Avocados, Mangos, and Apples - oh my!

How many times have you waited, and waited (and waited and waited) for an avocado or a mango to ripen? And how many times have you been giddy to cut into it, only to see that it's either rotten or near close to being un-edible?

Money and time wasted on good food is never a good thing.

Waste no more! Lemme tell you how to ripen fruit to near perfection!

Did you know that apples and bananas give off ethylene gas and this gas naturally ripens fruits?

1. Place fruit (I've done this mostly with avocados and mangos) in a paper bag.

2. Place an apple or a banana in the bag.

3. Close up the bag and write the date on the bag.

Give it 3-5 days and gently squeeze to see if it's ripe. Based on your preference, you can leave it in a for a bit longer, but don't forget about it! Hence, writing the date on the bag.

Another way I grew up ripening avocados, is placing it in dry rice. This only works because the avocado has such a thick skin. BUT, if you forget it about, you can ruin both the avocado AND the rice. So, be careful.

Here are few more tips on how to ripen avocados. I have not tried them all, but would love to hear feedback about it.

I also just recently learned how to cut and peal avocados. Who knew you could use the skin to your advantage? Simply Recipe has great tips.

I've got 5 mangos in a paper bag right now. The ones at Costco are the best!! There WAS 6, but I got anxious and greedy and ate one prematurely. F.A.I.L. A lesson learned, for sure!

Happy ripening!