How To: Make foods last longer

Keep foods fresher longer with these tricks. Learn how to make your food last longer.

You Will Need:
* Bread
* An apple
* Brown bags
* Plastic bags
* Paper towels

Step 1: Keep cookies crisp
Keep the treats in your cookie jar from getting stale by putting a piece of bread – preferably white bread – inside the jar; the cookies will draw moisture from the bread, keeping them soft. Replace the bread when it gets hard.
*Tip: Stick a slice of bread inside an opened box of brown sugar to keep it from hardening.

Step 2: Stop spuds from sprouting
Prevent potatoes from sprouting by putting them in a brown bag with a whole apple. This will keep them good for up to eight weeks.

Step 3: Sit tomatoes stem down
Store tomatoes at room temperature, uncovered and stem-side down, which blocks air from entering through the stem and prevents moisture from getting out. Putting tomatoes in the fridge may inhibit bacterial growth, but they'll quickly lose their flavor and texture.

Step 4: Separate fruits and veggies
Keep fruits and vegetables away from each other; fruits emit ethylene, a gas that makes vegetables ripen faster.

Step 5: Absorb veggie moisture
Put a paper towel in plastic bags of precut vegetables or washed lettuce. It will absorb the moisture that causes them to rot.
*Tip: With the exception of lettuce and leafy greens, wash your produce just before eating. Otherwise, the moisture can make it spoil faster.

Step 6: Store butter and eggs properly
Keep eggs in their container on a bottom shelf and butter in a covered dish on a top or middle shelf. The fridge door is too warm to maintain freshness.

Step 7: Store apples in fridge
Keep apples in the refrigerator, in plastic bags with a few holes for ventilation. They'll last weeks longer there than in a fruit bowl.