After watching the cases rise daily here in Malaysia and seeing the conditions at the COVID-19 quarantine center, it is safe to say that we have no desire of ever leaving our homes. However, when the food supply start diminishing, we might have to go out to get more food. 

How can we limit the number of times we leave the house for groceries? 

One simple way is to eat less, but with the lockdown, what else can we do at home. So, another simple way is of course finding ways to make our groceries last longer. 

Here are a few tips and tricks on how to do that:

1. Organize your pre-packed food and canned food

Make sure you store your pre-packed and canned food in a cool and dry place so that they don’t gt damaged before their expiry date. 

When arranging them, ensure to arrange them according to their expiry date. Put the ones that expire first in the front so that you will use them first. 

2. Freeze bread

Something my grandmother always told me when it comes to bread is that the expiry date is just a suggestion, if you freeze it, it stays fresh longer then the expiry date. 

When you want to eat the bread, take the number of slices you want and simply toast them. 

3. Cut and Separate the Meat and Fish

To keep them fresh, make sure you cut and separate your meat and fish according to the normal sized portions that you consume. This means, you won’t have to defrost all the meat just to cook a small portion of it and refreeze the rest. 

Defrosting and refreezing makes the meat and fish less fresh. 

4. Storing vegetables

After buying your fresh veggies from the market, wash them and get rid of all the yellow and rotten part. Then air them out first and let them dry up. Make sure there’s no moisture when storing them. 

To store them, keep them in airtight containers, airtight bags or warp them with cling wrap. Make sure them before doing that your line the packaging with tissue to absorb any moisture. 

5. Submerge some veggies

One good tip is to fully submerge veggies like carrots, lemongrass, and ginger into jars or container of water. This will keep them fresh and ensure that they don’t dry up. 

6. Freeze your herbs

Leafy herbs such as curry leaves, coriander, turmeric leaves, pandan leaves and lime leaves can be frozen to ensure that they don’t get rotten fast.