A food blogger and mother has revealed her simple routine for ensuring her fresh food lasts for weeks, cutting down on 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 prolongs the shelf-life of her fresh groceries and cuts down on food waste.
The 47-year-old shared a clip on Instagram detailing her method for preparing and storing fruits and veggies to give them the best longevity, saying to viewers that with inflation being high ‘it is even more important to be able to use the items that we buy’.
Everything from berries and lettuce to potatoes and peppers is included, and Amy says the process takes 40 minutes.
‘I only go grocery shopping once every three weeks,’ food blogger Amy said.
Amy Cross only needs to go shopping every three weeks thanks to an unusual food hack that keeps fruit and veg fresh
Amy cleans and rinses all of her fruit and veg and keeps her fridge organised to make sure her produce lasts
Amy spends a total of 40 minutes cleaning her fruit and veg and then stores them in glass jars to maintain freshness
By being dilligent with the way she preps and stores fresh produce, the food blogger says she saves both time and money cutting out unecessary weekly shops
‘By washing and storing my produce, it stays fresh the entire time and we have no food waste.’
Amy shares her simple tips with her 120,000 followers on Instagram (@thecrosslegacy) and on her YouTube channel.
In her recent post, she filmed a haul of her grocery shop, explaining how each item was stored for maximum freshness.
The food blogger started by spending half an hour washing the produce using bowls and a salad spinner.
She usesda timer set to two minutes to ensure she didn’t over-soak the fresh food, while multi-tasking to wash different items at a time.
Amy only has to visit the grocery store every three weeks thanks to her strict prep routine
The entire process takes the food blogger 40 minutes, but is well worth it to save time and money in the long run
Amy rinses her fruit and veg in water and then white vinegar for a thourough clean
In the video, she started with the carrots, rinsing them in tap water with vinegar, and rubbing them to remove any final dirt.
For the lemons and avocados, she removed their stickers and put them in a bowl of water to rinse.
She washed and chopped celery tops to freeze for stocks, while the celery stalks were added to a pot of water and vinegar.
Peppers, lettuce, cucumbers and potatoes were similarly rinsed individually.
With onions, Amy said she ‘listens’ to hear if the skin sounds ‘crinkly’ – an indicator that it is getting dehydrated, in which case she will use it first.
Berries and grapes were soaked in water and vinegar and tossed so all sides were cleaned.
She showed how filthy the strawberry water looked after the initial clean, calling it ‘absolutely disgusting’.
Amy said the water after she’s cleaned berries is ‘absolutely disgusting’
The Washington food blogger washes leaves first before using a salad spinner to dry them off
Berries and grapes are soaked in water and vinegar, and tossed so all sides are cleaned
Herbs were also bathed before going in the salad spinner to dry, alongside salad leaves and lettuce.
Amy explained that after washing everything, she leaves the produce out to dry for two to three hours on the kitchen counter on tea towels, before spending a further 10 minutes storing it in glass jars for longevity.
For spring onions, she placed them root-down in a jar of water and keeps them on her counter-top.
While it takes her 40 minutes to sort everything post-shop, it’s well worth taking the extra time out of her day to save time – and money.
Amy said: ‘This time spent after shopping allows me to know that I have produce that lasts for several weeks.
‘Having no produce waste saves me so much money on groceries.
‘If I’m only going grocery shopping once every three or so weeks, that does not seem like a waste of time to me at all. I am overall saving so much time doing the food prep.
‘All of those quick trips to the store in the past add up with wasted time and money. Now with inflation being so high it is even more important to be able to use the items that we buy.’