A food blogger and mum has revealed her simple routine to ensure her fresh food lasts for weeks, cutting monthly shopping bills and saving time.
Amy Cross, who lives in Washington, only needs to go shopping every three weeks thanks to an unusual food hack that extends the shelf life of her fresh food and reduces food waste.
The 47-year-old shared a clip on Instagram detailing her method for preparing and storing fruits and vegetables to give them the greatest longevity, telling viewers that with inflation high ‘it’s even more important to be able to use the items we buy.’
Everything from berries and lettuce to potatoes and peppers is included, and Amy says the process takes 40 minutes.
“I only go shopping once every three weeks,” said food blogger Amy.
Amy Cross only needs to go shopping every three weeks thanks to unusual food hack that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh
Amy cleans and rinses all of her fruits and vegetables and keeps her refrigerator organized to make sure they last.
Amy spends a total of 40 minutes cleaning her fruits and vegetables and then stores them in glass jars to maintain their freshness.
By being diligent about how she prepares and stores fresh produce, the food blogger says she saves time and money by eliminating unnecessary weekly purchases.
“By washing and storing my products, they stay fresh all the time and we don’t waste food.”
Amy shares her simple tips with her 120,000 followers on Instagram (@thecrosslegacy) and her YouTube channel.
In her recent post, she filmed a tour of her grocery store and explained how each item was stored for maximum freshness.
The food blogger started by spending half an hour washing produce using bowls and a salad spinner.
She uses a timer set for two minutes to make sure she doesn’t over-soak fresh foods, while multitasking to wash different items at once.
Amy only has to go to the grocery store every three weeks thanks to her strict getting ready routine.
The entire process takes the food blogger 40 minutes, but it is worth it to save time and money in the long run.
Amy rinses her fruits and vegetables with water and then white vinegar for a deep clean.
In the video, he started with the carrots, rinsing them under vinegar tap water and scrubbing them to remove any final grime.
He removed the stickers from the lemons and avocados and put them in a bowl of water to rinse them.
He washed and cut the celery tops to freeze them for broth, while the celery stalks were added to a pot of water and vinegar.
Peppers, lettuce, cucumbers and potatoes were washed individually in a similar way.
With onions, Amy said she “listens” if the skin sounds “wrinkly,” an indicator that it’s becoming dehydrated, in which case she’ll use them first.
The berries and grapes were soaked in water and vinegar and mixed to clean all sides.
She showed how dirty the strawberry water looked after the initial cleaning, calling it “absolutely disgusting.”
Amy said the water after cleaning the berries is “absolutely disgusting”
The Washington food blogger washes the leaves first before using a salad spinner to dry them
Berries and grapes are soaked in water and vinegar and stirred to clean all sides.
The herbs were also bathed before drying in the salad spinner, along with the salad leaves and lettuce.
Amy explained that after washing everything, she lets the products dry for two to three hours on the kitchen counter on tea towels, before spending another 10 minutes storing them in glass jars to make them last longer.
For the chives, she placed them root side down in a jar of water and kept them on the counter.
While it takes you 40 minutes to sort through everything after purchasing, it’s worth taking the extra time out of your day to save time and money.
Amy said: ‘This time spent after shopping lets me know I have products that last me several weeks.
‘Not having produce waste saves me a lot of money on groceries.
‘If I only go shopping once every three weeks or so, it doesn’t seem like a waste of time at all. Overall, I’m saving a lot of time preparing food.
‘All those quick trips to the store in the past were a waste of time and money. Now that inflation is so high, it is even more important to be able to use the items we buy.’