How do you keep your fruits and veggies fresh as long as possible?

caribmike

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Jul 9, 2009
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Green Tuesday here, offers there. Tons of them in Santo Domingo.

You buy a load of fruits and veggies b/c they are on offer and before you can eat all of it they turn yuck and waste.

So how do you keep them fresh as long as possible?
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Leave them on the tree longer...Pick and eat, when possible

Seriously ( although that was serious) leaving the dirt on until final cleaning prep is a good idea - fresher longer.
Dirty carrots stay fresh longer than clean ones --- old farmer taught me that in SWestern Ontario.

Store bought veggies are already cleaned.... too late
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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depends on what it is. i store most in the fridge. some stuff would be better off peeled, cut into small pieces and put in plastic containers. easy storage and easy eating. surplus, peeled and cubed, can go to the freezer (good for smoothies). fresh herbs are best put in a glass jar with a bit of water in the bottom. they will keep a long time.
 

AlterEgo

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If you have a big enough refrigerator, that's the best answer. Fruits and veggies left in a bowl, a bag, etc., on the counter will rot in a couple of days. We keep things like platanos, batatas, onions, potatoes unbagged in plastic bin under the kitchen sink area [in the dark/cabinet].

I've also cleaned, cut up and frozen fruits when there are a lot of them [i.e. mango season]. Most of them are great later when blended with water or milk.

Instead of leaving all the things we use for seasoning [onion, garlic, cilantro, peppers, etc.] as is, we blend it all up [with water and a bit of vinegar] in the licuadora and freeze it in plastic containers. Gets it out of the fridge and it keeps a long time.

Vegetables like cauliflower and carrots will last longer than eggplant or cucumbers.
 

HUG

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Feb 3, 2009
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Ideally you have the vegiman that comes direct from the market past your house every day, but still then they never have everything you want.
Peppers are always best left lying cork down on a tray of soil on your windowsill. Carrots kept in a dark place wrapped in newspaper, brown paper bag, not the fridge (they will appear to keep longer but as soon as they hit room temperature the will turn to rubber, or if for a long time, dissolve which is a sign you don't eat enough carrots, lol). If you keep your garlic with your potatoes and onions and carrots that helps stop them reroot, go soft/bad whatever. Garlic is is a great, not preserver but it holds natural qualities towards other vegi's. But your garlic will be no use in the fridge it needs to be room temperature.
 

caribmike

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Jul 9, 2009
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"some stuff would be better off peeled, cut into small pieces and put in plastic containers"

Yep, we do this a lot but yet even in the fridge lechosas, water melon, honey melon just last a couple days :(
 

dv8

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i can't speak of lechosa, as it smells, looks and tastes like a gym sock and has no room in my heart. but we buy huge watermelons and pineapples. peel, cut, take out the seeds (watermelon), put in plastic containers. it will last about a week. and if i have it ready-to-serve i am more likely to eat it. speaking of: watermelon, pineapple, juice from one lime, few ice cubes; throw inna blender, give it a good zip. refreshing, sweet, delish.
 

william webster

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i can't speak of lechosa, as it smells, looks and tastes like a gym sock and has no room in my heart. but we buy huge watermelons and pineapples. peel, cut, take out the seeds (watermelon), put in plastic containers. it will last about a week. and if i have it ready-to-serve i am more likely to eat it. speaking of: watermelon, pineapple, juice from one lime, few ice cubes; throw inna blender, give it a good zip. refreshing, sweet, delish.

there's a business, seedless watermelons like we have in NoAmerica.

Question,
where do we get the seeds to start a seedless watermelon patch ???

I'm all over it..... like my cold water invention.........
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Don't even waste your time with bananas from La Sirena, they barely last until I drive home. I buy them with little or no marks on them, when I get home they look like they have been through a war.

Bravo's bananas last 2-3 days and still look good "usually", but sometimes even their bananas get mushy fast.

