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Simple Joyful Food

small ideas that add joy to life

kitchen basics

Stop! Please don’t store your tomatoes in the fridge.

February 27, 2013 6 Comments
nwafoodie storing tomatoes properly how to don't in fridge

Do mealy, mushy, and messy tomatoes frustrate you?

Are you fooling yourself by saying, “But it is wintertime, not tomato time.  It is nature’s way. What else should I expect?”

Okay, technically it IS wintertime and not tomato time, yet you should EXPECT more.  You know I just want the best for you.  I want you to have the freshest, cleanest tasting, ripest, and most delicious food experience each time you open your mouth.  Unless you have a greenhouse, I know you are not able to buy fresh off the vine tomatoes that are bursting with flavor right now.  Even the “fresh off the vine” tomatoes aren’t rocking your boat at the present.

 

I understand.

However, there is something you CAN do to maintain tomato integrity… just keep them out of the refrigerator. Tomatoes do best when stored on your countertop at a comfortable room temperature.  Keeping them in the cold refrigerator turns them to a mushy, mealy mess. Not pretty. Not tasty.  If you have chopped tomato leftovers, store them in a glass container with a lid… and, yep you guessed it, NOT in the fridge.

This is an easy tip you will want to incorporate in your life right away because you will notice a big happy immediate difference.

Happy storing!

Lyndi

Eat well, my friends. Eat well.

PS ::  If you are also storing your cucumbers on the counter, it is best to keep them away from your tomatoes, melons, and bananas.  These all emit an ethylene gas, which cucumbers are sensitive to. I learned that tasty tidbit from rootsimple, a “back to basics” blog about all things homegrown.  Check them out.

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  1. Debbie says

    February 28, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    Great photo!

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      March 1, 2013 at 7:18 pm

      Thanks Debbie! I am challenging myself to take better food photos… ones that I would find interesting if I saw on someone else's site!

      Reply
  2. Julianne Thompson says

    March 1, 2013 at 2:48 am

    I didn't realize this applied to chopped tomato leftovers too. Good to know!

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      March 1, 2013 at 7:19 pm

      Yessirrreee. The key is to make sure you eat them pretty quickly since they will breakdown due to all of those juices. I like to run mine through a strainer, depending on how I plan on using them.

      Reply
  3. Bestfoodies says

    March 16, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    Hi, just found your blog and followed you. I completely agree about the tomatoes! My eye was drawn in by the ceramic strawberry basket the tomato is in…I have the same one! Stop by and see me sometime at http://www.bestfoodies.com.

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      March 17, 2013 at 12:58 pm

      How cool is that? Not only do we have the same ceramic strawberry basket… we both have "foodie" in our names! 🙂

      I will go check you out, now… thanks for finding me!

      Reply

My name is Lyndi Fultz, and I live in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, which span Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri.

I like to share small ideas for living simply and eating happily.

You will find that I talk a lot about food because we all need to eat. Why not add little bits of food joy where possible?

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inspiration

“Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.” – Julia Child

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