

If someone were to ask me what I waste the most money on, on a monthly basis, I ain't gonna lie; I'd have to say produce would definitely top the list. I think a part of the reason is because, as grandma used to say, while shopping, "My eyes are bigger than my stomach" and I end up getting more than I need. Also, it wasn't until last year sometime that I really started to pay attention to what the shelf life for various fruits and vegetables actually are (if you'd like to learn more about that, click here). Plus, it wasn't until a few months ago that I became aware of some of the produce-related hacks that I'm about to share with you; ones that can make your foods easily last double their regular amount of time.
Fresh fruits and veggies are definitely better for your health than anything that is processed. But there's no point in buying produce if you're gonna toss everything out (due to them rotting) before you get around to actually enjoying them (le sigh). If that's the pattern you tend to find yourself in, these 12 hacks for making produce last longer may be an answer to your grocery shopping and budget-related prayers.
Hacks For Keeping Your Fruits & Vegetables Fresh
1. Prep Your Own Guacamole (Kinda)
Although I'm not exactly sure what the rhyme or reason is for this particular hack, what I do know is I hate the texture of a slimy avocado. The way to keep that from happening is to 1) store it into a plastic container that has a lid and 2) to place a slice of onion in there with it. If you're worried that the smell (or even taste) of the onion will transfer onto the avocado, no worries—miraculously, it won't.
2. Place Mushrooms in a Brown Paper Bag
If you don't plan on eating your mushrooms for a few days, rather than washing them off as soon as you buy them, take them out of their original packaging and then place them into a brown paper bag.
The bag has a way of absorbing any excess moisture that the mushrooms may have so that they don't mold so quickly.
Another tip? Keep the bag away from any foods that naturally have strong odors or flavors (like garlic). Mushrooms tend to absorb whatever it is closest too. (Oh, and yes, you can—and should—rinse off the mushrooms, right before eating them.)
3. Create Olive Oil Ice Cubes
Want a lot of flavor in your food but don't feel like always having to do a ton of prepping? As far as seasoning goes, something you can try is creating ice cubes out of olive oil, some of your favorite seasonings and fresh herbs. That way, once you're ready to cook, you can just take a couple of cubes out and throw them into your pot or pan. Speaking of seasoning your food, if you use ginger root and fresh turmeric a lot, you might want to store both of them in your freezer; they typically last longer if/when you do.
4. Store Potatoes and Apples Together
Another hack that I can't really explain, I can just tell you that it works, is to put potatoes and apples together. Why in the world would you possibly do that? Well, it's a pretty surefire way to keep your potatoes from sprouting before you actually get around to eating them.
5. Keep Ethylene-Emitting Produce Away from the Rest
Ethylene is a lot of things. As it relates to what we're touching on today, it's the kind of gas that causes certain foods to ripen at a faster pace. While this can be cool for foods with this type of gas in them (tomatoes, avocados, bananas and honeydew top the list), it totally wreaks havoc on apples, broccoli, cabbage and carrots. That's why it's imperative that you never store these foods together.
6. Don’t Store Tomatoes in the Fridge
When tomatoes no longer have their stems attached to them, it is much easier for air to get in and moisture to get out. That's why it's a good idea to store them at room temperature (out of the sunlight) instead of placing them into your refrigerator.
Also, keep the tomatoes from touching each other as much as possible. Something about them being stacked on top of each other affects their original taste and texture.
7. Put Asparagus in Water
I don't know about you, but I really enjoy baked asparagus spears. Problem is, sometimes they go bad before I get around to preparing them. A cool way to keep your own asparagus spears fresh for at least 10 days is to cut ¼ in. off of the bottom of the stalks, place them in a cup of water and then put them into the refrigerator. There's something about the extra oxygen and fluid from the water that extends this veggie's shelf life when you do.
Speaking of water, if you put chopped up dried onions and chives in an empty water bottle and then place the bottle into your freezer, that is one way to keep them extra fresh for a longer period of time as well.
8. Keep Nuts and Seeds in the Refrigerator
I'm willing to bet that you probably store your nuts and seeds in your pantry. Problem with that is, the combination of light and heat can result in both getting moldy and stale. You can avoid this by putting both into some airtight containers and placing them into your fridge. Your nuts and seeds will taste so much fresher (and last longer) if you do.
9. Soak Strawberries in Vinegar
First off, let me just say that, even if you happen to see strawberries in your store year-round, they are really only in season during the summer; more specifically, the entire month of June. That's important to keep in mind because when fruit is sold during its off season, you might be surprised by how many additives, preservatives and artificial coloring are added to them (yuck). That said, if you can't wait until summertime rolls around, just so that you can dig into a bowl of fresh strawberries, but you hate that they seem to go bad within a couple of days, do this. Put 2 ½ cups of water into a bowl, along with a ½ cup of white vinegar. If you soak your berries in this mixture, you'll get about an extra week of time before you'll need to eat them. (This hack typically goes for all berries, by the way.)
