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Ingredients that die in your fridge


ruthcooks

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green onions is the number one. I buy 2-4 bunches at a time, because I use them an awful lot. They always get slimy and gunky in the crisper.

Tofu is another one. I always forget to change the water daily and it sits in yellowish greenish water and ew it smells so bad

BEARS, BEETS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
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Leafy greens and herbs are most at risk in my fridge. Living alone, my choice is between variety and wasting some of them. I find that washing them, then wrapping in towels and placing in a plastic bag improves their shelf life, but I still wind up throwing out too much.

As for carrots and celery, scallions, onion, fennel, and any other vegetable that one typically uses as a soup or sauce base, I saute them and store in plastic bags in the freezer til I make a soup or stew.

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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green onions is the number one.  I buy 2-4 bunches at a time, because I use them an awful lot.  They always get slimy and gunky in the crisper.

Ditto on the green onions. Why do they slime so rapidly? And, why do they migrate over the back of the drawer so when you notice "that smell" you discover some green liquid pile underneath the crisper?

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Ditto on the green onions.  Why do they slime so rapidly?  And, why do they migrate over the back of the drawer so when you notice "that smell" you discover some green liquid pile underneath the crisper?

Green onions!! I thought it was just me. They go to the bottom of the drawer and hide under anything bigger than they are to die.

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Lettuce and anything that rolls to the back of the crisper drawer. My fridge sits in a niche - seemed like a good idea, until I realized that I can't open the doors all the way, which means I can't open the drawers all the way . . .

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Cilantro and parsley are the main offenders in my fridge. I still throw out more of these herbs than I would want to.

I used to throw out lettuce until I discovered that lettuce can be sauteed like other greens (in olive oil, with garlic and S & P), and it's tasty. I saute lettuce when it's still fresh but beginning to turn brown, and not that appetizing for a salad. Lettuce gives off more water than other greens, so saute over high heat to evaporate the moisture.

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Definitely dairy products - especially milk. I don't drink the stuff so only buy it if a recipe calls for it. And then it's left to turn in the fridge. Same goes for sour cream. I never put in on things like baked potatoes, just use them in recipes (like sugar cookies), and then have leftover sour cream until I have to throw it out.

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Lettuce, however, rarely lasts beyond four or five days

Celery. I use ALMOST the whole bunch, but never seem to finish it off before it goes bad.

Lettuce, celery, or anything else with a stem like broccoli or fennel or bok choy can be kept by cutting the dried part off the stem and sitting the vegetable upright in a bowl/cup of water. Not saturated, just so there's enough water for it to drink. You have to keep them on the shelf in the main part of the fridge but at least you see them all the time so you'll use them. Ditto goes for fresh herbs.... just give the ends a haircut and put them in a cup of water. Keeps for weeks that way. Just retrim the ends whenever you use some.

green onions is the number one.  I buy 2-4 bunches at a time, because I use them an awful lot.  They always get slimy and gunky in the crisper.

That's because they're in the crisper....the moisture gets to them. Try keeping them on the shelf but keep them dry.

And somebody said tofu.... if you salt the water you can get away with changing it every few days rather than every day. The horrid stuff is screaming for salt anyways.. :wink:

Somebody else said carrots.... wash 'em and cut an "x" into the top (leaving the icky top part on) and keep them in a tupperware full of water.

For me it's bread.... can barely make it through 1/3 loaf before it's stale.

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For me it's bread.... can barely make it through 1/3 loaf before it's stale.

I agree. During the summer months, it's so hot that bread spoils quickly. So I have to keep bread in the refrigerator and after that, it's really only good for toast.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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But some foods that regularly make it in to my shopping cart are much more likely to languish than others. Cucumbers get slippery, lemons get moldy, feta cheese becomes of questionable age.

