12 Kitchen Tips That Will Preserve, Stretch, and Extend The Shelf Life of Foods

At least once a week I find myself throwing out food because I've had it for some time or I stored it improperly. I am not a real "Kitchen Mechanic" so I need to use recipes, and the Internet is my friend when it comes to finding ways to preserve, stretch, and extend the shelf life of my foods.

I have found some very simple kitchen tips to help me out; so here they are.

1. When you purchase bananas and get them home, take them apart; separate them from the stem. If you leave them at the stem, they ripen faster.
2. I love cheese, so I've learned to store my open chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. The cheese will stay fresh much longer and not mold.
3. Did you know that peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating? Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
4. Ground beef is not my favorite to cook because it sticks to the pan, but adding a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
5. If you want to stretch your scrambled eggs or omelets and want them rich too, add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and beat them up. YUM!
6. I like to spice up my brownies by melting Andes mints in a double broiler and pouring the melted Andes mints over my warm brownies. I let the brownies set for a while. YUM! YUM!
7. I like pizza, but warming it up and keeping the crust from softening up is a challenge. So, heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat medium to low and heat until warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy pizza crust. This was on a cooking channel and it works.
8. To make the clean up of deviled eggs easy, do this. Put cooked egg yokes in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash until they are all broken up, then add the remaining ingredients, reseal the zip lock bag, continue to mash and mix thoroughly, then cut a tip of the zip lock bag, squeeze mixture into eggs. Just throw away bag when done. No mess.
9. When you purchase a container of frosting from the grocery store it sure is thick. To make it stretch further whip it with your mixer for a few minutes doubling it in size. You get to frost more cake or cupcakes with the same amount.
10. Reheating refrigerated bread - To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
11. Measuring Cups - Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the measuring cup. Next, add your ingredient, like peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. Say goodbye to Fruit Flies. To get rid of Fruit Flies take a small glass, fill it 1/2 inch with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You'll find the Fruit Flies drawn to the glass and gone forever.