Back when I first moved into an apartment with roommates in college, I was all about the cute little plastic containers with lids that fit all nicely together and cost more than I wanted to pay for them, but I did anyway…….all for food storage. I don't know why we, as women, (some women, not all!) like these adorable little containers and like to choose which one to use for storing food and leftovers. Well, sometimes they have a great purpose, but most of the time, all you have to do is store your food in a reusable, washable, non-toxic little things called…glass jars.
It took me awhile to fully embrace this, but after reading about how you shouldn't store your food in some plastic containers, how you definitely shouldn't warm your food in the microwave in plastic containers, and how you sometimes shouldn't freeze food in plastic containers, I became confused and ultimately grasped what my wise Mother had been saying for years. Glass jars make great food storage, are easy to wash, fit nicely in the dishwasher and hello! They're free with the purchase of many food items, such as spaghetti sauce, salsa, jelly, peanut butter, olives, pickles, coconut oil…the list goes on and on. And since we don't have a place to recycle around here, keeping the glass jars, replacing the questionable plastic containers, and realizing that it super easy and SMART, I am a glass jar storage convert.
I love to make homemade salsa. Homemade salsa is best stored in a jar, like so:
Leftover green beans? Store them in a jar!
Glass jars really don't take up a ton of room like you would think. And the lids screw nicely on top, so you have many different sizes at your fingertips and you don't have to go searching for the matching lid!
Here's the bottom line, and this is *just* my opinion, but here it is, anyway. Glass jars are a) recyclable b) reusable and c) don't have BPA lining the inside like most cans do. SO if there is an option in your favorite food in a glass jar, choose that over aluminum cans. If it costs more, just remember that you get a cute storage container with your purchase!
And here's a tip that my jar loving mom shared with me. If you save a pickle jar, let's say, and it stinks like pickles (of course), just leave the lid off of the top for a few days and the smell will disappear. Don't throw it away!
