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A FOOD blogger and mom has revealed her simple routine for keeping fresh food lasting for weeks.
Amy Cross says she only needs to go shopping every three weeks because her clever food hacks mean her produce stays fresh throughout.
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The 47-year-old shared a clip on Instagram detailing her method for preparing and storing fruits and veggies to give them the best longevity.
Everything from berries and lettuce to potatoes and peppers are included, and Amy says the process takes 40 minutes.
“I only go grocery shopping once every three weeks,” Amy, who lives in Washington, told What’s The Jam.
“By washing and storing my produce, it stays fresh the entire time and we have no food waste.”
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Amy shares her simple tips with her 120,000 followers on Instagram (@thecrosslegacy) and on her YouTube channel.
In a recent post, she filmed a haul of her grocery shop, explaining how each item is stored for maximum freshness.
The food blogger starts by spending half an hour washing the produce using bowls and a salad spinner.
She uses a timer set to two minutes to ensure she doesn’t over-soak the fresh food while multitasking to wash different items at a time.
In the video, she starts with the carrots, rinsing them in tap water and then again with vinegar.
She then rubs them to remove any final dirt.
For the lemons and avocados, she removes their stickers and puts them in a bowl of water to rinse.
She washes and chops celery tops to freeze for stocks, while the celery stalks are added to a pot of water and vinegar.
Peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, and potatoes are similarly rinsed individually.
With onions, Amy says she “listens” to hear if the skin sounds “crinkly” — an indicator that it is getting dehydrated, in which case she will use it first.
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Berries and grapes are soaked in water and vinegar and tossed so all sides are cleaned.
She shows how filthy the strawberry water looks after the initial cleaning, calling it “absolutely disgusting.”
Herbs are also bathed before going in the salad spinner to dry, alongside salad leaves and lettuce.
Amy explained that after washing everything, she leaves the produce out to dry for two to three hours on the kitchen counter on tea towels.
Shen then spends a further 10 minutes storing them in glass jars for longevity.
For spring onions, she places them root-down in a jar of water and keeps them on her countertop.
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While it takes the mom 40 minutes to sort everything after she shops, she says it’s well worth taking the extra time out of her day.
“This time spent after shopping allows me to know that I have produce that lasts for several weeks,” she said.
“Having no produce waste saves me so much money on groceries.
“If I’m only going grocery shopping once every three or so weeks, that does not seem like a waste of time to me at all.
“I am overall saving so much time doing the food prep.
“All of those quick trips to the store in the past add up with wasted time and money, now with inflation being so high it is even more important to be able to use the items that we buy.”
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