Storing vegetables and fruits.....what should go in the fridge?

While many of us, (including myself) have the urge to put every vegetable and fruit they buy in the fridge, sometimes doing so can actually hurt your produce. If fruits or vegetables are not ripe yet, leave them out in a cool place (away from the sunshine), to ripen. This could take 3 to 4 days till your fruits or vegetables are ripe. Remember, if you put them in the fridge this will stop the ripening process and it will just stay the way it was originally when you bought it. So if you want to stop the ripening process, put it in the fridge.  

How do I know when it is ripe? Well this depends on the fruit or vegetable itself, but typically the two most important things are color, smell and general touch. For example, avocados tend to need some time to ripen. If the avocado is hard like a rock, leave it out on the counter for a few days till it has a little "give." Then put it in the fridge. While I can't possibly cover all fruits and vegetables for the "okay" to put in fridge, I can say that some are better left out, in my opinion.

Leave out in cool place ( out of sun).

1. Potatoes
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Ginger

Items to immediately put in your fridge
1. Lettuce
2. Spinach
3. Basically any leafy green.

A good way to think about this to, is the next time you go shopping for groceries in the super market, notice which items are in the fridge and which ones aren't.

* I am not saying you shouldn't refrigerate fruits and vegetables, I just want to caution people for putting "everything" in the fridge, when some items could benefit, or tolerate being left out. 
:)