc. veggies. Thanks Everyone for the advise!

 

[Shurrim]

Since I've read Silverbeat's advice, I'm using the plastic tubs of the pre mixed salad I'm buying. Wow what a difference!!
I can keep veggies all week!
Even the cilantro!

 

[loveurpetalways]

I just read through this whole thread and love all the suggestions. Today I went to cut my piggies some veggies and ALOT of the veggies had to be thrown out
I've been sick for the last couple days so I was unable to cut up any veggies and serve them to the piggies, so I went to go cut them up today (because I'm feeling better) and they were mushy and soggy and, well rather disgusting.
I'm going to be purchasing the Rubbermaid produce containers (the 8 piece set), that way I can store everything in our fridge downstairs and not have to go up and down the stairs everytime I want to cut up some veggies.
Thanks everyone, I know I didn't start this thread, but thanks to the person that did. It was very helpful.
I was even going to start a thread about suggestions for storing veggies, so I'm glad I tumbled upon this one!

 

[Geekerbell]

I am so glad I found this thread! Thank you all for your suggestions!

 

[anwaflynurse]

Just an update: I have been using both the Progressive Lettuce Keeper and the Rubbermaid Produce Savers along with my Salad Spinner. HUGE difference! I now wash and spin dry all the veggies. I follow the instructions on the Progressive Lettuce Keeper as far as vent open/closed and water/no water for the Progressive and Rubbermaid systems. I am able to now use up all my produce without it going bad. I obviously try to not buy more than a week of some items (cilantro and lettuce) but other items have surprisingly lasted a lot longer than I expected. With the Progressive system, depending on what food you are storing, you have the option of closing or opening the vent for optimal food storage. But with the Rubbermaid system, the vents are always open. If recommended per my Progressive system, I just add a little water to the bottom of the Rubbermaid containers and they seem to work as well as the Progressive system. I personally like using the containers vs the plastic food storage bags. Everything stacks so nice and I can easily locate what I need. Hopes this helps.

 

[Barney&Fred]

Are opnion is buy less amount of veggies even if you have go often to the market. This way you don't waste veggies, the veggies we buy, we don't waste nothing, they eat all. We guess this is the best way to save money and veggies.

 

[Barney&Fred]

Just a question, you give them lettuce? And they don't get diarrhea?

 

[cam767]

Just a question, you give them lettuce? And they don't get diarrhea?

Lettuce is a big part of their veggie diet. You don't want to feed Iceburg lettuce (the round heads). Not sure if it's the same name in Brazil? Here's what NOT to feed.
Google Image Result for https://www.surviveandthrivesupply.com/images/Iceberg%20lettuce.jpg

I wonder if my friend is home...I could call him and ask. Of course he would think I'm nuts. Anyways, I digress... You can feed red leaf lettuce, green leaf, romaine, butterhead, etc. They may be called something different over there.
Here is red leaf:
red leaf lettuce - Google Search

RomaineGoogle Image Result for https://www.nbafoodadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/romaine-lettuce-300x449.jpg

Butterhead
Google Image Result for https://www.growingwashington.org/farm_store/images/butterhead.jpg

Hope that helps some.