For many years I have struggled with a deep dark secret. The stuff in my fruit and veggie drawers in my fridge rot. No matter how hard I work to use it all up, stay on top of it and clean it out, I invariably end up with something rotten in one of those drawers. Strawberries are one of the worse. A container of strawberries seems to last maybe 4 days if I’m lucky. After that they get mushy spots and then mold starts to grow. I desperately need to have a variety of fresh fruit around to encourage healthy eating so I’m not going to stop buying strawberries.

I decided to try the OXO Good Grips Greensaver. This plastic container has a removable basket in it and a carbon filter that absorbs the ethylene gas that causes produce to rot so quickly. I was amazed to find I can keep strawberries twice as long in this container – at least a week. Because of that, I highly recommend it, with a few caveats.

First of all, I bought the small size and it doesn’t hold an entire container of berries. About 5-6 won’t fit in it. The lid is also deceptive since it is a thick lid and takes up space inside the container, so I always misjudge how much it will hold. The other downside is you have to replace the carbon filter every 90 days. OXO lets you sign up on their site for reminders about that if you wish.

Once my filter runs out, I am contemplating buying either a bigger size or switching to a different product that can just be placed in the drawer itself and will reduce the gas inside the entire drawer, such as these BluApple filters. But I’m completely sold on the carbon filter concept.

For many years I have struggled with a deep dark secret. The stuff in my fruit and veggie drawers in my fridge rot. No matter how hard I work to use it all up, stay on top of it and clean it out, I invariably end up with something rotten in one of those drawers. … Read more →

I’m lucky in that I have an large upright freezer in the basement in addition to the side-by-side fridge in the kitchen with a freezer side. I keep most long-term things in the basement. I use the upstairs mostly for breakfast things, ice packs, nuts, and vegetables. It doesn’t sound like much, but lately it has been a jumbled mess. Which has led to people in this family writing things on the shopping list that I KNOW we have. I couldn’t stand it a moment longer and I emptied the whole thing out.

Up until now things sort of got stashed wherever they looked like they would fit. I sorted everything into piles on the counter: vegetables, nuts, ice packs, meats, gluten bread and gluten-free bread. I purged some old stuff and I consolidated everything. Instead of 20 plastic bags with one bagel in each, I combined them into several ziptop bags. I did the same with the nuts. Then I took a hard look at the shelves and baskets and decided what would best fit where.

I got my trusty PTouch labeller and put a label on each shelf and basket so that no one could wonder where they would find what they needed and also so there could be no shoving things in randomly.

So far the system is holding up and it’s making my life SO much easier!

I’m lucky in that I have an large upright freezer in the basement in addition to the side-by-side fridge in the kitchen with a freezer side. I keep most long-term things in the basement. I use the upstairs mostly for breakfast things, ice packs, nuts, and vegetables. It doesn’t sound like much, but lately it … Read more →