One of the best ways to save money is not to waste food. Food waste is a huge expense in any household. Knowing how to store your food properly can ensure you have fresh fruits and vegetables is essential. I have compiled a list of the fruits and vegetables that do not require to be in your fridge! Little hints on how to keep them fresh. One thing I have learned after this week is how to freeze, dehydrate, and ripen various fruit and vegetables.

This is the list of fruit that is fine to store on your counter. Please note this applies to whole fruit only. Once you cut the fruit you need to store it in the fridge however it if it is getting close to going bad. Flash Freezing is an amazing option and we will discuss it below.

• Apples
• Pears
• Kiwi
• Lemon
• Lime
• Grapefruit
• Orange
• Cherry
• Avocado
• Bananas*
• Cantaloupe
• Honeydew
• Watermelon
• Mango *
• Nectarines *
• Peaches*
• Plums*
• Papaya
• Pineapple

*Mature fruits give out ethylene gas which stimulates ripening by placing them in a brown paper bag loosely, if the fruit is bananas please keep them bunched together
**Separating fruit so it is not touching will slow down the process

This is the list of vegetables that is fine to store on your counter. Please note this applies to whole veggies only. Once you cut the vegetable you need to store it in the fridge however it if it is getting close to going bad blanching and bottling or freezing is the way to go and we will discuss that in a moment.

• Onions ***Do not store near potatoes as they will make the potatoes go bad.
• Garlic
• Egg Plant
• Cucumbers
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tomatoes ***store them on the counter with the stem side down to keep them fresh longer
• Winter Squash

Flash Freezing is an amazing way to save fruits! These are amazing for smoothies throughout the winter. I have seen frozen bags of fruit for over $10 in the cold winter and that’s a huge cost. Why not fill the freezer now! If you have a SuperStore near check their FlashFood App to save 50% on fruit, they generally have a clearance section too. A little brown spot never hurt anyone.

To freeze you need a cookie sheet and some parchment paper, cut up your fruit and place them on the cookie sheet so they are not touching and place them in the freezer for approximately 1 hour. Then you can take them out and either places them in a freezer bag or seal them if you have one of those vacuum sealers (they have incredible deals on them right now with coupons on amazon) to keep your fruit fresh without sticking together in the freezer until you are ready to use. Bananas are awesome to freeze for smoothies and baking. Simply remove the peelings and put the bananas directly in a freezer bag.

My kids and grandkids love dehydrated fruit. It is a great snack for school or snacks. It is so good especially when you can have your favourite fruits for pennies on the dollar in the cold winter when prices are higher! Dehydrators are not expensive at all. Mine was under $50 on Amazon. Here is the one I have But they have a full range of food dehydrators to meet your needs.

Blanching vegetables is an amazing way to save fresh produce when you need it! Most vegetables such as carrots, beans or other vegetables can be frozen for future use. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, place your produce in the boiling water, after 1 minute removes the product and put it immediately in ice cold water, pat dry and put in a freezer bag to store until you need it!

Did you get an amazing deal on tomatoes? Follow the blanching instructions above, peel the tomatoes and place them in canning bottles and add a bit of lemon juice. Place bottles in boiling water (water must be over the top of bottles) after approx 20 minutes make sure the tops are pressed down and voila, lovely tomatoes for a cold winter meal.

Have a baby? All you need is a blender and some freezer bags. We have a Ninja blender which is amazing. I prefer it as it has smoothie cups as well. Our grandson Noah is getting to that age of eating food so what better than natural fruits and veggies. He was starting with avocado and sweet potato. For the avocado, we simply took out the seed, peeled it and put it in the Ninja and then put it in freezer bags for the freezer. When he wants some food his mother can simply add a bit of breast milk or formula to get the right consistency! The sweet potato, Papa cooked up and put through the Ninja and put in containers for him for the freezer! So Simple!! His Momma ordered some reusable food bags to make feeding easy!

Did I miss a fruit or vegetable that doesn’t belong in the fridge? Let us know!

Please note there may be amazon affiliate links contained in this post which means I would earn a very small commission if you made a purchase.