Suggestions for Success (with your CSA and other produce)

by Gwen Charles

Planning

Keep favorite recipes on hand:
Take out your favorite recipes- make a list with your family to post on your fridge. Add an extra veggie to the recipe.

Make a weekly or bi-weekly menu: When you receive your box of produce, sit down and make up a quick menu using the foods that are there. Make a shopping list of items that you may need to pick up to complete the recipe. See if you can make more than one serving of a recipe for lunch the next day or to freeze for another night when needed.

Use everything!

Cook the whole veggie: Cut up and cook the stems and greens of veggies as well. Broccoli stems, turnip greens can all be cooked like any other green. Or save for soup stock. Cut up and place in freezer bags!

Freeze: You can cut and freeze veggies for use later. If you do not see yourself eating a fruit or veggie with in three days of being ripe, cut it up and freeze it. Mark the bag with the contents. Use small freezer Ziploc bags or freezable containers so that you can use the items for individual recipes. Please do not freeze glass containers unless they are tempered for freezer use.

Dry: Fruit and Vegetable are great to dry and keep in your cabinet for winter. Dehydrators are a great tool – they range in price from $40 – 200 depending on options but most basic models at chains stores like Target are about $60. You can use your oven but it takes more energy and heat. Place cut veggies on a cookie sheet and put oven on lowest setting for 12-24 hours until items are dry.

Storage

Fridge: Keep your fridge clean and organized: Clean your fridge out so you have space. Think about investing in some storage containers. Or reuse jars or food containers that have been washed out. The best space saving and veggie saving option is to cut up all your veggies, especially leafy green and put them in Ziploc bags or containers ready to use any day.


Supplies to have on hand:

Good knife, Cutting board, Freezer Ziploc bags, Permanent marker, Storage containers “Rubbermaid” or “Tupper ware”, Freezable Storage containers. Restaurant supply stores often have inexpensive containers in bulk if needed.

Fresh organic produce requires more care to maintain freshness, especially in warmer temperatures. These sensible storage techniques should safeguard your bounty of nutrition. Have plenty of Ziploc bags and containers with tops available for storage.



Storage Hints for Organic Produce

Berries and Cherries: Best kept covered in the refrigerator. Do not wash until you use them - too much moisture in the package speeds spoilage. Use within 2 - 3 days. Same for cranberries, but they can be stored for a week. Freeze if you will not eat right away.

Apples: Best kept in the refrigerator loose - they need to breathe to stay crisp. Use within 1 month.

Eggplants, Mature onions, Winter squash, Rutabagas, and Sweet Potatoes:
Best kept moderately cool (no lower than 50 degrees).

Potatoes: A cool, dry place is best. Use within a few weeks, but they'll keep almost a month.

Apricots, Peaches, Pears, Nectarines and Melons: Best ripened BEFORE refrigeration.
Use within 3-5 days, except melons, which should be used ASAP after ripening.
Can be frozen after ripening and cut up.

Keep Tomatoes uncovered and Green Beans and Lima Beans in their pods, or, if not in their pods, in plastic. They'll last 3 - 5 days in the refrigerator

Keep Corn in its husk in the refrigerator. Eat ASAP because the sugar quickly turns into starch, causing it to lose flavor.

Carrots, Radishes, Turnips, Beets, and Parsnips: should be stored in plastic once the leafy tops are removed. They will last two weeks in the refrigerator.
Most other fresh vegetables store well in the crisper, but usually need plastic to avoid dehydration.

Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Scallions and Summer Squash: will last 3-5 days in plastic bags in the crisper.

Spinach, Kale, Chard and Collards: have the same crisper life.
Chard and spinach is a bit more delicate. Eat Chard and Spinach first.

Lettuce, Salad Greens, Peppers and Cucumbers: should be washed and stored in the crisper.

Cauliflower, Celery, and Snap Peas: do not have to be washed. Use within a week.

Cabbage: has a long refrigerator life, up to four weeks, or longer.

Comments

[SavvyDecorator]

Wow, this is such comprehensive information! Thanks for sharing it. I'll be sure to look around this helpful, progressive blog some more (particularly skin care tips, yay!). Also love the Earthday countdown. =)