10. Dismantle Your Lettuce
Want your lettuce to last longer than 2-3 days? Separate its leaves, place a paper towel between each one, put them into a plastic bag and then store the leaves in the fridge. It'll earn you 5-8 extra days if you do because the paper towels will absorb the moisture that could cause the lettuce to mold.
11. Sprinkle a Little Lemon Juice on a Few Things
If you want to extend the life of your avocados or you want to keep chopped fruits like apples and bananas from going brown for at least 3-4 hours, sprinkle some fresh lemon juice on them. Long story short, the acid from the lemon keeps the oxidation (browning) of these types of food from happening. Pretty great, right?
12. Keep Fruits and Veggies at 40 Degrees
It's basically a science lesson, why a lot of produce needs to be kept at 40 degrees (there's a full breakdown on the logic behind it here). Bottom line is, in order for your fruits and veggies to stay fresh and delicious, it's important that your fridge is no higher than 40 degrees and no lower than 32 degrees. If you do that—along with the rest of this—you won't have to make a salad as big as your house in under 24 hours, just to make your produce run make sense. Awesome.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter here and check out the related reads below:
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It's kinda wild that, in 2025, my byline will have appeared on this platform for (what?!) seven years. And yeah, when I'm not waxing poetic on here about sex, relationships and then...more sex and relationships, I am working as a certified marriage life coach, helping to birth babies (as a doula) or penning for other places (oftentimes under pen names).
As some of you know, something that I've been "threatening" to do for a few years now is write another book. Welp, October 2024 was the month that I "gave birth" to my third one: 'Inside of Me 2.0: My Story. With a 20-Year Lens'. It's fitting considering I hit a milestone during the same year.
Beyond that, Pumas and lip gloss are still my faves along with sweatshirts and tees that have a pro-Black message on them. I've also started really getting into big ass unique handbags and I'm always gonna have a signature scent that ain't nobody's business but my own.
As far as where to find me, I continue to be MIA on the social media front and I honestly don't know if that will ever change. Still, if you need to hit me up about something *that has nothing to do with pitching on the site (I'm gonna start ignoring those emails because...boundaries)*, hit me up at missnosipho@gmail.com. I'll do what I can. ;)
Eva Marcille On Starring In 'Jason’s Lyric Live' & Being An Audacious Black Woman
Eva Marcille has taken her talents to the stage. The model-turned-actress is starring in her first play, Jason’s Lyric Live alongside Allen Payne, K. Michelle, Treach, and others.
The play, produced by Je’Caryous Johnson, is an adaptation of the film, which starred Allen Payne as Jason and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lyric. Allen reprised his role as Jason for the play and Eva plays Lyric.
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Tracee Ellis Ross Is Still Living A 'Robust' Life Despite Sometimes Grieving Not Being Partnered
Tracee Ellis Ross sat down with former first lady Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson for their IMO podcast to have a candid discussion about dating, marriage, and family. At 52, the beloved actress is single, but is still open to finding her person. However, she realizes that she has to navigate dating differently, describing herself as a "unicorn."
“I’m a very unique sort of unicorn of a woman, so it's gonna take a unique person,” she explained. "And in the meantime, I've really learned how to live my life and enjoy it and not sit around waiting."
Calling herself a "choiceful woman," she has had to push against culture norms and found that many of her experiences with men around her age were challenging due to the toxic masculinity they had been raised in. Many of their views about relationships conflicts with how she lives her life, so she tends to date younger.
“It's not just that I'm older. I’m also very embodied. I am a full, very whole person who knows myself, who is in charge of my life and who lives a very full, just robust life," she said.
Regardless if they're younger or older, Tracee has made it clear that she isn't settling and won't be in a relationship for the sake of having a partner. Even when loneliness creeps.
“As much as grief does surface for me around not having children and not having a partner, I still wouldn’t want the wrong partner. At all, I’m not interested in that. You have to make my life better, it can’t just be ‘I’m in a relationship just to be in a relationship,” she said.
Fans have watched pieces of Tracee's life played out on social media and TV. Just one look at her Instagram, you see that the black-ish star lives her life to fullest and it's filled with fashion, family, and all-round fabulousness.
"Even though the grief does emerge, and that comes, and I hold that, I think of what I’ve done. I think I woke up every morning trying to do my best. I didn’t wake up one morning and be like I’m gonna mess this day up. So I must be where I’m supposed to be.”
She added, “And sometimes I think of all of the things I’ve done—the courage that I’ve had to have, what I had to learn to how to navigate as a single person with no one to hide behind. It's built a really beautiful experience around me and I have incredible friends."
The Black Mirror actress has spoken about dating before and has always stated that she doesn't allow singleness stop her from living her best life.
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