As a kid, I remember my mother carefully washing out plastic bags to be reused. She had an entire drawer full of folded Wonder Bread bags. Back then, I'm not even sure they sold any kind of plastic bags to be used for food storage in the grocery store.
She also would wash out Solo cups after big dinners because they were "too good to throw away". Many times, after she'd cooked a huge meal for all of us grown kids and her grandkids, I'd try to sneak them into the trash so I wouldn't wind up having to wash them! But, she'd inevitably see them and fish them out. LOL!
I suppose my mother, who we called Muzzy, taught me well because now I find myself trying to reuse items instead of tossing them out.
I use a Seal-a-Meal to package items for our freezer. After I open one up and cook the contents, I wash them out to be reused. Those darned bags are expensive!
It's a P.I.T.A. to wash them by hand and I'm always concerned that I might not get all the residue left from meat out of the bag. One evening while loading the dishwasher, I discovered that you can slide the empty bag over a saucer or small plate and just stand it up in the bottom rack. Voila! The dishwasher does all the work and is hot enough to kill any dangerous bacteria. I just turn the bag inside out so that the water can hit all the surface that was exposed to the food.
No more squishing and wrestling the bags in a sink full of hot water!
She also would wash out Solo cups after big dinners because they were "too good to throw away". Many times, after she'd cooked a huge meal for all of us grown kids and her grandkids, I'd try to sneak them into the trash so I wouldn't wind up having to wash them! But, she'd inevitably see them and fish them out. LOL!
I suppose my mother, who we called Muzzy, taught me well because now I find myself trying to reuse items instead of tossing them out.
I use a Seal-a-Meal to package items for our freezer. After I open one up and cook the contents, I wash them out to be reused. Those darned bags are expensive!
It's a P.I.T.A. to wash them by hand and I'm always concerned that I might not get all the residue left from meat out of the bag. One evening while loading the dishwasher, I discovered that you can slide the empty bag over a saucer or small plate and just stand it up in the bottom rack. Voila! The dishwasher does all the work and is hot enough to kill any dangerous bacteria. I just turn the bag inside out so that the water can hit all the surface that was exposed to the food.
No more squishing and wrestling the bags in a sink full of hot water!
All this is better for the environment.. Sadly we are a throw away society. I reuse my plastic when possible, bring totes to the grocery store and got a backyard composter a few years ago. I have a box in my scrap room for all the small paper scraps that go in the paper recycling.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. We have the Food Saver, and the bags ARE expensive. I'll have to try this. I guess you just cut the bag a bit larger the 1st time, then after opening, cleaning, you reseal it to a smaller bag???Thanks for this $$$ saving idea!
ReplyDeleteEven though I buy my bags on Ebay and get really huge rolls, I always make them large enough that they can be trimmed off and re-used. I can get 3-4 used out of them that way.
ReplyDeleteOh, how well I remember washing Solo cups! And...seeing washed plastic bags drying on the little screened in porch off the kitchen! I love your story and thanks for the Seal-a-Meal tip!
ReplyDeletePS...I still have a hard time throwing away perfectly good Solo Cups! :0) But I do (one the few occasions when we use them)
Carolyn
http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com
cccscraproom@windstream.net