Saturday, November 17, 2012

Food keeping: cooler storage

After a day of exploration, laughs and family bonding (or that is what we call it), everyone is tired and hungry. Now how do you keep everyone fed but safe?

Meal planning before heading on your next outdoor excursion helps make every adventure easier and more seamless.  Many times left-overs and foods brought for one meal become components for another meal. Mr and Mrs Weaver at the Prepared Pantry offer some working guidelines for how long different foods should be keep in a cooler.   

Fresh fish, poultry and ground meat: 1-2 days max
Steaks and chops: 3-4 days
Cured meats: up to 1 week
Eggs: 1-2 weeks
Butter and margarine: butter: 1 week; margarine: 2 weeks
Milk: 2-3 days
Yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese: up to 1 week
Cheese: at least a week
Fruit:  berries and cherries: 1-2 days; soft fruits like grapes, melons, pears, peaches, plums etc: 2-4 days; apples and citrus: up to a month
Fresh vegetables: broccoli, peas, summer squash and lettuce: 2-3 days; carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, green peppers etc: 1 week; potatoes, winter squash and dry onions: couple of months

Happy meal planning!

remember Better·Living·Is·Surprisingly·Simple™ in the outdoors.
Cooler food keeping · Enjoy

http://www.preparedpantry.com/How-Long-Will-Food-Keep-in-a-Cooler.htm.