Dear All, I'd like to hear from folks how you manage to keep food past its expiration date. 

Most of us know that eggs will keep in their origianl carton (NOT on teh door of the fridge). 

Cream cheese will keep for almost a month IF you seal the package foil tightly, & THEN wrap more alunimum foil around the package foil, tightly.

I freeze cheese so I can get it when I go to the store and just pull it out as needed.

 Celery: wrap the entire bunch in tin foil tightly to extend its life.

Boil extra eggs, peel and drop into dill pickle jar, will last indefinitely.

Do not shredd cabbage until you are going to use it, leave it whole.

Store onions and potatoes in a cool dry place, not the fridge or under the sink.

Keep tomatoes seperated and on the counter or window shelf, never refrigerate.

Freeze fresh fruit in 100% juices, in small one serving containers.  As the juice melts eat the fruit, after drink the juice.

Freeze milk, cream cheese, cheeses, butter, sour cream, yogurt, ricotta cheese, soy cheese, soy milk, rice milk, etc.

Use left over meats and breads for frozen sandwiches, including pb & j.

Freeze onions, carrots, celery in small dice for cooking soups stews, stir fry's.

Baked potatoes in crockpot in quantity and freeze individually.

Make mashed potatoes and freeze in muffin tins. 

Use extra eggs and vegetables to make quiche and freeze.

Make pot pies and freeze.

Make dollops of whipped cream and freeze. (I also mix 50/50 with pudding(mousse)and freeze).

I am sure  I do more just cant think of them right now.  : ) 

Wow!  As always, you are tje Culniary Queen!  I've printed out your post via Word.  Thank you!

 LOL  Deb, I do ths stuff so much by nature I had to stop to think up this short list!  hehehe

 I was noodling around on Google one time looking for info about "leaf" lard, and came across some info about an egg storage study--one farmer used different ways to try to store eggs without refrigeration, and kept track of how long they stayed good enough to eat safely.  The longest was eggs coated in lard and kept buried in a bucket of sand for 3 months, and the egg was still cookable and safely edible when tested.

 Now I personally wouldn't try it myself, but it did shed light on how farmers and pioneers possibly kept food good before refrigeration. The Amish use jars for small food storage, but put them in buckets of cold water for short-term preservation (such as leftovers that weren't going to the hogs).  I'm sure there are myriad other ways--jerking, smoking, curing, caking (as in rice cakes), puffing or popping (as in corn), juicing, drying, saucing (as in apples and tomatoes), canning, and whatever else our ancestors did to preserve food without refrigeration.

Traditional food preservation tells us that fermenting and culturing played a major role in ancient peoples' lives.  So did a heavy reliance on foods that don't seem to expire, like jerked/smoked meats, whole grains, beans, legumes, and berries (especially after drying).  Pemmican was an American Indian way of combining meat with berries and fat, then smoking (or is it jerking?)--anyhow, it lasted forever, and a little went a long way toward filling them up.

Cottage cheese if stored upside down willl last a week longer and yes that is true about celery, if stored wrapped tightly in foil it will stay crisp 6 to 8 weeks.

sour cream too up side down lasts longer .

Keep in mind that fresh produce should be used as quickly as possible, the longer you wait the more nutrients are lost. I wouldn't even consider keeping celery that long...it will be very devalued by six to eight weeks. I didn't know people actually even attempt to keep things this long and use them? My theory is - use as bought and needed before even having to worry about expiration dates. They are there for a reason, respect them and if you need to preserve something longer then freeze it or even better - donate it to someone who can use it before it expires if you feel you can't or don't want to. One man's trash is another man's treasure and it supports waste not as well. You can keep fresh greens longer if wrapped in paper towels to absorb moisture, herbs in little cups of water, ripe fruit/avocados longer in the fridge - this really helps with avocados. I assume the foil suggestions are to block out light and air that cause nutrient loss. However, that happens the moment fruits and vegetables are taking them their natural home - the earth, so consume as you buy or freeze or donate.

BargainBinge, I appreciate what you are saying but celery is one vegetable that does not have a lot of nutritional value, that I know of.  I use it for salads, soups or the occasional egg salad. With other vegetables like potatoes you can just buy one if that is all you need.  Its rather impossible to buy a few celery ribs.  I have been storing it this way for a couple of years and it does not lose its flavor.  I was rather skeptical at first but was amazed at the results.