Question for the eat at home experts. I bought a bag of lettuce (just the bagged kind you find in the vegetable section). Got home, washed it that night (just ran it under water), let it air dry, put it in a baggie with a paper towel. And two days later it was brown. What did I do wrong? What can I do different? I want to start eating at home more to save money, and I want to try to eat healthy. DW doesn't eat any kind of veggies or fruits, so I have to make stuff I get last a bit. But 2 days? Just curious what I could've done differently. Any help?
Good for you! It'Il take a little bit but you'll get the hang of it.
Rinse leaved veggies right before using it, the lettuce keeps better in a bag and once you open the bag there is a countdown. Although you didn't ask, in my experience the bagged leaves lettuce that last longest are butter leaf, arugula and spinach. The arugula is a bit peppery it is nice in a salad with heavier cheeses, hardboiled eggs and any other veggies or even cut apples or strawberries. The spinach is lovely as a salad, but is versatile in an omelette or sauted with a bit of oil and garlic for a side dish with protein or anywhere else you'd use greens like in a sandwich. I love the spring mix but one leaf in there goes to mush really fast and spoils it all. The absolute longest lasting lettuce is the sort that comes in a plastic box with little roots, if you put water in the bottom and you will get a really long time out of it and virtually no food waste at all, it can be kept on the counter or in the fridge for your next BLT.
If you are starting to use veggies, leftover veggies and things like ends of onions, bits of random spices and carrot peel are put aside in a bag in the freezer for chicken soup and I also put aside chicken bones from roast chickens from the supermarket. When I want soup it can go in the slow cooker with water and later strained, later I add some store broth, fresh carrots and cut celery for a second boil then make some rice or pasta with some new roast chicken. Soup is the catch all for veggies to reduce waste. Keep sour cream and Lipton Onion Soup mix on hand for a quick dip for fresh veggies.
For fruits, the catch all is a smoothie. I always have bananas and once bananas start to ripen you can put them in the fridge for a few extra days, they will get black from the cold this does not mean they are bad & once ripe they can be peeled dropped into a ziplock and go into the freezer and later popped in a blender with yogurt, some milk and any other fruits you have that are ripe for a smoothie - we do this nearly every day. Frozen sliced bananas are an outstanding treat instead of icecream, slice and freeze flat. Also plain frozen cherries are an incredible healthy opinion a they taste a lot like sorbet, lots of people like to munch mangos too.
Check out the Goya section for bags of Lentils, Split Pea and even Black Beans because they have quick and easy recipes for soups on the bags and the black bean one is fantastic on top of rice to go with chicken.
