Still Tasty

I don't know about you, but I hate throwing food away. Not scrapping the plate into the trash when I can't possibly take another bite, I mean taking out a bottle of salad dressing, or leftovers, or box of baking soda and not having any idea if it's still good.  More often than not I throw it away, because here's a fun fact about me-I have essentially no sense of smell.  While you may simply sniff the dressing, I just stare at it. 

Here is a new question I've been pondering lately-if tomatoes are in an unrefrigerated bin at the store, why do I put them in the fridge when I get home? My mom puts every vegetable but potatoes in the fridge, as well as the peanut butter, but that's a different blog post.  As the fourth child, my mom didn't explain a lot of kitchen mysteries to me, when I was underfoot in the kitchen she just told me to go read a book instead. That explains a lot of things.

So here I am, a late blooming kitchenista, wanting to unlock the hidden secrets of the most unfamiliar room in the house.  I recently discovered a website that has answered many of my questions, so I share it here, where you kind find out if things are still tasty. I'm sure most of you already possess most of this information, but I love the section on shelf life where you can find out proper storage for open and unopened items and how long they are safe to eat.  I printed several pages and put them in a plastic sleeves to keep in my kitchen for those details I can never remember, like which vegetables to store in plastic bags and which vegetables to never, ever store in plastic bags.  I'm cooking a lot more of what I bring home and my husband is happy to never hear the words "Can you smell this?" again.

Do you have any kitchen sites you like? Post them in the comments.  I want to be a good steward with both the money and the time I spend on meals and can use all the help I can get!