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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Long-Term Produce Storage...Kind of...

A few weeks ago I posted about growing green onions on your windowsill and I am still doing this, and the onions are growing for the 3rd time since cutting.  I was seriously so excited when I found that it worked.  Well, this week I found a new tip that I wanted to share.  It is a way to preserve your celery and have it last at least 4 weeks.  

Photo of wrapped celery from 3monthspreparation.blogspot.com
If you wrap your celery in tin foil before placing it in the fridge it will last for weeks, and  it will still be fresh and crisp when you pull it out!!  This is where I learned this from.  Crystal Young, the blogger I learned this from, also stored broccoli for weeks wrapped in tin foil, and heads of lettuce too!!!

Crystal is a Christian mother of 10 and she decided to feed her family from her food storage for 3 months without going to the grocery store.  They didn't go to the store (except for more baby formula and her husband's deodorant) and she cooked all her meals and snacks from scratch.  She also blogged about her success' and failures at 3monthspreparation.blogspot.comI sat and read through her 90 day challenge for 2 hours last night.  I was inspired by her words and motivated by her skills!!  Crystal has such wisdom and faith and sees God's hand in all she does for her family.  I strive to have the faith of someone like her.  

There are so many ways to save money and to live frugally and I am still learning everyday.  I get so excited to learn a new trick and I hope you find them useful too!!

Update:  After 2 months of growing the same green onion bulbs they seemed to stop producing.  I started with new bulbs and they are shooting right up.  I'll keep track of how long the next batch lasts. 

28 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the tips for extending the freshness of celery, broccoli, and lettuce. I'll have to give it a go. :)

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  2. Do you place the celery or lettuce in a plastic bag first or just the foil? thanks, Loretta

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    1. I have read about people doing it both ways, but I just wrap the plain celery in the foil.

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    2. Do you wash it first, or take straight from the bag and put it in foil?

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  3. Is the celery cut in pieces or still attached at the bottom?

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    1. It is still attached, just like it comes from the store. I just rinse and shake dry and wrap tightly in the foil. When you use the celery for cooking and all you have left is the bottom piece, plant it in your garden. I soak the bottom in a little water until it starts to sprout new growth and then I plant it in the garden.

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  4. Thank you for your kind review. The challenge to stay out of grocery stores was a learning experience. The celery didn't last over 6-7 weeks but it was delicious while we had it. I am excited to try growing green onions indoors (especially in the winter in north America.)

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  5. if you plant your spring onions in the garden they will continue to grow

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  6. I love the onion thing! As for keeping food longer, I would love to but not at the compromise of the nutritional value of the food. We try and cut our food budget by eating for nutrition not for fun. But I would welcome tips to help the life span of produce without adding aluminum to my food. Same goes for how to cut my grocery bill with out having to buy processed food. Any ideas?

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    1. My suggestion is to buy in bulk and cook and bake from scratch as much as possible. I always try to imitate the processed stuff at home with real food. We love granola bars, fruit leather, ravioli, etc and we make it from scratch. It may seem to take longer at first, but it will get easier to make recipes from scratch the more times you make them. It you have friends or neighbors with gardens/fruit trees, ask them for their extra bounty. Trade your bounty with friends who have chickens. There are many ways to be creative with your budget.

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  7. Wow, no more throwing my celery and money away!!!!Thank you for the great tip.

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  8. Such a great tip about celery. I've tried the onion thing for a few times too.

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    1. My 4 year old has the job of cutting the green onions for dinner. She loves to help water and take care of them while they grow. I am glad it worked for you too!!

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  9. Hate too sound like a "home ec teacher" but its aluminum foil not tin foil, biggest pet peeve from my years in the classroom.

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    1. Everywhere in the world except the self-centered US and Canada.. it's called alumin*i*um, so if you want to correct the terminology, at least correct them to the globally accepted version. ;) I'll just keep calling it Reynold's Wrap.. even if it's the generic brand. :D

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  10. who cares if aluminum or tin foil we all know what she means1notthe classroomand a common folk way of saying the same thing!

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  11. Tried the celery thing- wrapped it in foil- a week later I went to use it and it was soggy and had some ice forming around the stalks. It was fresh when I wrapped it- anything I could have done wrong?

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    1. With produce it could be a lot of things. I am sorry I don't know what it could be.

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  12. It could be a problem with your refrigerator. I know mine freezes things in the crisper at times.
    To the person who didn't want to sound like a home ec teacher - the correct spelling in the English language is not aluminum, it's aluminium.(Al-um-in-ee-um)

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  13. i do this with lettuce and broccoli etc etc {anything vegetable} .. the trick to it, is making sure the vegetable is covered, with nothing exposed, no holes or tears in the foil.
    PS: THIS IS ALSO WORKS FOR CHEESE!! wrap you cheese in foil also, making sure you have no tears or holes. It will last for weeks!! {use what you want and cover food again making sure to cover the holes or tears that you might make while UN- wrapping goods}

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  14. Cheese will grow mold where your fingers touch it.

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    1. You can wipe the cheese off with cheese cloth moistened with a little vinegar. The acid will stop the mold.

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  15. Thank you so much for sharing these super useful storage tips. Our chives have always been wet and unappetizing whenever we take them out for usage. Even though they taste not too bad after being cooked in dishes, I think they would taste even better if taken out fresh from the fridge. I will get the tin foils tonight and try the method on whatever is still left in the greens section of the fridge. Hope it is not too late!

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