Store Your Fresh Foods Right and Save Money on Groceries

The way you store your fresh produce significantly impacts its shelf life, as does the way that you store your baked goods. By storing your foods to maximize their shelf life, and perking up wimpy veggies when they begin to sag, you'll reduce the amount of food you throw away and keep your grocery budget lower in the process.

Listed below are some new (and old) tips and tricks for keeping your food fresh:

Avoid Brown Bananas
Wrap your bunches of bananas in a dark plastic bag and store them in your produce bin to slow the ripening process.

Revive Wilted Celery
Wilted celery doesn't necessarily need to head straight to the trash bin. Instead, try cutting off the root end and submerging your celery in a glass of water. Refrigerate and in a few hours, your celery will be perky again. And next time, try wrapping your celery in foil before refrigerating. Your celery will stay crisp for weeks.

Keep Cheese Mold-Free
Keep your cheese from becoming hard and moldy by buttering the exposed areas and refrigerating it in a glass jar or in a clean cloth treated with a saltwater solution.

Moist Cookies and Cake
Many people know that putting a piece of bread in your cookie canister will keep your cookies fresher longer, but did you know that apples can achieve the same effect? Place half of an apple in a container of leftover cake, and the moisture from the apple will keep your cake tasting great.

Funk-Free Cottage Cheese
Store your cartons of sour cream and cottage cheese upside-down in the refrigerator to keep them fresh twice as long.

Stop Soggy Lettuce
Store lettuce in your produce bin wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag. If your lettuce has gone a bit soggy, soak the entire head in lemon juice and cold water. After a few minutes, place your lettuce in a sealed plastic bag with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture.

For Fresher Popcorn
It seems that everyone has bags of popcorn in their cupboards that have been there for decades. Keep your popcorn fresh by storing it in the freezer.

Avoid Potato Eyes
To store your potatoes for optimum freshness, they should be kept in a cool, dry area at around 38 degrees. Or, if you live in a condo or apartment that doesn't have access to a root cellar, try hanging them in your garage in a burlap bag. Placing an apple in the bag will also keep them from budding.