Stop Wasting Money! 10 Useful Food Storage Tips!.

The average American household throws out 25% of all of the food and beverages that it brings in. That can amount to anywhere from $1,300 to $2,300 a year that belongs in your pocket and not in the garbage. So this week, I'm going to show you 10 great food-saving hacks, and that way you can put that money back in your pocket. Before we get into the food hacking, if you haven't done so already, be sure to subscribe to the Clean My Space channel. If you've noticed your potatoes looking back at you and blinking with their eyes, or your onions turning green, you're probably not storing them correctly. There are three things you have to remember when it comes to storing onions and garlic and potatoes and squash. They have to be in a cool, dark, dry environment. So you want to separate them out, by the way. Very important. You want to keep your onions and garlic separate from your potatoes and your squash. When you bring them home from the grocery store, take them out of the bag, put them into a basket or a bowl, and I keep my stuff in a cupboard. That way, it's dark. Keep these items out of the fridge. For example, if potatoes go in their fridge, their starches begin to change and potatoes will become sweet. If you have a root cellar, if your house was built before the 1800s, or if you have a cold storage place in your basement, for example, that would be a perfect place to keep your onions, potatoes, and squash. Make sure your refrigerator is set at the right temperature. Now, I know this might sound a little obvious, but it's really important. If your refrigerator is set too cold, or under 32 degrees Fahrenheit, your food will start to freeze. And guys, that's what the freezer's for. Nobody wants frozen cauliflower. And if your refrigerator is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit, that's when bacteria starts to multiply. And that means food poisoning, and that means toilet time, and I don't think you guys want that. You want to keep your refrigerator as close to 35 degrees as possible, but you can go as far up as 38 degrees. That's really the sweet spot. If you notice that your produce is ripening a little too fast, you might want to pick up some ethylene gas absorbers. These are really simple. They don't really take up any space. You just pop them in your crisper drawer, and they absorb extra ethylene gas, which is what fruits give off when they are ripening. And because they're sitting next to other fruits, they speed up the ripening of those fruits as well. These will absorb that, and you won't have that problem anymore. Bananas have their own rulebook. If you've ever kept bananas beside other fruits or veggies out on the counter, you've probably noticed they ripen really fast. So, tip number one if you have bananas, store them separate from everything else. This stem releases a lot of ethylene gas. So, if you want to slow the ripening process of your bananas, wrap the tip, or stem, or whatever you want to call it, in saran wrap, and that will prevent the ethylene gas and help these guys stay a little fresher a little longer. If you want brownie points, rip the banana off the rest of the bunch and wrap that in saran itself. That will really prolong the life of the banana. And finally, if you're going to freeze your bananas, make sure you peel them first, chop them in half, and then put them in a freezer bag. Lettuce is one of those crazy vegetables that, after you put it in the fridge, literally two days later, it starts to wilt and look really sad. So, there's an easy way to fix this. All you need to do is wrap your lettuce in paper towel, put it back into the bag from where it came, and then put it in your crisper drawer. The paper towel will help to absorb any of that extra moisture, and that will definitely help prolong the life of a head of lettuce. There's a pretty hot debate online about whether or not you keep tomatoes in the fridge, or you leave them out of the fridge. Although, probably not as exciting as the Hillary vs. Donald debate that's going on right now. Either way, do you guys keep your tomatoes in the fridge or on the counter? I've always kept mine in the fridge, but apparently, that leads to mealy and sort of badly textured tomatoes. And I have had that experience before. The reason you want to keep them on the counter is because, of course, they can kind of get ruined in the fridge. However, if you keep them out on the counter for too long, they will rot faster. So, they're kind of like, you've got to achieve a delicate tomato-y balance, you know? Keep them out on the counter, eat them ideally, but if they're ripe and you're just not ready, put them in the fridge for a day or two. Green onions are delicious, but kind of frustrating. Every time I bring them home... So, what do you do? I mean, you make Mexican food or a salad the day you get green onions, or else, you're not using them. So, there's a really quick fix for these that I just learned about, which I am thrilled to hear. And that is, put them in a glass. Fill the glass with about a half an inch of water, just enough to cover the root. And that will not only keep the onions standing up, but it will keep them nice and moisturized. So, that way, they are nice and crispy for you to use when you're ready to actually use them. Now, the other thing I've learned about green onions, and I've got to try this first, and I will update you next week as to whether it works or not, is if you just use the green parts of the onion. Leave the white parts as is. Put them back in this glass. Apparently, they will start to re-sprout and give you an abundance, a bounty, if you will, of green onions. So, buy them once, eat them forever. Whether your cheese is hard or soft, expensive or cheap, it still, like us, needs to breathe. And if you're storing your cheese in plastic, or if you're straight up storing it open air, your cheese isn't going to do so well. A great way to store cheese that will help it last longer, if that's even possible, cheese can last long in your house, all you need to do is wrap it in parchment paper. Parchment paper allows your cheese to breathe. That way, moisture is getting out, so it's not getting moldy, and enough moisture is getting in so that it's not getting hard and crumbly. If you keep your honey in the fridge, I'm here to tell you, you don't have to do that anymore. In fact, your honey can stay in the cupboard or in a drawer. Honey won't go bad. They've actually found honey that's over 3,000 years old. Now, I don't know if I would necessarily eat that, but apparently, it was perfectly safe. So, as long as you keep your honey with a lid on it, it should be fine to consume. And if, for whatever reason, you notice that your honey has crystals or anything like that, all you have to do is heat it up. But, of course, if it's moldy for some crazy reason, throw it out. Keep your nuts and seeds in the fridge. This is something that I've learned over the years. But if you've ever taken a nut out of a bag, tasted it, and it's got that really, like, chemically gross flavor, that means the nut or seed or whatever has gone rancid. It also smells pretty bad, too. So, in order to prevent that from happening, keep these in the fridge. They will go rancid because the oil will go rancid. And that, obviously, means you have to buy this stuff more frequently. So, if you make big purchases of seeds, for example, me, hemp, chia, and flax seeds are always in the house. We just keep them in the fridge, and that way, they last us for as long as we need them. Hopefully, those tips will help you save some of the food that you would otherwise throw in the garbage. You can see it's pretty simple stuff to do. And while I was researching this video, I came across so many other tips that I'd love to share with you guys if this video was up your alley. So, let me know in the comments down below. But I have another interesting comment question this week. This is a really hotly debated topic online, and I actually think it has to do with where you live in the world. And that is, do you keep your condiments, ketchup, hot sauce, jam, that kind of stuff, in the fridge or in the cupboard? Let me know in the comments down below, and let me know why. I'm quite curious. If you want to see what I'm up to during the rest of the week, aside from finding stuff in the fridge, although I probably spend about 30% of my time doing that, I am on Instagram and Snapchat at Melissa Maker. The guy who wraps his cheese and cuts the cheese. He is at the Chad Reynolds, and we are at Clean My Space. There's a button down there that lets me know you care, so click it if you liked this video, and click this button right here to subscribe and begin your journey to a cleaner life. Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Well, it's that special time of the week where I get to throw you to a couple of other videos I think you're going to love. The first one is all about how to clean out your fridge, and the second one has all to do with cleaning out your cupboards. Now, the other thing I want to tell you is that last week's video, we got a lot of comments about Castile soap being available at Costco. Well, Chad and I went, and this big 1.18 liter bottle was $12.99 Canadian, so thank you for that heads up. Remember, if you want to get our newsletter or see any of our other articles, tips, or tricks, you can visit our website. It's cleanmyspace.com. Thanks, guys, and I'll see you next week.