How to Remember The Freshness Of Foods in the Refrigerator

Mark prepackaged items in the fridge with a date and time. Any yogurt, milk, thawing meat packages, and any other item that you purchase already packaged should be dated and timed with the date and time you put them in the refrigerator. This will make it easier to know if the item is still fresh for eating. Take a small piece of masking tape and a Sharpie black marker and put the date and time on each item in the refrigerator. The easiest way to do this is by marking items after you purchase them from the grocery store, but before you put them away in the fridge. This way, you'll know everything has been marked and you'll save time doing it.

Store free fruits and vegetables in plastic baggies with a date and time. Dating and timing fruits and vegetables that you purchase at the grocery store will help you to remember how fresh they are. You should try to eat these items within a week, but if they still smell and look fresh, you can usually get away with two weeks for some fruits and vegetables. Simply take a Sharpie black marker and put the date and time right on the plastic baggie when you transfer these items to the refrigerator. This way, you'll know how long you have to consume them and if they are fresh or need to be thrown away later.

Store leftovers in storage containers and mark them with the date and time. Marking leftovers with a date and time will help you to know if they are still fresh enough to eat. Take a Sharpie black marker and mark each container of leftovers with the date and time you store them in the fridge. Leftovers should generally be eaten in a few days, but some people give them up to a week depending on the type of food it is. If you don't want to ruin your storage containers by writing directly on them, use a small piece of masking tape for putting the date and time. Permanent marker won't always wash off and it's easier to use tape and peal it off rather than use a new container each time.

Use a calendar to remember the freshness of food items. If you don't want to have to bother with marking each individual grocery item you put in the refrigerator, try marking it down on a calendar to remember it's freshness. Keep the calendar in an easy location in the kitchen where you can see it quickly and often. One easy way to do this is to purchase stickers in the shapes of food that show the items you purchase. Each time you put a grocery item into the refrigerator, simply put up a sticker on that calendar date and mark the time next to it. This saves a little time because you can quickly and easy access the calendar to find out which foods are still fresh and don't have to bother with marking each item with tape and a Sharpie black marker.

Keep your grocery list and re-date it. Remember the freshness of foods you buy easily by keeping the grocery list you used at the store that day and re-dating it for a week from that day. You can also date the grocery list for the day you purchase the groceries and hang it up on the fridge so that you remember to toss food items that are a week or two past the date you wrote down. This way, you'll have a list of the grocery items you purchased that day and know which ones need to be repurchased again soon. When you're in doubt about the freshness of a food item (unless it's leftovers which will probably have to be marked), look at your most recent grocery list for the date of purchase.