You know what’s great about avocados? Everything.

Avocado comes in it’s own little neat container, travels well, boasts 10 grams of fiber, contains plenty of health-building polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, and delivers potassium, folate, and vitamins B6 and C to our sweet bods. And, due to their fat and fiber content, they help us feel full longer and help our blood sugar stay stable. An avocado at lunch can quiet those afternoon cravings for caffeine and sweets.

Hooray for avocados.

However, a recent conversation with a client helped me realize that efficient avocado storage is still a well-kept secret. We were going over her food choices, and she mentioned that she eats an avocado a week. When I inquired why she only ate one, she said,

“Well, they ripen so quickly and I’m only going to eat one in a day. So I only buy one.”

A major component of creating a Food Sass® lifestyle—that serves your health and weight AND is sustainable—is the prep habits and storage tools that you cultivate around food. If you want to eat more than one avocado a week, while saving on money, time and frustration, here’s your…

Avocado Savvy: Top 5 Ways to Save Money and Time

1. No need to buy organic avocados. Because of their thick skin, they’re rated #1 on the EWG’s Clean Fifteen list of foods that don’t typically contain health-eroding pesticides. Conventional is fine, and is less expensive.
2. Select strategically. If you buy, say, 5 avocados, buy 3 that are bright green and rock hard, and 2 that have a slight give to them. That way you’ll have 2 ripe tomorrow, and 3 that ripen a few days later.
3. When an avocado ripens, you can pop it in the fridge and it stops ripening and stays edible for about 3 days.
4. You can cut a ripe avocado in half, eat half, and keep the other half (with the pit still in) in the fridge for a day or two. It’s important to cover the flesh with plastic wrap or use an avocado keeper. Otherwise the exposed flesh turns brown, just like an apple.
5. Avocados freeze well! Simply cut them in half lengthwise, remove the pit, and scoop out each half (in one piece) using a soup spoon. Place, flat side down, on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and freeze. Then transfer into a freezer storage bag. Great in smoothies like THIS or THIS, or for making guacamole.

Having storage mojo around our awesome avocado friends opens up new opportunities for ease around health-building food choices. If you have some other avocado wisdom to share with the Create Vibrant Health community, please do tell, using the comment section below.

Enjoy, and rock that avocado-savvy!

Create Vibrant Health: BodyMindSpirit®

With love and Food Sass®,

Laurie