Groceries won't fit in the fridge!

[ElsieLC]

I have my one-week menu plan and it has simplified shopping, cooking, and arguments around here. That part is great. But it won't fit in the fridge! I have a regular-sized refrigerator in my house and putting away those fresh greens requires a lot of cramming! This is even if I am careful to clean out any leftovers or mystery items before I shop.

How do you fit a week's worth of fresh spinach, lettuce, and beets in your fridge? The alternative is to shop more often (the horror!) or buy canned/frozen instead (another horror).

[CookieMonsterMommy]

Shopping more frequently, esp if you have a small, frequently updated market nearby is best. Every day that fruits/veggies are on the shelf/in the fridge, they lose nutrients.

But if that's not a road you want to travel down, consider preparing some of the veggies before hand. For example, if you're making steamed spinach for dinner on Wednesday, you can steam it on monday, shrinking a huge bag into a much smaller container. If you're going to have sauteed cabbage and sausage on Thursday, sautee the cabbage on Monday when you get home, again turning a whole head or two into a bowl full. They can later be reheated. Beets for a salad tomorrow can be sliced and put into a baggie tonight.

Those containers can be stacked and rearranged more easily than a bunch of fresh fruits/veggies.

[425lisamarie]

At the restaurant supply, I bought a few sizes of "crispers." They are hard plastic just likle the pull out ones in your fridge, and come in full size, then half, third, etc, kind of like buffet servers. Thing of the salad bar type things, with the plastic lid and a little opening for a serving tong to stick out.

I have a huge deep one, and then a few smaller ones. I measured my fridge so that I keep 3 of them on one big shelf (one huge, two half sizes). I put all my washed lettuce/greens in the huge one n(i eat lots of salad/spinch) with a damp paper towel on the top, then lid. In the others I just put all my other veggies, zukes, carrots, etc. In one usually fruits or whatever.

I also keep things in the crispers, but they don't hold a lot. This way, they are in something protective, away from things smooshing them in bags or something spilling on them.

[ElsieLC]

Ooh, the restaurant-sized crisper idea really appeals to me. And I hadn't thought of doing partial prep in advance--I could only picture hoisting all the grocery bags out of the car and trying to put stuff away with my toddler's "help" and then collapsing from exhaustion. I like the idea of just doing some of the work in advance.