Ditto celery, lettuce, cilantro, green onions. Anything that I have to buy a bunch of in order to use a little. Half cucumbers and half bunches of green onions seem to be always sliming away. Also half cartons of cream cheese or sour cream. And any kind of fresh herb usually ends up going bad before I get back to it after using the teaspoon or so that was called for in my recipe. Even if I freeze the leftover herbs, I'll usually end up throwing them out months later when they are totally black. Yes, blanching them first helps, but not for perpetuity.

I like this thread; it makes me feel so much less guilty.

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When i need buttermilk for baking the stores here don't sell it in less than a quart.  So it sits and sits in there till I finally toss it. Happens every time. I have never finished a quart of buttermilk

Mike, have you ever tried the powdered buttermilk supermarkets sometimes sell on the baking aisle? Just mix up as much or as little as you need. I used to use KLIM for milk when cooking, but it's SO rich (like 26% butterfat or some such) that now I'll just go get a pint of milk or half-and-half. (KLIM is powdered whole milk, sold in cans.)

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

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I bought baby bok choy a few weeks ago which remained in my refrigerator until they died and were thrown out.

I felt so bad that I bought some more. A few more days and they should be ready to toss out as well.

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I bought baby bok choy a few weeks ago which remained in my refrigerator until they died and were thrown out.

I felt so bad that I bought some more.  A few more days and they should be ready to toss out as well.

Yes!

That's the way it works!

BB

Food is all about history and geography.

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It's milk and heavy cream for me. Especially this time of year when it's so hot. I've also encountered the lettuce problem more than once. I think living alone makes it a bit more difficult to get through everything.

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Green onions, definitely.

Fresh herbs, although that's happening less and less now that I have an herb garden and an Aerogarden. But it seems I always need the one thing I'm not currently growing.

I throw out a lot of buttermilk. It seems to be a staple in cold soups, so I'm currently tackling a bunch of those recipes to find more ways to use it. I buy it to use in a low-fat blue cheese dressing, which uses 1/2 cup out of a quart. Terrible waste, but I love that dressing!

Vegetables are definitely the most likely to go bad before they get used at our house.

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Hamburger buns.  Why do they only come in bags of eight?

If you like Nathan's Famous they get points from me in selling packs of eight dogs.

They now have dogs in natural casings.

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I throw out a lot of buttermilk.

I used to throw out so much buttermilk that I started keeping a list of recipes to use up excess buttermilk. I refer to the list when there's another quart languishing in my fridge.

My current list: scones, buttermilk rolls, lemon buttermilk cake, buttermilk fried chicken, cornbread, pancakes, biscuits, and buttermilk bread.

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My suggestions:

Bread: Freeze it

Buttermilk: Don't buy it. Use the Vinegar or cream of tartar or lemon juice and milk trick. I do this, so I don't understand the madness that makes me buy yogurt for this purpose.

Green onions: Rinse, wrap in damp paper towels, tupperware it and don't put in crisper.

May

Totally More-ish: The New and Improved Foodblog

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Tie between Cilantro and Mangos , I actually seem to be having better luck keeping cilntro in a glass of water on the kitchen countertop than in the fridge. Mangos are always hard as a rock when I buy them, and mushy gobs by the time I rediscover them in the veggie drawer ( AKA: "The Rotter" )

Actually this reminds me, its about time for some mango salsa...

" No, Starvin' Marvin ! Thats MY turkey pot pie "

- Cartman

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Hmmm...good question, lets see, lettuce, milk, herbs, and for some reason bottled roasted red peppers...go figure

"I eat fat back, because bacon is too lean"

-overheard from a 105 year old man

"The only time to eat diet food is while waiting for the steak to cook" - Julia Child

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Apples. I love good apples, and if I find good apples, I buy a ton of them. Of course, the last half dozen get wrinkly before I get to them.

If I buy apples that turn out to be less than perfection, I still leave them in the fridge until they get wrinkly.

Luckily, I have a horse next door who takes care of this problem for me. She also likes flabby carrots, but refuses celery.

sparrowgrass
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