Friday, August 5, 2011

What Kind of Food Storage Does a Cook Need?

Food Storage is a big deal because I can remember the time when bugs got into my flour. Yuk! I was disgusted. Naturally, I tossed the whole flour bag into the trash and that left me with none. But it also left me with a sickening feeling about what else is infested with bugs. Sugar? Brown Sugar? My corn meal? Boxes of cereal? Coffee?

Well, admittedly it has been a few years since that day of food storage awakening. These days I may not be a great cook in the kitchen, but I do take time to store my food well.

Basically, there is dry food storage such as flour and sugar. Then there is fresh food to store such as tomatoes, lettuce and fruit, which can go bad without the help of creepy crawlies. Last but not all, there is leftovers. You know, the food in the pan that no one ate after dinner… or after any meal for that matter.

There are a ton of fancy schmancy storage containers. Some look fabUlous on the kitchen counter designed to match your decor. There was a time I had a set or two like this to hold flour, sugar, coffee, tea… but now I am a bit older and wiser. Decor is not my first priority especially since I just can't spare the counter space. So with a nice walk-in pantry, I use Lock & Lock storage containers. There's nothing better for storage on the market today. I call them the no-bugs solution to storing food forever. Well, that's a bit of a dramatization, but you get the point.

When I store fresh veggies and fruits, I generally put them each in their own drawer in the refrigerator. But, my secret to freshness, is the little round disc I slide into the bottom of each drawer. I would not have believed it, but after using this secret disc for over two years, I can testify that it works and it works well. Their called "Extra Life Fruit and Vegetable Keeper" and they absolute do double the life of fruit and vegetables.

One of the tricks I use is to store leftovers in serving size food containers. What I mean is that if there is enough leftover to make a nice meal, rather than stuff a storage container covered with plastic wrap or tin foil, or a plastic freezer baggie, I use a microwave divided plate. I get the ones that come with vented lids so that the meal is ready to go straight from the freezer to the microwave. In previous times, when there was no microwave and no cool divided plates, I used a pie plate. It worked, but not as well as the new ones do.

Here's a tip that saves me money and is good for the environment. I reduce the use of plastic storage baggies and freezer bags by invest in various size freezer to microwave containers. It may be a bit of an investment at first, but I can almost eliminate ever buy plastic bags again. This saves me money. Relieves putting more plastic waste into the trash. Keeps my food fresh and is so convenient when I have the simple two-step going from the freezer straight to warming dinner in the microwave.

There it is, an update on my quest to become a good cook. Any ideas.  Help needed:-)

That's all for today. .