How long?

[Stefanie]

I am not an expert in the kitchen at all, and the other times I have tried this woe, I have always ended up going out to eat more than eating at home because it was more convenient. This time, I want to do everything right, and it's hard to measure things correctly when you go out to eat. Plus, its expensive! I'd like to spend one or two days a week preparing all of the foods I'm going to eat for the next few days. However, I have no idea how long meat and eggs last in the fridge before they go bad. Could someone let me know how long hard-boiled eggs and cooked chicken, shrimp, and beef will stay good? Also, we can only have half an avacado - when I have tried to put the other half in the fridge it got all brown and nasty. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?

Thanks everyone!

[rajenki]

I believe if you squeeze lemon juice on the cut avocado, it won't turn brown. Someone else will need to back me up here, though as I've never tried it myself.

I pre-cook multiple portions of things and then I freeze them in single serving sizes. I probably keep Ziploc in business.

[pagliaccia]

A bit of lemon juice on an avocado definitely keeps it green longer. Also, hard-boiled eggs last at least 4-5 days in the fridge, from my experience. Cooked meat stays good for a while, too. I tend to just make something really nice for dinner, and cook a little extra of it, then package the extra for work the next day. Or, I hard-boil a bunch of eggs on Sunday night and use them over the week.

Also, check out this site: StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide - Save Money, Eat Better, Help The Environment It helps make things clearer.

[nturtle]

Oh pagliaccia thanks for this link!!!
I'm a freak about expiration dates. I can't stand the thought of using food past that date stamped on it and it makes me so crazy when I can't find a date stamp! lol. This site will help me mellow out about it! And I'll save money too.

[pagliaccia]

I'm so happy that it'll help you!

Now that we're eating real food, the kind that actually doesn't have preservatives and everything, we have to stick together.

[momonmission99*]

The lime-lemon juice only lasts for a bit. It's still going to be partly brown the next day. The taste isn't much different, I just can't do it. I always throw the other half in the trash lol. I know that's wasteful... I should just give it to my 4 yr old. He LOVES them. It was his first food.

I just stay safe and have a salad or steak/veggies. I've learned to eyeball my veggies. You just get so used to it. If I'm not sure, I just will eat half or order the much smaller salad.

[chinadoll]

Generally, meat leftovers are good for three or four days with no problem. Seafood tends to get funky sooner. Eggs are much hardier than most of us believe. Outside the US they are sold unrefrigerated and to be honest I have never had a problem with them. Hardboiled eggs are definitely safe after a week and I have occasionally had them go as long as ten days before using them with no problem. For avocados, I squirt lemon juice onto plastic wrap and put the avocado cut side down, This seems to keep it green longer. But they don't usually last that long in my house anyway. LOL

[boonie stomper]

Uncooked eggs do last quite a bit longer than cooked. When laid, the mother bird waits until finished laying the clutch (which can be quite large in some species, and take many days) before incubating even begins. In the fridge, they can be fine even after a month (uncooked with shells intact) but cooked use them up within a week; 2-3 days out of fridge max (like if you hide some boiled eggs for Easter, and don't find them until Monday, they should be fine).

[Stefanie]

Thanks, everyone for your responses! Nturtle, I'm a freak about expiration dates, too! Thanks for that site, too Pagliacca. Awesome info!

[Elizellen]

I read somewhere that if you leave the seed in the cut half as well as use lemon juice over the cut surface and wrap it in clingfilm (saran wrap?) tightly to exclude the air it can last longer green.

I never tried it myself as we always split the avocado between us