Keeping Lettuce etc fresh

[JackRabbit]

Keeping lettuce, kale, and other bunny green fresh falls under another of my “there’s got to be a way” searches.  I hate going to the grocery store and ended up having to go a second time during the week just for bunny lettuce.  There are a number of suggestions on the web (and I’ve tried some of them) for keeping lettuce and other greens fresh.  Of the ones I’ve tried, I like the one used in this link the best:  http://pinchmysalt.com/a-recipe-for…and-crisp/.  It really works so I thought I’d pass the info on to other BBers and hope that it helps someone!

It basically involves washing the lettuce, drying it, wrapping it in paper towels, and storing in the paper towels In plastic bags (the link has photos).  I use a dishpan and soak each “batch” in cold water for 10 or 15 minutes too.  I have a salad spinner that never got used until I saw this link, but you can still do the same thing by just drying a bit with paper towels.   I don’t actually “spin the lettuce until dry”, but lay it out on paper towels while I keep going with the next “batch”, and wrap it in the paper towels when it’s mostly dry.  Make sure to squeeze the air out of the plastic bag!  The whole process usually takes me about and hour or hour and a half because I read BB threads while the batches are soaking  . . .  I use this method for green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, romaine (when I can find decent romaine), and kale every week.  It lasts and stays fresh and crispy for at least 10 days (I use it all up by then but have been thinking about testing to see just how long it will really last!).

[Deleted User]

When I saw your forum I went WOW gotta check this out!!!!!! Ha ha haha….. gosh I must be lazy, that’s too much hard work for me, lol! Thank fully my veggie shop is a 5 minute drive away – much quicker for me to drive there and grab a fresh lettuce. And the son and I eat lots of lettuce/salads too so luckily our lettuce gets eaten by Henry and us before I have to throw any out. But if ever my veggie shop no longer exists thank you for the great tip JR cause before we got Henry I did struggle to keep my lettuce fresh and would have loved this suggestion/advice back then.
Actually, since getting Henry I have struggled to fit everything into the crisper section of my fridge – I am currently looking for a new fridge with ‘2 HUGE’ crisper compartments!
Oh, and I had a chuckle to myself – I used to dry my lettuce on a clean tea towel/paper towel till I got my new gizmo, the lettuce spinner! Marvellous these new inventions that I finally decide to give a go 20 years later…… LOL! Thanks again JR, cheers.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I do something similar but I don’t wash the veggies first. I just remove any rubber bands or twist ties and wrap the veggies in wet paper towels and place in a bag in the crisper.

[Sarita]

I wouldn’t wash the veggies first either – keeping them in their natural state will make them last longer in my opinion. I think washing them first shortens their shelf life. I do find kale to be very long lasting.

[JackRabbit]

From the various things I read, some veggies aren’t supposed to be washed (ex. Bok choy) and some can be (ex. Lettuce varieties). I was trying to shorten my week night salad prep time so I wash ahead of time. Between cleaning cages (hubby helps), rinsing & refilling bottles, floor time with bunnies, all after 9 or 10 hours at the office, every minute I can save during the week is an extra minute with the buns! Whatever works! Now if I could just find time for sleep. . . !

[Sarita]

Totally understand that! I’m all for making life easier :~)

[manic_muncher]

I used to pre-wash his kale, collards and parsley. I’d shake off as much excess water as possible and taco wrap them in paper towels. Then stack them wrapped in the same produce bags, or sometimes one plastic grocery bag, so when it came time for feeding him, i’d just grab a taco and it was all ready. The paper towels get that extra moisture off and that helped them last longer. I have an area in my kitchen with the rabbit stuff and I just lay the old taco shell out so it dries, and I can re-use them for several times before tossing them.

My produce drawer has a humidity adjuster on the produce drawer and I have it set on High, and -usually- everything was still nice 6-7 days later. The only thing is, I had to make sure to give a quick check over the tacos when I was choosing for the night. If anything looked like it was wilting or changing in any way, I’d pull that out for that meal, so I was sure it was used before it got any worse. Also making sure you have the freshest produce as possible will determine how long you will be able to keep them this way.

[JackRabbit]

LOVE the taco wrap idea!!

[Deleted User]

I LOVE the humidity adjuster on Manic’s produce drawer!!!!! Ha ha haha. Manic, what brand fridge do you have???? I have been looking at the F&P, it’s the only one that I have found so far that offers something simular (I think?) to what yours does. But I NEED those “2” drawers as well. Things we do for our bunny’s!

PS – I cheat! I’m a bugga for making two days of meals for us AND Henry in one day. With Henry’s ‘next day’ meal – I make it in his bowl and pop it into a freezer bag and pop it back into the fridge. The next day you can’t tell I prepped it the day before. Our meals – I make meat, gravy and veg and then pop extra veg and diced meat and make a casserole of different sorts and let it marinate in the fridge. I pop it into the oven the next day and serve with pasta or rice. Only have to chop and clean up every second day. A habit I got into when I worked in the city and travelled (time issue – like JR) and it stuck all these years later.

I thought the saying was ‘happy wife – happy life’! I’m sure it’s meant to be ‘happy hubby and BUNNY – happy life’?????? LOL! Cheers.

[manic_muncher]

Just some Whirlpool side-by-side, nothing special.. and I have NO idea how the little humidity thing works, just that my old fridge didn’t have that and produce keeps SO much longer here now. It’s very humid here all the time, and when the air conditioner is on the fridge used to stay frosty looking. Loving my new fridge. Though I have to say, the one it replaced was a 1974 model! So ANYTHING was an upgrade at that point!

Edit to add:  I forgot to mention, by using the taco wraps, the hubby got to be a bit more involved with the rabbit’s care.  Before he wouldn’t even think about feeding him veggies, apparently it was just too much to even try to think about! 

Now if I could get him to venture into cleaning the pen and litter box….

[Deleted User]

Thanks manic – I want all the info I can get when buying this new fridge cause I want it to last forever, like the one I’m replacing. It’s being retired to the laundry to store the ever important beer and Henry’s coke! LOL! And I’m only buying a new one for the extra crisper space and I’ve been hitting the hubby up for a small freezer, so the timing is sort of good (wish our fridge/freezer finances were???? – I bet this will be a birthday gift?) ha ha ha…..

Edit to ADD – the humidity is disgusting here too – I don’t complain about the heat as much as I do the humidity! YUCK!

Oh, the hubby is keen to feed Henry every second night – the night the meal is ‘pre’pared – good on him! But I can’t complain – he still cleans Henry’s toilet so I’m NOT complaining!!!!! LOL!

PS – JR, sleep? YAWN! what’s that?????

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