Make Your Fruit Last Longer

On Saturday mornings, I have a Weight Watchers member, Susan, who has been sharing wonderful household tips with all of us! Susan loves fruit, especially strawberries and she hates to see them go to waste! As a result, Susan looked online for some ideas about how to make her fruit last longer. She found great ideas for both strawberries and bananas that I would like to share with you!
 

{Strawberries}

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The first tip that Susan shared with us was about how to make your strawberries last longer, from Better Than Doing Laundry. Watch your strawberries last at least a week using this method!!

1. Take your fresh strawberries and put them in a large bowl. Run some cold water over top of them.

2. For every 2 cups of water, stir in 1/4 cup vinegar. You can use distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of the vinegar will kill all the mold spores and bacteria on the strawberries. I promise you will not taste the vinegar on the strawberries!

3. Swish the strawberries around in the vinegar/water solution and let them soak for 5 minutes or so. Drain, give the strawberries a little rinse, and then place them on a towel-lined cookie sheet to dry. Once the strawberries are dry, store them in an open container in the fridge. Mine have lasted a week and could possibly go longer, but I eat mine before the week is up. You could also cap the strawberries, leave them on the cookie sheet, pop in the freezer overnight, and then transfer the individually frozen strawberries to a freezer bag. Use the frozen strawberries in a fruit ice cream or smoothie. 

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{Bananas}

The other household tip that Susan shared with us was about how to make bananas last longer. Susan explained to all of us that if you simply cover the stem of the bananas with tin foil it will help keep the bananas from ripening too quickly.

I hate really ripe bananas, so after I went grocery shopping on Monday I came home and wrapped the stem with foil. I do not know where Susan found this idea, but it worked! It is now Thursday and my bananas still have some green left on them!

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I had never heard these ideas before, but I hope these tips help you to continue to make healthy choices all week long!