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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Food Waste, 2/18/10


I was on target for no food waste until I went to make mashed potatoes and found this.

These potatoes no more than 2 months old. I know some people buy potatoes cheap in the fall and are able to use them all winter. I had these potatoes stored in an unheated closet off the study. It is considerably colder in there than the rest of the house, maybe 50 some degrees.

When I pulled out these potatoes, they were soft, wrinkly and full of eyes. I would have still used them, but the bottom ones were all wet and slimy.

Please, if someone knows how to store potatoes properly so they last a long time, let me know how. Potatoes are on sale this week 10 lbs. for $1.88, but I don't want to buy them if I can't figure out how to store them properly and not waste them.

I bought this bag of potatoes for $2.99, so I have wasted another $1.50 this week. That makes my food waste total for the last two weeks $3.00.

5 comments:

Grape News said...

If you get an answer to your potatoe question, could you post it? I have the same issue and don't often read the comments! Thanks!

Sarah said...

I see that your bag is clipped shut, were there holes in the bag? I leave mine open on a shelf in the garage and haven't had any problems. But I really like potatoes so they may not stick around that long either.

ANewton said...

It is important to let air circulate around your potatoes. I take mine out of the bag and put them in a basket in a cool, dark place. When I see that they are beginning to sprout, I use them to make potato soup or I use a recipe for freeze ahead mashed potatoes. The air moving around them is key, imo.

Stacy said...

I've wondered this too. I keep mine in a mesh bag but don't really have a cool, dark place...at least not one I would remember and I'm sure I would stumble across them in 2013 and think, "Why are these old, disgusting potatoes here?!?!"

Anonymous said...

I take mine out of the plastic bag they come in and store in a paper bag for better air exchange...