GLC1968 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 My husband and I get a full share of veggies from our CSA every Wednesday. We supplement with a few items from the farmers market or Whole Foods as necessary. Even eating Whole30 style with tons of veggies piled on our plates at every meal and cooking at home for all but one meal a week, we don't get through the entire share in a week (close, but not quite). It's a lot of produce. Any suggestions about successful veggie storage outside the fridge? I do use (and reuse) the Debbie Meyer green bags and those things are AWESOME for keeping things fresh. But with so many greens and big things like kale, beets w/ greens and heads of lettuce and cabbage, there just is not enough room in the fridge. Add in the need to store many of the items I pre-cook on the weekend and putting new things in there is like playing Tetris (yes, I just showed my age). On top of this normal weekly challenge, a couple of my husband's employees got together to send him a box of veggies from Organicstoyou.org as a 'get well' gift. AWESOME gift and way better than flowers...but where the hell am I going to put all this stuff??? I have to leave here in an hour or so to go pick up our share this week and I'm kind of dreading it because I have ZERO idea of where it's going to go!! Yes, first world problems...but I hate the idea of stuff going bad before we eat it just because its stored poorly due to a space issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAK911 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I store most fruit outside the fridge (apples, bananas, pears, etc.); tomatoes can be stored outside the fridge, too, as can anything else that isn't refrigerated at the grocery store (hard squashes, onions, root veggies, etc.). i think summer is a pretty demanding time for the fridge, based on what's in season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted June 19, 2014 Moderators Share Posted June 19, 2014 Have you thought about fermenting some of them? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea -- I'm trying to ferment some things, and it still sort of weirds me out to think that I'm purposely letting bacteria grow on veggies, but it's a possible way to use stuff up now and then have it to eat later. Although at some point, the ferments do have to go in the fridge, so down the road you may still have the same problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLC1968 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Thanks guys! I've played with the idea of fermentation, but haven't ventured into that arena yet. I even bought a book on it but have yet to try any of the recipes! I'm thinking about roasting huge pans of veggies and then freezing them in individual sized containers. We have a chest freezer in the garage and while it's normally overflowing with meat, it's somewhat under control at the moment. I have no idea if roasted veggies (mostly root ones, I think) will reheat after freezing but it's worth a shot. I did just can a flat of strawberries as sugar-free jam...so that helped. Of course, I'm not sure what I'll do with the jam now that we no longer eat breads but at least it freed up space in the fridge! I prepped another big box of loganberries to do a mixed berry jam this evening, too. Re-using those big plastic containers that greens or baby spinach comes in (from the grocery store) to house pre-washed salad greens works GREAT. I can fit a ton in there and they stack on top of each other neatly (unlike when stored in head form!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie Davis Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 If big conglomerates can roast and freeze veggies for sale, why not you? Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ultrarunnergirl Posted June 19, 2014 Moderators Share Posted June 19, 2014 I've heard the advice that when you bring your veggies home, right away, wash and chop before you stick them in the fridge. Not only does it save space (think of cauliflower and broccoli), it makes it much more likely you'll use them up because they are only minutes away from being "dinner." I second the recommendation to roast and freeze. Or merely blanch the veggies, then freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyB Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Funny! I have two refrigerators (one in the kitchen and one in the basement) and each has a freezer. And then I have three MORE deep freezers! We freeze a lot of stuff. While it's not as 'just cooked' tasting as something just cooked, it does save time to pull things out of the freezer and reheat it. And there are only three of us....I can't imagine if we had a houseful of kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyB Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Oh, I forgot....check craigslist for a used fridge or deep freeze. It's worth it to have the extra space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLC1968 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Oh, I forgot....check craigslist for a used fridge or deep freeze. It's worth it to have the extra space. I love this idea... if only we had the space for the another appliance! Not only is our fridge packed...so is our house/garage. We have a large chest freezer and the one attached to the fridge, but there is literally no extra room in our world for much else. I think we just need to eat faster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmlynne Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Root veggies freeze and thaw very well. I made a huge amount of sweet potato hash (chopped onion, peppers, mushrooms and diced sweet potato cooked in bacon fat) - 10 lbs of s.p. Make a lot! Once cooked, I froze it and used it as a block of ice in my cooler for a two day car trip. Once thawed, it kept in the fridge and I pulled out a serving at a time and reheated on the stovetop. Tasted like it was just made. I have frozen broccoli and green beans as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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