• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

No Food Left Behind – Corvallis

Prevent Wasted Food

  • About Us
  • Kitchen Confessions
  • Why It Matters
    • Facts and Impacts
    • What Is Wasted
    • What About Composting?
    • DEQ Food Fact Sheets
    • Videos: Why It Matters
  • What To Do
    • Recipes for Leftovers
    • Smart Strategies
    • Estrategias Sagaces
    • Apps
    • Budget-Minded Meal Plans
    • Challenge to Waste Less Food
    • DEQ Grant Final Reports
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Español
  • About Us
  • Kitchen Confessions
  • Why It Matters
    • Facts and Impacts
    • What Is Wasted
    • What About Composting?
    • DEQ Food Fact Sheets
    • Videos: Why It Matters
  • What To Do
    • Recipes for Leftovers
    • Smart Strategies
    • Estrategias Sagaces
    • Apps
    • Budget-Minded Meal Plans
    • Challenge to Waste Less Food
    • DEQ Grant Final Reports
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Español

food storage

Mind your ‘maters!

August 14, 2020 //  by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

When was the last time you delighted in the taste experience of a ripe exploding cherry tomato? For many, one of the greatest pleasures of summer is the color, aroma and savory satisfaction of garden-fresh tomatoes, that ubiquitous vegetable (actually a fruit) that gardeners tend to have in over-abundance this time of year. Besides zucchini! (Also technically considered a fruit.)

Tomatoes are the 4th most-popular fresh market produce item for good reason: this versatile veggie-fruit can be sliced, diced, baked, stewed, roasted, sun-dried and pureed for so many of our favorite meals, year-round. Tomatoes are an essential ingredient of fresh summer salsa and many vegetable medley dishes from a variety of cultural and ethnic cuisines.

Of course, they’re also quite perishable and can be pricey, especially premium tomatoes still attached to their vines. Why not take advantage of our seasonal abundance and stock up on locally-sourced ‘maters that you prepped, froze and perhaps canned yourself? They’re sure to be fresher and better tasting than those imported from Mexico or China, not to mention anything you can buy in a can six months from now.

So let’s “mind our ‘maters” and make sure they end up where they can be properly appreciated! Here’s a few tips we hope you will find helpful:

  • Place tomatoes on the kitchen counter to ripen, away from direct sunlight, with the stem end up to prevent bruising. Monitor the ripening, then wash and prepare them for consumption at their height of flavor and juiciness! In a fridge, these qualities will diminish after just a few days.
  • Tomatoes are one of those veggies that naturally emit ethylene gas as part of their plant maturation cycles, so avoid placing or storing them near other produce that you don’t want to ripen too quickly or spoil.
  • Got too many ‘maters? Share with friends, or find the downloadable OLIO app on our website for locating people with whom to share your prodigious produce (keeping COVID-19 concerns in mind). Unfortunately, most local food banks and soup kitchens are currently not accepting donations of fresh produce, so let’s share with each other.
  • Once your tomatoes have spent time in the fridge, let them return to room temperature before preparing and consuming.
  • Ugly ‘maters still taste great! Bruised or cracked tomatoes may not work for the presentation of your bruschetta or for picky kiddos, but they are fine for freezing or canning, or as the foundation of a refreshing cold gazpacho soup, fresh salsa, or tomato juice/cocktail. (Just cut out the cracked areas and use the rest.) Over-ripe tomatoes tend to have black spots, signs of mold or an “off” smell — so off to the compost bin they go.

With COVID-19 keeping us all home more this summer, children will enjoy learning veggie-prep kitchen skills, like how to safely dice a tomato through the kid-friendly recipes and visual learning resources (in both English and Spanish) on OSU Extension Service’s “Food Hero” website. There’s 25 recipes to start with for fresh tomatoes! Numerous other veggies and categories of food can be explored as well.

This Week’s Kitchen Confessions:

JEANETTE CONFESSES: This is one of 3 or 4 portions of shredded pulled pork left from prepping for family meals. Fortunately most remaining portions went into the freezer in baggies, but this portion in the fridge got “left behind” (moldy), forgotten for too long.

$$ WASTED: About $6

LESSONS LEARNED: Either put all extra quantities in the freezer, or make sure small meal portions get onto our “Eat First” shelf or flagged on our Meal Planner so they’re eaten sooner!

