When In Doubt, Throw It Out!
17Have you ever dug deep into the bread bag to find a slice without mold? Sliced cheese just deep enough to potentially avoid the spores? Cut the brown spots out of your apple? Or had almond milk passed the ‘Best By’ date?
As a NutriBlaster, you’re probably fully aware that FRESH IS BEST. You also know the importance of getting in a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and boosts. However, you may be overwhelmed by the frequency of trips you’re taking to the grocery store, because you just cannot figure out how to keep your produce nutritious and fresh long enough and you hate to waste money by throwing it out if it is still edible. Fresh foods are confusing enough, but what about those pesky “sell by,” “use by,” and “best by” stickers that are slapped on packaged items? When do we know if our food is still good or even safe to eat?
My best advice is, “When in doubt, throw it out!” But let’s find a way to delay spoilage in order to maximize nutrients. I’ll start with the base of your NutriBlasts, fruits and veggies, and next week I’ll touch on packaged products.
- Shop at the Farmer’s Market. You can’t get any fresher than this unless you grow your own food. Look for a market in your area. Click here to see if one is located near you. Most often, the produce sold here has been picked 24-48 hours beforehand, which means it has a longer life than conventional items in the grocery store that have traveled for days and for hundreds of miles.
- Be picky; touch, prod and squeeze! Look for fruits and veggies that are free of blemishes, bruises and visible damage. Determine when you’ll use it by to judge how ripe it should be when you purchase it.
- Store it right. High humidity crispers are for leafy greens and herbs, while low humidity should be used for harder fruits and veggies like apples. Carrots gone limp? Loss of moisture in some root veggies results from lack of humidity. After peeling flabby carrots to remove any surface bacteria, place them in ice water for several hours to reabsorb lost moisture and crisp up. Cold water also helps keep fresh herbs for up to two weeks.
- Once sliced, store safely. Keep cut fruits and veggies covered and refrigerated.
Your produce will take better care of you when you take better care of it!
-Krista Haynes
You rock the information as usual, Krista. Good stuff!
How do I wash organic greens? I am not wanting to put chlorine on my organic greens by washing them with sink water.
I ran across a nice combo that i use to kill bacteria, its a part of vinegar, a part of hydrogien peroxide, and I add a few drops of dish soap in a spray container I keep under my sink, spray the item let it set for a minute then rinse with water but of course your concerned about chlorine so you might consider investing in a sink purifier like britta, pur or one of those types.
Oh I do wash all my fruits and veggies – have for years but I use antibacterial Dawn and rinse them all extremely well – course those are the ones that I keep in the refrig or on the counter in a big bowl. I only rinse off the berries that I freeze when I am ready to use – I never wash and fruit or meats before freezing – as it is not just a good idea.
As far as cooking you are mistaken – it may be an art to some extent but there are so many simple and easy recipes out there – I can cook what appears to be a gourmet meal and it may have only taken me 30 mins to prepare and serve. You are definitely missing out unless yr are a vegetarian but if you eat fish that is the easiest to cook – I have a recipe that only takes 3 mins on one side and 4 mins on the other for salmon filets (wild not farmed) and you only need olive oil, lemon juice and cooking white and some lemon/pepper seasoning. Simple and healthy
and you can cook spinach or kale or swiss chard or even spring mix with the same above ingredients and it shrinks down to nothing in approx 5-7 mins (actually a sin when you see that you can fill an entire pan on the stove where it is overflowing – put on the cover and the next thing you see is just enough to serve two people- but then again it is healthy and there is a certain price to pay for something you want bad enough – right ?
We are fortunate to have a local Farmers market that has everything certified locally grown, so I usually buy what I need for the week only. And what they dont have I go to the local market and buy organic for that week, this way
I know I will use it that week, better to run out and buy more than to let it set I say.
I will buy a large bunch of spinach and then freeze half of it. Same with fruits especially in the winter time, Im using organic frozen blueberries, raspberries and mango. IS there much loss of the good stuff when you freeze it?
