I’ve gotten some questions about food storage containers, for example…

• What to do with them?
• How to store them?
• Where in the world did all of these come from?
• Where are all the lids (or bases!)?
• Sound familiar?

I hope you all had a chance to take advantage of National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day last week!  If you browsed through your fridge last week, perhaps you now have clean and empty containers to put away (or perhaps the contents were so very nasty, the container went out as well!).

However… perhaps you are one of many people who cannot put more storage containers away because the cabinet space or drawer you have dedicated to storage containers is full to overflowing…

Or…. maybe you don’t have a space dedicated to storage containers, and that creates a different problem!

Let’s figure this out, friends!  And for the sake of brevity, I will just call them “storage containers”, regardless of plastic, glass, ceramic, etc.

First Things First, clear off a counter for this little project.

Open all the cabinet doors, drawers and pantry and collect all the storage containers (bottoms and lids) scattered through out your space.

Sort bottoms and tops by shape and then size.  You should end up with a pile of round bottoms and lids, a pile of square bottoms and lids, rectangle bottoms and lids, etc.

Once your sizes and shapes are sorted, match up bottoms and tops.  This step can be very entertaining and / or frustrating, when you realize you have 20 bottoms and no tops, or 17 tops and 2 bottoms, etc.

And once you have started sorting and matching up items, it will start to become apparent which items need to go and which can stay.  Stained, cracked, warped or mis-matched items can go.   Re-used butter tubs or yogurt bowls?  Yes.  Go.

Seriously?  Those items are not manufactured to be re-used.  Yes, go.

Now, if you have to part with a lot of your containers because of wear and age, DO NOT run right out and buy the same amount to replace them.

If you want to purchase new items, or make the switch to glass containers, slowly transition out your old containers.

 

Ask your self:

• Do you really need as many containers as you had?  Have you ever had every container in use?  Has the cabinet every been empty?  IF not, you have too many!
• Slowly determine what you really need, and only purchase new storage when you really need it.
• To really streamline the process, consider using only one or two sizes or styles of containers. These to the right are our favorite.  Stackable with a good seal for freezing, storing and transporting liquids.  Perfect for meal planning.  (2 cup size, Ziploc brand).  We use them for everything!  We have a few other sizes and types, but these are definitely my go-to!

Decide on a home for your storage containers, and let the folks who live in your house know where you put them!  Make sure the home is convenient and easy to reach.  As you put your containers away, consider how to store them to make life simpler!

Perhaps you could try a container for your containers, so you don’t have to worry about stacking them! (see picture to the right!)

I use an empty storage container to corral the lids to all the other containers!

Or how about storing them matched up, to make it easier to find them?

Whatever you choose,  tuck them away and close the door on this quick but satisfying project.  And if you’re hosting Thanksgiving this week, you will be the best hostess on the block if you have your storage containers ready to send home left overs with your guests!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!