Sometimes my fridge looks like this. It is a magical place full of vibrant, colorful produce and fresh-off-the-farm eggs. This is when I love my fridge most of all. I can grab an orange or carrot if I need something quick, but I also have all the makings of a balanced and delicious meal should I choose to cook.

Sometimes my fridge looks like a barren wasteland with only alcohol and condiments. It is basically a college boy’s fridge. If I’m lucky there might be some takeout that isn’t too far gone. Though this is a regrettable state for my fridge, it gets worse…

Sometimes my fridge is chocked full of plenty of fruits and vegetables but they have all spoiled. This happens more often then I would like to admit. I enthusiastically shop for a week’s worth of homemade meals only to dine out every night that week. Too many times I have opened the door to a putrid smell that cannot be blamed on just one food. As I lug unbelievably weighted bags of rotten food down to the condominium dumpster, I promise myself that such waste will not, must not, happen again. I’d rather spend money on Jimmy Choos than food that will sit in my fridge for a few weeks before finding a more permanent residence in a local dump.  Food is temporary, shoes are forever.

There are preventative measures you can take to make sure this doesn’t happen to your fridge. Check on your food every few days to do a quick review of what needs to be saved so that it won’t be dumped when you do your next big fridge clean out. Even if you don’t have the time or opportunity to eat them at that moment, the following foods freeze surprisingly well and can be used later on at your convenience. I highly recommend the Ziploc brand vacuum sealing bag system. It’s easy, fast, cheap-ish, and doesn’t take up much space to store. They tell you not to reuse the bags but I do if I’m not storing meat in them. You can find it at your local grocery store.

7 Foods You Should Never Throw Out Again

1. Berries: These should be washed only before you eat or freeze them. Washing them before storing them in the fridge can actually make them go bad faster because of the extra moisture! If you’re freezing them for future use, wash and dry them well (let them air dry a few hours) before bagging and freezing. Great for smoothies and muffins.
2. Lemons/Limes: Slice them up and throw em in bags to freeze for future cocktail hours. I learned this trick from my aunt. She always has frozen lime slices ready for a spur of the moment gin & tonic.
3. Carrots: Lightly steam and puree these beauties (get local grown if you can-you won’t regret it) and pour the carrot puree into ice cube containers for freezing. Once frozen, put cubes in a Ziploc bag. Perfect for winter soups and spaghetti sauces. Yum!
4. Squashes: Follow directions for carrots or grate them, soak up moisture with paper towel and then freeze in a Ziploc bag. Again, great for soups and sauces or even zucchini bread/muffins.
5. Buttermilk: I don’t know anyone who uses buttermilk more than like 4 times a year. Pour leftover buttermilk into ice cube trays and save them for your next round of buttermilk pancakes.
6. Eggs: Whisk together and freeze into cubes. If you have a container of egg whites that you haven’t opened, you can freeze that in the container itself!
7. Bananas: Okay I know you don’t refrigerate bananas, but they are my favorite thing to freeze. I sometimes get lazy and don’t peel them but that makes it really hard to peel later once they are frozen. Instead I recommend peeling them and putting them into Ziploc bags. In my opinion you’ll want to use these within a month or so. They get kinda weird if they’re in the freezer forever. I hypothesize that is due to the sugar breaking down but I actually don’t know why. Just trust me. Great for smoothies or even homemade-super-healthy-tastes-like-ice-cream-treat! Just blend a banana with a tablespoon of cocoa powder in your blender and you have a dreamy creamy dessert that some say is even better than ice cream. Add a little bit of milk if the blend needs more moisture. These are 100% addictive and you may want to eat a whole bunch of bananas worth of fake ice cream in one night. You may even start buying bananas just to freeze them. I say that’s okay.

Think of all of the money you will save not wasting food and go buy yourself some shoes. You deserve it!

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