How to keep cut vegetables and lettuce crisp for days

Need to keep your chopped bell peppers fresh a few days more? Try this hack from Livestrong: Use a sharp knife to cut your peppers. A dull knife could damage the exterior of the veggie. Remove the stem and seeds. Then cut into slices or chunks. Lay your pepper slices on a paper towel and wrap the towel around the peppers. Place the paper towel-covered peppers into a bowl and add about 1/2 inch of cold water. This will keep your peppers fresh for about a week.

Do you buy baby carrots just to avoid trying to slice, dice, and store full grown carrots? Try this hack from The Kitchn and save a little extra cash at the grocery store. Trim off all of the green tops from the carrots. Store the tops in a separate container if you want to use them for soup later on. Store your newly trimmed carrots in a bowl of water for several weeks. Bonus points: this actually works for baby carrots too.
4. Lettuce:

Pros at The Kitchn tried three different ways to keep lettuce greens fresh in the fridge. Method 1: Storing leaves in rolled in a paper towel then placed in a plastic bag. Method 2: Storing leaves in a hard, re-sealable, plastic container with a paper towel. Method 3: Storing the greens in a plastic produce bag with a puff of air and sealed.

Surprisingly, all three methods yielded still-fresh veggies after 7 days. At 10 days, the clear winner was method 2: Line a plastic storage container with paper towels and line the towel with greens. Don’t pack them down. Seal with a lid and store. The hard container protects the leaves from getting bruised and extra space in the container provides enough air flow to keep the greens … green!

What are some tricks you use to keep your food fresh longer? Share your tips in the comments below.