A mum and food blogger claims washing every item of fruit and veg after she’s bought it increases its shelf life and has shared exactly how she goes about the process
A savvy mum says her unusual food shop hack will save you heaps of time and money in the long run.
If you hate the thought of having to go to the supermarket every week or sitting down to order your food haul online fills you with dread, you may want to follow in the footsteps of one mum who claims she’s come up with the perfect way to make your groceries last longer.
Stocking up on fruit and veg each week comes with its disadvantages because if you don’t use it all quickly enough, it will go off and you’ll end up having to ditch it. As the cost of food remains high during the cost of living crisis, we all need to do what we can to reduce waste, save money and look after the planet, so one food blogger has shared her top tip for doing just that.
Amy Cross, 47, says she has dramatically reduced the amount of food shops she has to do by simply washing her fruit and veg once she’s bought it. “I only go grocery shopping once every three weeks,” Amy, from Washington, US, said. “By washing and storing my produce, it stays fresh the entire time and we have no food waste.”
She shared her method in a clip on Instagram with her 120,000 followers, which showed exactly how she prepares and stores fruits and veggies to give them the best longevity. Everything from berries and lettuce to potatoes and peppers are included, and she says the process takes 40 minutes.
Amy starts by spending half an hour washing the produce using bowls and a salad spinner. She uses a timer set to two minutes to ensure she doesn’t over-soak the fresh food, while multi-tasking to wash different items at a time.
Starting with the carrots, she rinses them in tap water with vinegar and rubs them to remove any stubborn dirt. For lemons and avocados, she removes the stickers and puts them in a bowl of water to rinse.
Next she washes and chops celery tops to freeze for stocks, and adds the celery stalks to a pot of water and vinegar. Peppers, lettuce, cucumbers and potatoes are similarly rinsed individually. Herbs are also bathed before going in the salad spinner to dry, alongside salad leaves and lettuce.
Amy has a particular tip when it comes to onions and says she “listens” to hear if the skin sounds “crinkly”. This indicates that they are getting dehydrated, in which case she will use them first. For spring onions, she recommends placing them root-down in a jar of water and keeping them on your kitchen side.
Berries and grapes are soaked in water and vinegar, and tossed so all sides are cleaned. After initially rinsing the strawberries, she shows how dirty the water is, calling it “absolutely disgusting”.
After washing everything, she leaves the produce out to dry for 2-3 hours on the kitchen counter on tea towels, before spending a further 10 minutes storing them in glass jars, which she says helps them last longer.
Although it takes the mum 40 minutes to carry out her method post-shop, she says it’s well worth it. “This time spent after shopping allows me to know that I have produce that lasts for several weeks,” she explained.
“Having no produce waste saves me so much money on groceries. If I’m only going grocery shopping once every three or so weeks, that does not seem like a waste of time to me at all.
“I am overall saving so much time doing the food prep. All of those quick trips to the store in the past add up with wasted time and money, now with inflation being so high it is even more important to be able to use the items that we buy.”
What do you think of Amy’s method? Let us know in the comments below.