KAREN CONFESSES: Before local tomatoes were in season, I bought mild sweet mango salsa which my son likes, and we enjoyed it with one meal of burritos and nachos. He went home afterwards and I placed the opened jar in the fridge door with the rest of my condiments. Since I prefer a green chile-based salsa (a bit more spicy), it tends to get used first and, eventually, I was dismayed to find a “science experiment” brewing inside the mango salsa jar.

$$ WASTED: About $2 (1/2 the cost of full jar)

LESSON LEARNED: Label it with the date opened and note it as ingredient for “Gazpacho” on my Meal Planner. Store opened jar in “Eat First” area in my fridge or encourage my son to take the rest of the jar home with him next time!

Happy Salsa Season!

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: food safety, food storage, FoodHero.org, kids cooking, OLIO app, OSU Extension Service, summer produce, tomatoes

‘Chillin’ with those summertime fruits and veggies

July 31, 2020 //  by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

It’s “chillin’ time” — mid-summer — here in the Mid-Willamette Valley. We endured a heat wave in late July with near-triple-digits, while our gardens and markets were bursting with colorful varieties of seasonal produce. Now the challenge is on: getting it all harvested, properly stored, processed, prepared and onto our plates before too much of it ends up in the compost!

Despite our best intentions, fruit and vegetables are still the most common foods that end up going to waste. We can be more proactive about waste prevention right after the produce enters our homes, by taking the time to

  • properly store it in the right places, and
  • do some prep and processing so it’s ready to be cooked and/or consumed.

You’ll be delighted by the convenience and cost savings these habits can deliver for you and your family!

To support this process, No Food Left Behind (NFLB) offers the A-Z Fruit & Vegetable Storage Guide. for preserving the “fresh factor” of your summer produce. For example: fresh basil leaves will turn black if subjected to refrigeration. Keep bunches of basil green and fragrant by storing them in a cup of water on the kitchen counter, with an optional plastic bag “tent” over the top to keep them moist.

Prep Now, Eat Later:  Clean and prepare your produce for upcoming meals and snacks before they go into the different “chill” areas of your fridge — and you’ll see how quickly they tend to get used up and eaten! A batch of carrot and celery sticks, stored in a tall glass of water on the fridge shelf, makes it very easy to grab a healthy snack throughout the week.

Blanch before freezing: Some fruits and most veggies will need more prep before going into the freezer, through a pre-cooking/cooling process known as “blanching.” This easy process helps preserve the flavor, vitamins and colors of your produce — though it requires some careful attention. You can get the details on this process from OSU’s Extension Service, a quick Web search, or a thumb-through of your favorite cookbook!

Don’t overload your freezer. The “chill” needs to have some space to circulate around your stored items. Be sure to check this Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart for recommended time limits.

Food safety questions? Just call OSU’s Extension Service’s Food Safety and Preservation toll-free hotline at 800-354-7319, staffed by certified Master Food Preserver volunteers, Monday – Friday between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., through October 9, 2020.

What’s in your freezer? Don’t freeze it and forget it!

JEANETTE keeps track with NFLB’s  handy-dandy Freezer Inventory Guide. It works best when combined with NFLB’s other “Smart Strategies” to help you plan more, waste less and save more money.

This week’s Kitchen Confession:

KAREN CONFESSES:

With peak veggie/salad season underway, I picked up some cilantro-based salad dressing from the refrigerator case at my local store. After I got home, I left the bottle on the kitchen counter, anticipating using it on a salad with my evening meal. (Typically I use dressings that don’t need refrigerating until after the bottle has been opened.)

Tragically, I neglected to READ THE LABEL specifying that refrigeration was always required. The salad did not happen that evening after all, but the bottle remained on my kitchen counter. Two days later, the magic of organic compounds fermenting had burst the lid, and the dressing was ruined.

$$ WASTED: $3.49

LESSON LEARNED: Read product labels! Make a note on my “Smart Shopping List” next time I’m looking for a new salad dressing.

NATIONAL FARMER’S MARKET WEEK: AUGUST 2-8, 2020

Whether you do your own garden and harvesting or not, let’s not forget the valuable labor of the farm workers who bring the bounty of the fields and greenhouses to our grocery stores and markets. Hooray for the harvesters! You can celebrate these essential workers and Oregon’s direct-to-customer growers August 2-8, National Farmer’s Market Week.

We are now tabling at the Corvallis Southtown Farm Stand & Market from 5-7pm on Tuesdays through October. If you haven’t done so already, check out this charming neighborhood-style market at the dead end of SE Alexander Avenue, and stop by to say hello!

 

 

 

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: food storage, freezer, Freezer inventory guide, Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide, National Farmer's Market Week, OSU Extension Service, seasonal produce, Southtown farmer's market

Footer

© 2025 No Food Left Behind – Corvallis
  • Facebook
  • Instagram