HOUSTON – Health officials are urging everyone to stay home and stay healthy, even limiting trips to the grocery store. But buying enough food for your family to last more than a week is difficult. We eat perishables like produce, bread and milk and feel like we need to replenish them weekly. The USDA’s Foodkeeper app, created by Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute, was designed to cut down on food waste, and during the coronavirus shutdown, the tips can help us all make our food last longer.
Milk can last how long?
You would never think of pouring a glass of 3-month-old milk, but if you freeze it right after you purchase it, that’s how long it’ll last.
Fresh strawberries go bad in three days in the fridge. Freeze them, and you can use them for up to a year.
Even fresh asparagus can be frozen and kept for up to five months.
All of the guidelines on what can be frozen and what can’t are right on the app.
If your family can eat a loaf or two of bread a week, buy several and freeze them. Bread, rolls and bagels will all last two to three months in the freezer, and they take minutes to thaw. Buying extra and freezing the food will mean you don’t have to shop every week.
Even eggs can be cracked, and then frozen, for up to 12 months.
Back in your produce drawer, you can freeze that broccoli and cabbage for up to one year.
The Foodkeeper app is free to download for Android or Apple devices.
This story was originally published by our sister station in Houston, KPRC.