Thanks so much to the group that attended the class today on Prepping and Preparing Vegetables.  We covered a lot of information on ways to use fresh vegetables and ways to prep your vegetables to have them ready for the week.  Whether you harvest from your garden, get them in your weekly CSA bag or buy them from your local farmer’s market it’s important to take time to prep and store them correctly so that they stay fresh to use that week.

There are a few kitchen gadgets that I find invaluable to make life easier and keep those veggies fresh.

A good salad spinner is a must for taking the extra moisture off of your leafy greens.  Give those greens a good washing in cool water, drain them and put them through the salad spinner to remove the excess moisture.  Leaving the excess moisture on them will cause them to go bad quicker.  I have a salad spinner from Pampered Chef that I enjoy and also an OXO Salad Spinner.  They both work great and are easy to use.

After they are dried I either layer them in a seal able container with some layers of paper towels to absorb any extra moisture or sometimes roll them in a damp dish towel if I am going to use them soon.

The other thing that we use to extend the life of the veggies for the week’s use is a vacuum sealer that attaches to a Food Saver.  The Food Saver (also a brand that many know as a Seal a Meal) has an attachment that seals the food airtight in a canning jar.  Sealing the pre-prepped veggies in the jar this way definitely keeps your vegetables fresher.  You can prep your veggies ahead for the meals that you have planned for the week, half gallon jars if you need a lot for the meals or quarts or pints for the smaller quantity recipes.

Another gadget that I really enjoy is the spiralizer, especially with the squash and zucchini that are just starting to come into season here in Georgia.  You get more veggies into your diet using these for your pasta and even those that cannot have gluten can enjoy them.  Not only for  zucchini but I have enjoyed using it for carrots, kohlrabi, radishes, potatoes and apples.  I am sure that there are other veggies in the waiting.  Look for the one that I have at this link.  There are plenty of more expensive ones but this work great

Check these gadgets out that I enjoy using and see if they are something that you might want to add to your kitchen to save time and keep your food from going bad.