Tag Archives: veggies

Refrigerator wars: Where to store your fruits and veggies

Posted in Food & Diet by

By Emily McLaughlin

So you think you found the perfect living situation, eh? You are co-inhabiting a just-big-enough apartment with a few of your closest friends, all of whom get along great and do not share any of the same exes.  You are all very busy during the week and look forward to hitting the town together on the weekends. Everything is going just swimmingly, in your eyes. But wait… there might be an elephant in the room, or kitchen to be exact.

One thing I learned while living with three other girls in a tiny Amherst apartment is that most of my frustration existed in the kitchen. We never “fought” over anything big, but were all pretty particular about where things went in the cabinets, in the fridge, on the counters, etc. Each of us had different priorities when it came to food. I knew not to be using the toaster when Holly got home since she was most definitely going to want toast or something of that nature. I knew not to mess with Jennie’s yogurt in the fridge, because she was certainly going to go looking for them in the morning.  I learned that Hannah loves to buy sauces, marinades and other tasty food enhancers, so there always has to be room for those. As for me, I am kind of crazy about how things are organized. I like to keep my things grouped together when sharing a fridge so that I can see them and know what is mine to eat. Food is a major source of life… don’t mess with mine.

With all of that being said, while living in my small Amherst apartment I began to realize that we might not be using our refrigerator, counter space and cabinets appropriately. Well, I mean that everything in the refrigerator didn’t necessary need to be in there and things on the counter might have needed to be refrigerated.

When I moved to Watertown, MA with Hannah and Kathleen, this question about where to store things came up again. Hannah and I picked up some cute jars to store flour, sugar and other baking necessities in. We realized that these things can’t be stored in the sunlight, but rather a cool, dark place. Our next thought was where to keep our fruits, vegetables and other produce items so that they keep longer.

I did the research for you, here are some of my findings:

Cool, dry location – (countertop works here)

Banana

Apple

Melon

Pineapple

Orange, grapefruit, lime, lemon (longer storage in fridge)

Mango

Tomato

Cucumber

Peppers

Basil (grow your own!)

Cool, dark, dry location – (pantry, or countertop real-estate out of the sun) 

Potato

Onion

Winter squash

Garlic

Refrigerator – (typically in a drawer, covered with perforated plastic)

Herbs, asparagus (snip the ends and store upright in a glass of water)

Berries

Grapes

Leafy veggies

Mushroom

Summer and yellow squash

Ripen on counter, then refrigerate

Avocado

Nectarine

Peach

Pear

Plum

Kiwi

Of course, most fruits and veggies might stay longer if they are refrigerated in a dry drawer, however doing so is not completely necessary. If you are going to eat your countertop fruits and veggies within a week’s time, then don’t waste the fridge space and spare some for your roomies.

Other things to note:

Storing fruits and vegetables together is a big N-O. It will cause them to rot faster… no body likes rotten produce.

Don’t rip your bananas apart prematurely. Doing so will cause your bananas to rot faster because you have broken cells and are allowing microorganisms to grow. This goes for most fruits and veggies — keep ‘em whole.

Stay healthy, store appropriately. Add your tips below!

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Crispy, baked veggie sticks

Posted in Food & Diet, Recipes by

By Emily McLaughlin

Remember all of those fresh veggies I was talking about? The ones my mom acquired over the weekend? Well, they were gone in 2 days. My favorite use of them? Crispy, healthy, baked… veggie sticks.

These veggie sticks were extremely quick and easy to make, and I highly suggest them as a healthy alternative to the summer chips and dips that emerge at BBQs, birthdays and grad parties.

Obviously, I didn’t really measure out all the ingredients here. When you are breading the veggies, you want to make sure that the breadcrumb mixture doesn’t get soggy as you go. When I made these, I just kept adding more breadcrumbs to my bowl as I needed them.

Veggie sticks

Veggies, washed (I used 1 zucchini, 1 Japanese eggplant and 1 red bell pepper)

1 cup Japanese-style panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

2 cloves minced garlic

Fresh basil, thyme, oregano

1 egg (use olive oil for vegan recipe)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Slice the veggies into french-fry sized sticks, then pat them dry and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, cheese, and spices. In another small bowl, whisk the egg.

3. Set up a little assembly line, taking a few veggies at a time, dipping them in the egg, then the coating them with the breading. Place coated veggie sticks on a baking sheet (lightly greased).

4. Bake your veggies in the oven for about 20 minutes–or until they reach your desired crispness. The breadcrumbs will start to become a nice golden brown color.

These veggie sticks are addictive. After I consumed, pretty much, every veggie stick I had made (that is what my family gets for leaving me at home alone with them), I headed to my uncles for some grilled food and family time. Here are some snapshots. :)

A little surfing.

My poor aunt… thrown in the pool fully clothed.

… rough.

My brother on a miniature bike…

I hope everyone is having an amazing summer!

Italian-style, stuffed vegetables

Posted in Food & Diet, Recipes by

By Emily McLaughlin

I love eating at my moms because I get to do a lot of the cooking, without doing much of the buying. ;)

This past weekend, I made a delicious, light summer dish with all the fresh veggies my mom had acquired from a friend’s garden (and the grocery store). She had zucchini, yellow squash, Japanese eggplant, red bell peppers and juicy, red tomatoes.

Earlier in the summer, my lovely Group Fitness boss invited a few of the gym folk over for a delicious summer meal. As a side dish, she make stuffed zucchini boats–the inspiration for this dish. Of course, you can use any variety of vegetable,

Italian-style, stuffed vegetables (serves 3-4)

3 veggies of your choice, sliced in half the long way

(For this recipe I chose 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash and 1 Japanese eggplant)

1 medium tomato, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed and finely chopped

Fresh basil and thyme, chopped

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Olive oil

1. Gut the sliced veggies, dice the insides and place in a medium-sized bowl

2. To the bowl, add the tomato, red bell pepper, garlic, spices and egg. Mix well.

3. Next, add the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese to the bowl and continue mixing. At this point… you’re stuffing is done.

4. Arrange your veggie boats on a baking pan and drizzle them with olive oil. Fill the insides of the veggies with your prepared stuffing, sprinkling them with extra cheese if desired.

5. This weekend, we grilled the veggies on foil for 20-25 minutes, or until the stuffing began to crisp. You can also bake the veggies in the oven at 375 for the same amount of time, checking periodically to make sure that they are not burning. The egg will cook through fairly quickly, so focus on reaching your desired veggie softness and stuffing crispness.

Enjoy this light summer dish on warm summer evening. :) Stay healthy, stay happy.

The Springtime Fruits You’ll Need To Stay Healthy This Season | Her Campus

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Check out this article brought to you by the lovely Her Campus contributor, Alexa Wilansky.

The Springtime Fruits You’ll Need To Stay Healthy This Season | Her Campus.

Incorporating fruits like apples, kiwis, apricots, mangos, watermelon and grapefruit into your daily diet will not only keep you healthy — but could potentially help you lose weight. Read on for what Her Campus has to say about this.