I know, you’re thinking, “Really?  That’s all she’s got?  Storing carrots?”

It was an issue for me.  Maybe it’s been an issue for you?  I thought I’d share my ridiculously simple but perhaps unusual solution.

First, the problem.  The four year old generally won’t eat carrots unless they are cooked.  He doesn’t like to have to work so hard in the chewing department.  When I make a batch, I usually make enough for two or three meals, so I don’t have to keep cooking new batches afresh.  But when you put cooked carrots into a container for storage, very quickly they end up getting… slimy.  Have you experienced this?

It’s actually a problem with raw carrots, too.  I often buy the bags of baby carrots, even though I know it’s lazy and cheating and I don’t want my kids growing up thinking that’s what carrots look like out of the ground.*  But still.  These bags usually contain some moisture to keep the carrots from drying out.  And after I’ve stored the carrots in their resealable bag for a few days, the ones at the bottom get slimy, too.  They’ve been marinating in the water constantly, and they go bad kind of quickly.

I do remember my mom storing carrots fully immersed in water when I was a kid.  She’d get the bag of carrots, peel and cut them all into sticks, and then store them in a Tupperware– and back then, I’m pretty sure it was an actual Tupperware.  It was this tall, thin, orange plastic container that I think was supposed to be for a beverage, because it had a pop spout on the top.  But she always stored carrots and celery sticks in there.  And I remember when you went to get some out, you froze your hand because you had to immerse it into the refrigerator-cooled, carrot-storing water.

Anyhoo.  What to do?  You need some moisture so the carrots don’t dry out, but if the moisture isn’t mediated in some way, it leads to sliminess.  So I decided to store all my carrots with paper towels in their containers.  And you know what?  It totally works.

First, I line the container with a clean, dry paper towel.  For small containers, I only use a half of a paper towel, and I fold it into thirds.

Usually, I’m putting the carrots in straight from cooking, so they are already a little wet.  This moisture wets the paper towel just a tad.  And then, while they are stored, the towel stays damp enough to keep the carrots fresh, but not overly damp.

This is often how I put the kids’ carrots into their lunchboxes, too.

Voilà.  I know it seems so simple, but it has really helped me with my root vegetable storage.

So there you go.  By the by, this system also works great for greens like Swiss chard or kale; put the washed leaves in a ziploc bag with a paper towel, and they stay fresh for a really long time.

*Side story here.  The other day, the four year old says to me, “Mom, are carrots bohnzalay?”  Or at least, that’s what I heard.  I kept asking him to repeat because I could not figure out what he was saying.  Finally, he says, “Are carrots BONES of LEGS???”  (He was super exasperated with my stupidity.)  After some more conversation, I discovered that he thought carrots were leg bones from some animal.  Heavy sigh.  What kind of job am I doing on the nutritional education front???  You should probably not listen to me.

Share!

•