Shopping & Food Hacks!
In the spirit of shopping smart, there are items that we love to keep on hand that we usually buy from Costco. This means ginormous packages that we couldn’t possibly eat before it goes bad. These are the hacks we use to enable us to NOT waste any food and keep our favorites readily available.
Croissants
I love having these giant croissants around. They make awesome sandwiches and sometimes there’s nothing like a lightly toasted croissant with cream cheese and strawberry jam.
Buying these at Costco means you get a ginormous container that even a family of 5 would have trouble eating in a week. In this case (and some others), the freezer is your friend.
Say hello to my not so little freezer
When I get the container home, I slice each croissant in half lengthwise and put in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer. Anytime I want a croissant either toasted or not, I simply put in the toaster oven. Remove early for a thawed to perfection croissant.
French Bread
Costco’s pair of French bread loaves is heavenly. But like anything fresh from the bakery, this bread will not last if you leave it out.
And so within a couple days of purchasing, I take my serrated bread knife and spend a few minutes slicing the loaves up into thick slices, put into a ziplock bag and then into the freezer.
Simply put slices in the toaster (regular time) for a PERFECT steak house garlic bread (just add butter and garlic powder after its done).
It also makes a mean butter/jam combo.
Sometimes I cut the loaves into halves and then bigger chunks (quarter each half) to make meatball parm slider subs with.
Cheese Cheese Cheese
Cheese might be the one food that I could never give up. I did it once, gave up cheese (dairy actually) but I still could not bring myself to give up parmesan cheese.
We buy a lot of cheese. I prefer to buy the giant blocks from Costco and grate it myself, especially when wanting to melt it. Those bags of shredded cheese are handy but what they add to keep it fresh inhibits the melting a bit. Try getting those sliced fresh mozzerella blocks and use that on your next parmesan dish instead of the bag of shredded and you’ll see the difference.
Even if you do buy the shredded (and I did when the house was full of kids), I keep them in the freezer. YES, you can keep that giant bag of shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese in the freezer! I even keep my parmesan in the freezer, bought shredded or hand shredded, I prefer the stuff without chemicals and cellulose to extend its life. And this type goes bad fast…the freezer keeps it in good shape.
Weekly Purchases
There are certain things that we MUST have on hand. This will be different for every family based on your routines, habits, likes & dislikes. These are our favorites and how we keep them.
Avocados
I know not everyone loves avocados but I have a really hard time understanding this fact. They are SO yummy to me. I MUST have at least one (preferably 2 or 3) in the fridge at all times.Avocados typically do not last that long.
My Solution? Well, I’ve tried the avocado in water trick. It works sort of. As long as you do not leave the avocados in the water for over 4 weeks. After that, they take on a weird flavor (and by weird, I mean inedible).
Still, I put avocados in the fridge the minute we are home from the store. NO leaving them on the counter or in the fruit basket anymore. If you toss em in the fridge it will slow the ripening and they will last ALOT longer. Unless of course, I’m shopping to make guacamole on the weekend and then I put the avocado with the overripe bananas that I always seem to have.
Blueberries
Blueberries!! Aren’t they gorgeous? We always have blueberries. Mix them with yogurt, make a smoothie, toss em in pancakes or make a spur of the moment blueberry cobbler.This blueberry hack keeps blueberries fresh way longer than normal.
Wash blueberries in water with a 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Swish around and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Rinse well and dry. I lay 2 clean dish towels on the counter and lay out the berries for a couple hours. Then put in a mason jar. Often I will tear a half of a papertowel section and place in the bottom of the jar in case of any moisture. Put the lid on and it keeps for weeks! It does NOT taste like vinegar.
Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta cheese is great to have handy. I usually keep two 1lb containers in the back of the fridge. They last forever (until opened) and are perfect for a last minute pasta bake.
Boil 1lb of noodles al dente (like penne). Toss em in an aluminum half pan. Add sauce, any toppings (browned beef, cooked sausage and/or veggies), top with a layer of ricotta and fresh mozzarella and BAKE. Voila…a hearty meal for days or for a crowd.
I will do an actual recipe for this soon.
These are a few of the items used in the post above.
Crumb Catcher
EVERYONE should have at least one crumb catcher. I keep one directly in front of the toaster oven. Plus we cut our sourdough on a 2nd one next to it. It saves so much time in rounding crumbs up and deposits them nicely in one place.
Mason Jars
The way I always have about 3 or 4 of these in my fridge at a time filled with SOMETHING. Sourdough discard and blueberries are the usual culprits but I also save pasta water (for reheating the pasta), buttermilk from freshly made butter. These are also great for sending the kids home with leftover soups and sauces.
