Storing Leftovers for Less

‘Tis the season… for leftovers. Leftovers are a life saver in our house, allowing us to cut our grocery bill, our food waste, and our prep time when the kids are ravenous. Storing them, however, had become a holly, jolly pain.

Like many families, we have been working to reduce the amount of plastic we use. This was particularly important for us when it came to plastic coming into contact with food our children would eat. (For a refreshingly clear discussion of plastics and food, visit The Smart Mama.) But what would we do without our plastic containers? And how could we store our leftovers safely without spending more money?

The answer came in a jar of jam. The Koala Sisters are big PB and J fans so Richard and I spend a lot of time with the jam jar. The jars are so pretty that I had saved several with no real plan. And then it hit me! We are already buying the perfect food storage containers; we just need to reuse them when the original contents had been consumed.

We started saving our glass jars to reuse for leftovers. Jam jars are perfect for small amounts of leftovers or for individual servings. We have several in our frig right now full of yummy mushroom soup. Jars from spaghetti sauce and peanut or almond butter are fabulous for larger amounts. All clean up easily and impart no harmful chemicals to our food – and in the end are totally recyclable!

This switch has also made us think about our food purchases in a new way. Now that we know the containers will be reused, they are a larger portion of our decision to make a purchase. Our last yogurt purchase was of yogurt in a glass rather than plastic container, in part because of its great jar. It was a tiny bit more expensive but quite delicious so this change is also helping us to expand our food horizons.

If you have questions about your plastic food storage containers, check out The Green Guide’s piece on the safety of different plastics by number. Or start your own jar collection!

Five Easy Steps to Reduce Food Waste (Without Going Insane)

I wrote earlier about our realization that we were wasting food, which meant we were also wasting money and natural resources as well as contributing to greenhouse gases.

To coin a phrase, once we admitted we had a problem we were able to start solving it. We’ve reduced the amount we don’t eat considerably and as a result have reduced our spending on groceries at a time when prices are rising. Doing all this knowing we are also helping the environment makes for a true win-win situation. Read more