When was the last time you cleaned out your refrigerator or freezer? If you’re like most people, it’s been a while. Fear of wasting food is one reason that people neglect the fridge when actually the opposite is true.
An updated inventory and fridge clean-out schedule helps to minimize food waste, saves money, and reduces your stress levels. It also helps you plan your meals. Here is a great article on The 4 rules to eat healthy to help you do that..
The lists below will help you realize a few things.
- How long to keep the food
- You don’t need to store so much food
- Unless you have a big family, do not supersize.
Produce
Fruits and vegetables are the most wasted items that are kept in the fridge, so let’s start there.
- Apples: 3 weeks
- Blueberries: 1 week
- Broccoli and cauliflower: 1 week
- Chard, kale, and spinach: 3 days
- Leafy herbs like parsley and cilantro: 3 days
- Lemons and limes: 3 weeks
- Lettuce: 5 days
- Melon: 5 days
- Mushrooms: 1 week
- Strawberries and raspberries: 3 days
- Winter squash: 1 week
- Woody herbs: 3 weeks
Dairy
- Hard cheeses: 4 to 6 months, unopened
- Butter: 3 months
- Cream cheese: 2 months, unopened
- Eggs: 3 to 5 weeks
- Heavy cream: 1 month
- Milk: 1 week
- Almond Milk, store-bought: 10 days
- Almond Milk, homemade: 5 days
- Pizza: 3 to 4 days
- Ricotta and cottage cheese: 1 week
- Sour cream: 3 weeks
- Soft cheese: 2 weeks, unopened
- Tofu: 3 weeks
- Yogurt: 2 weeks
Meat, poultry, seafood
- Bacon: 2 weeks, unopened
- Chicken: 1 to 2 days
- Cold cuts: 2 weeks, unopened
- Fish fillets: 2 days
- Ground meat: 1 to 2 days
- Hot dogs: 2 weeks, unopened
- Pork, chops, and roasts: 3 to 5 days
- Raw shrimp: 2 days
- Shellfish (in shells): 2 days
- Shellfish (shucked): 1 day
- Steaks: 3 to 5 days
Condiments
- Ketchup: 6 months
- Maple syrup: 1 year
- Mayonnaise: 2 months
- Mustard: 1 month
- Salsa: 1 month
- Soy sauce: 1 year
Bread
When I was growing up, we put bread into the bread drawer. At that time there were four of us eating toast and sandwiches, so a loaf of bread lasted only a few days, maybe a week. When I moved into my first apartment, if I left bread on the counter, inevitably it was moldy before I finish it. So, I started to put it into the refrigerator.
A fresh loaf of bread from the bakery was always a conundrum. To fridge or not to fridge. Turns out, mom was right. The best way to keep bread as fresh as possible is to store it at room temperature. Store that yummy crusty bread in a part of the kitchen that isn’t too hot or dry. You don’t want to re-bake the bread in the sun. After 3 days, if you have not completely gobbled it up, then and only then put it in the FREEZER!
How Cold is Your Freezer?
Meat, poultry, seafood
- Bacon: 1 month
- Chicken, raw: 9 to 12 months
- Chicken or turkey, cooked: 4 to 6 months
- Cold cuts: 2 months
- Fish fillets: 6 months
- Ground meat: 4 months
- Ham, cooked: 1 to 2 months
- Hot dogs: 1 to 2 months
- Meat casseroles, cooked: 3 months
- Pork, chops, and roasts: 4 to 12 months
- Raw shrimp: 6 months
- Steaks: 4 to 12 months
- Tofu: 5 months
Miscellaneous Items
- Bread and cake: 3 months
- Butter: 6 to 9 months
- Cookies, baked or dough: 3 months
- Fruit: 6 to 12 months
- Fruit pies, unbaked: 9 months
- Ice cream and sorbet: 2 months
- Pizza: 1 to 2 months
- Soups and stews: 2 to 3 months
- Yogurt: 2 months
Meet Denise E. Stegall, the CEO and Curator of Living Healthy List.com. With 25 years of experience and study in nutrition, cooking, exercise, and coaching, she helps female entrepreneurs and businesswomen curate a healthy, happy, and productive life.
As an inspirational thought leader, Denise provides honest, research-backed information on health, wellness, personal development, and fun for real-life application. Her platform, Living Healthy List, is a go-to community for health and wellness resources, empowering positive changes and creating the life you want.
Denise’s background in nutrition and her philosophy of “Eat Real Food, Make Good Decisions, and Be Accountable” shaped her International Best Seller, “Healthy Living, Happy Life: A Practical Path to Finding the Healthy Lifestyle That Works for You!”
She goes beyond her book and Living Healthy List to offer “Forever Wellness Lifestyle ,” a groundbreaking group coaching model with individualized roadmaps for true health, balance, stress management, confidence, and an uplifting lifestyle. Denise E. Stegall is devoted to empowering individuals to embrace holistic well-being and fulfillment.
“Living a healthy lifestyle does not have to be hard! “