Need to know how to decipher whether or not you should keep that lasagna you made a week ago?  Follow these guidelines to know what is fresh and what need to be thrown out.

These ranges of dates are based on a refrigerator with a setting of  40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. Shelf life also depends on the freshness of foods at the time you bought it home from the grocery store.

  • Cheese, hard: six months
  • Cheese, soft (unopened): 3 to 4 weeks
  • Cheese, soft (opened): 1 to 2 weeks
  • Fresh eggs (in shell): 3 to 5 weeks
  • Hard-boiled eggs: one week
  • Butter: 1 to 3 months
  • Olives and pickles: one month
  • Bacon (cooked): one week
  • Uncooked Steaks, roasts: 3 to 5 days chops
  • Bread dough: 3 to 4 days
  • Cooked Fish: 3 to 4 days
  • Mashed potatoes: 3 to 4 days
  • Cooked Meat: 3 to 4 days
  • Cooked Poultry: 3 to 4 days
  • Cooked Lasagna: 3 to 4 days
  • Cooked Stuffing: 3 to 4 days
  • Soups and stews: 2 to 4 days
  • Fresh Chicken or turkey: 1 to 2 days
  • Fresh Fish: 1 to 2 days
  • Fruit or pumpkin pies, unbaked: 1 to 2 days
  • Fruit or pumpkin pies, baked: 2 to 3 days
  • Gravy, meat broth: 1 to 2 days
  • White wine, recorked: 1 to 2 days

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Image: bitchcakesny/Flickr