While there is some initial nutrient loss with the first steps in the freezing process – washing, peeling, and heat-based blanching (done for vegetables, but usually not fruits) — the low temperature of freezing keeps the produce good for up to a year on average. Once you thaw and eat, you get the majority of the food’s original nutritional value. Be assured, if you love blueberries and all of their health benefits, for example, the frozen version is just as good as the fresh. And depending on how you cook or prepare the food, it may taste quite similar to its fresh counterpart.
Beautifully worded Troy! Thank you.
Always happy to add my 2 cents glad you enjoy the comments thats what we are all here for to help and share ideas for better health.
Yes I wish there was more frozen fruits and veggies
Great comment Krista you are doing a wonderful job helping others I see your passion for great health it shows and everyone here will benifit from you… keep up the great post we all need them and the motivation as well…
Thank you very much for the kind words Troy! My hope is to make that passion for health infectious
When I buy fresh fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries – as well as fresh herbs such as mint, parsley – I put them all in their own plastic containers and label them and put them in the freezer – when I go to pick out a fruit I get out my little hand strainer and rinse them off under cold water and let them sit while I wash and cut my greens. I have also purchased at my local fruit market (where I go most of the time) and have gotten cut up pineapple in containers – I buy 2 at a time and keep one in the refrig and the other in the freezer – when ready for the 2nd one I take it and just place it in the refrig. No wasted fruits in my house and I go thru the greens so fast as I drink my Nutriullet for breakfast and lunch and then have a healthy dinner in which I sautee one the the greens so I am getting plenty – I am Type II Diabetic so when I make my drinks I am basically doing 70% green and 30% fruit if even 80% and 20% as heavy duty steriods (lung disease) have srewed up my sugars which I normally controlled with diet alone.
Sounds like you have a great system Connie! I agree, it is hard to keep greens in the house when Blasting all the time. Not a bad problem to have!
I have found that using the green storage containers from Debbie Meyer helps my fruits and vegetables last much longer…
Good idea Troy – just this a.m. I cut up two huge cantaloupes I purchased for $0.99 each at the local market – cut them both up and put them in my Zip Lock plastic containers as well as papaya but I use both of them very often. As I said b4 my berries are all in the freezer just waiting to be rinsed and used. I have found so far that I leave my greens in either the plastic containers them come – if I buy in bulk from Costco I save the smaller plastic containers from the farm market and then I keep a smaller container in my kitchen refrig and let the rest stay in the huge plastic bag from the store and let the air keep them fresh or the huge plastic container from Costco and keep them both in the smaller apartment size refrig (frm my apt in the 80′s – nice gold color lol) I have in my laundry room. Either way, nothing goes to waste as I use all the greens 3 times a day – 2 drinks and sauteed for dinner as a side dish with either chicken, turkey or lamb loin chops – great recipe for them and tasty even if you don’t like lamb – heat up a alum or cast iron griddle on yr stove top – spray with Pam or any store brand olive oil and get it nice and hot – in a small bowl mix some fresh parsley,minced garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Brush or rub with yr hands one side of the loin chops and place basted side down on griddle – if thick 3-4 mins per side – if thin 2-3 mins – repeat basting the other side while the bottom is cooking – as a side dish I cut up zucchini legnth wise and in half and thru them in a plastic bag and added some olive oil and garlic and cook them on the other half of the hot griddle – it was easy and delicious that even my husband who actually refused at first to even eat the lamb as his mother use to cook it and the house would stink but as I explained to him her only cooking spices were salt and pepper and I have a two tier swivel thing-a-ma-jig whiich is packed and I believe the lemon juice is what takes away any aroma of the cooking lamb – and these were loin chops and not the whole leg like she made with mint jelly as a side dish – sorry but this Italian girl can cook if I don’t mind sayng so myself – lol
Cooking is an art and thats something I dont like doing thats why the nutri bullet is my first choice as I can whip up some serious meals much faster without microwave and cooking the vital nutrients out of them. Make sure you are cleaning your fruits and vegetables good with either baking soda or vinegar to get rid of the microorganisms..God Bless.