How to Keep Vegetables Fresh and Long Lasting?

Keep vegetables fresh at home with simple tips

Nothing tastes better than fresh vegetables! Did you know adding just one fresh farm produce crop to your food makes a difference to your health and one extra serving can make your life much longer and healthier? Learn how to a prolong the life by keeping your veggies fresh at home by reading this article.

Read Also: 10 Best Herbs to Grow at Home

Why should you keep your vegetables fresh at home?

Safekeeping and eating fresh vegetables can give you a good physical condition and it is important to our daily lives to be healthy. Especially, for those who have a healthy diet routine and who exceptionally love to cook a healthy recipe in their kitchen. It provides full essential nutrients to be healthy where it gives benefits to our body including a good condition on the blood pressure, has a positive effect on blood sugar, lowers the risk of sickness, and protects our whole well-being against various diseases.

In the midst of the current pandemic, it’s crucial to stay physically healthy to have strong immunity and stamina to fight against Covid 19. Recent reports show that most people who have a low immune system or pre-existing medical conditions contribute the highest fatality rate percentage of the cases. Thus, eating fresh and healthy food is a must.

Having fresh vegetables to eat not just only benefits the internal organs of the body but also the physical appearance which provides valuable skin protection that makes your skin healthy and naturally fresh. You should eat as many as many varieties of vegetables to achieve that young-looking skin that will make you glow every day!

Generally, we can only buy fresh vegetables from the market that may last up to two days of consumption before it gets withered or gets rotten. While most people prefer buying in the market to save cost, others still choose to purchase vegetables in grocery stores to ensure their quality and freshness.

However, some people would tend to ask themselves how to keep their veggies fresh in their inventories without consuming them within the day. Most people still have a prejudice that storing and preserving the freshness of vegetables may not sound so budget-friendly. So, here are the simple ways that will help you to keep your veggies fresh in the long term and you are not wasting to spend your money in a short period of time.

Ways keep your vegetable fresh and long-lasting:

1. Clean the Vegetables

After buying the vegetables from the market, you need to make sure that you wash the vegetables thoroughly by dipping them for sufficient time in the water to remove some dust, dirt, and germs. The rinsing of the vegetables with water must be done by lightly rubbing them with your bare hands. Also, water can help the vegetables to stay fresh because it contains minerals that are absorbed by the vegetables to last longer.

It is very important to always wash the vegetables for safety and cleanliness purposes before eating. Most likely on leafy vegetables like lettuce and cabbage that has a bear leafy surrounds. Cutting is one of the best ways to wash it up in the water and dry it using a salad spinner or even a strainer will do. Then you can use a paper towel just or a clean cloth to make sure to make it dry and afterward you can bag it.

2. Store the Vegetables Properly

Once you’re done washing the vegetables, you must dry them using a towel to get rid of excess dirt that was not washed away by rinsing before storing them and chilling them in the fridge. One smart way of keeping the freshness of the vegetables before putting them in the refrigerator is to put them in a plastic container or any kind of container that has a cover to seal your vegetables safe, try to put a piece of cloth, or a hand towel on the base of the container to absorb the moisture from the veggies. You can also individually wrap them using newspapers, paper bags, or kitchen towels so that the air could not pass through. Thus, this will help you more easily to organize your stocks in your fridge and to ensure your vegetable’s freshness.

There are some vegetables that can be consumed last longer without the need of using a refrigerator in our home. The list of veggies that will last long without refrigeration are cabbages, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, asparagus, and cauliflower. On the other hand, some vegetables that get easily rotten are bell peppers, mushrooms, herbs, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, corn, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, and the like. You can store them by sealing them with paper bags, plastic foil, or a cling wrap before putting them in the baskets. Those vegetables mentioned can survive long-standing conditions on the kitchen table.

Storing in long term are depending on the classification of a vegetable and the external conditions in the area. Temperature also has a big role when it comes to preserving and maintaining food quality. Extreme hot and cold temperatures may rotten the vegetables fast. Being responsible in storing your vegetables in the kitchen and maintaining its cleanliness in the right manner can influence you and others on how to be prudent in spending your money wisely by making sure no food goes to waste. The right and proper storage of vegetables can help you in the daily basis planning of your kitchen and healthy routine recipes.

Read Also: Parents’ Guide to Feeding Picky Eaters

Keeping your vegetables clean and fresh always makes your food more colorful and delightful to eat. Nothing is more special than preparing food for your loved ones made with the best and fresh vegetable ingredients you store yourself in your kitchen. The more colorful and fresh the food is, the more it’s packed with valuable nutrients. So the next time you buy some vegetables from the market, remember to keep them clean and store them properly for their last long freshness.  Let us celebrate a healthier tomorrow by eating fresh vegetables and keeping our lives green. Have a little bit of every color each and every day. Just always remember that color always means health, the deeper and richer the color to eat can provide more minerals and vitamins give out in the food to make your life healthier. Long live freshness!

Written By Mark Oliver G. Pagunsan