La Sirena's bananas are the undefeated champs for going mushy/yukky.
(15 minutes from the store to the house).
 

ju10prd

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i can't speak of lechosa, as it smells, looks and tastes like a gym sock and has no room in my heart.

Surprising. Many women swear by it to ease those back pains and nausea you get monthly and especially when you reach a riper age. Better than chamomile tea I'm told.

It is one of those fruits you keep out of the fridge and prepare when it is really ripe......it keeps in the fridge too in plastic containers
 

caribmike

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"it keeps in the fridge too in plastic containers"

3 days max in my case and yes when opening it comes out a quite strange whiff :D
 

Eleutheria

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Surprising. Many women swear by it to ease those back pains and nausea you get monthly and especially when you reach a riper age. Better than chamomile tea I'm told.

It is one of those fruits you keep out of the fridge and prepare when it is really ripe......it keeps in the fridge too in plastic containers

Apparently, lechosa is a fruit that a certain percentage of people perceive as rotten-smelling. I am one of those people, to me it smells like puke, agh, gagging just thinking about it. Won't go anywhere near it. Others apparently perceive it as "perfume-y" I am told. I think there are also different varieties/strains of lechosa. I just stay the hell away from it.
 

ju10prd

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Apparently, lechosa is a fruit that a certain percentage of people perceive as rotten-smelling. I am one of those people, to me it smells like puke, agh, gagging just thinking about it. Won't go anywhere near it. Others apparently perceive it as "perfume-y" I am told. I think there are also different varieties/strains of lechosa. I just stay the hell away from it.

Understand.

Now if you came across Durian fruit that would freak you even more on smell ........but it is a super delicacy.......but Malaysia is the place for that.

My better half does not like the ripe lechosa (papaya) smell - but she now religiously eats it at certain times of the month, because she says it really works wonders.

Perhaps a wonderful green papaya salad thai style is the answer.........sharp, picante, bitter, and salty fishy.

As for the need to buy my fruit tomorrow on the special prices day.......I give that a miss......Super Polo on Sarasota is super crazy on Tuesdays and to save a few hundred pesos is too much hassle for me. I bought my fruit tonight. It is all super fresh for tomorrow before all the mangy paws get to it squeezing and testing. I got time in comfort to choose the best, especially the chinola which I adore raw.

I eat a full plate full of fruit, at least five or six fruits, daily.....and papaya adds a different texture to pineapple, mango, chinola banana and berries. No issues here keeping them....I eat them quick. I don't think melon keeps well but it is down low on my list.
 

dv8

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Surprising. Many women swear by it to ease those back pains and nausea you get monthly and especially when you reach a riper age. Better than chamomile tea I'm told.

i don't have uterus so i don't care about "certain times of the month". the fruit is vile.
 

AlterEgo

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Papaya/lechosa has a natural enzyme in it that is wonderful for digestion, stomach, intestines, etc. You can buy it in pill form, even chewable.
 

flyinroom

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For years I avoided papaya like the plague.
I am one of those who believed that it tasted like vomit.
A good buddy of mine said............Like what?
He showed me to squeeze fresh lime juice all over it, a little honey, and then proceed.
The acid cut through the vileness and the extra sweetness put the cherry on the sundae.
I was a convert.
Hallalujah.
Yum.
Burp.
 

dv8

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the taste is only a part of the problem. i am equally grossed by the texture. in the UK i ate a different kind of papaya, roughly avocado size, green on the outside, bright orange on the inside. consistency of avocado as well. that was nice. them huge, soft and mushy lechosas they have here are nasty.
 

flyinroom

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lol.
Texture has been an issue for me my entire life.
The old chew and chew, not be able to swallow and being stuck with the mass in your mouth. HELP!!!
Jello and cookies together........uh-uhh, no way. Yuck.
Ripe tomatos soaking into soft white bread sandwiches..................Eowwww.
Peas and their skins and their juice.
I could go on.
I won't.
 

ju10prd

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and..

Half cut and spooning out sharp natural chinola flesh and seeds to spark off your day....no wonder they call it passion fruit!!!