I have a habit of re-using things, especially in my kitchen. I hate to only use a jar or container one time and then throw it away. I keep the plastic jars A.'s instant coffee comes in, the empty containers of cottage cheese and sour cream, any glass jars, ziploc bags if I can easily wash them (so not if they've had anything really greasy or raw meat in them), and of course, canning jars and lids get used over and over again.
Most of these things end up in my freezer at some point, and I always label things I put in my freezer, on the lid with a permanent marker. Most of my food containers have been labeled more than once. Sometimes so many times I run out of space on the lids or on the bags.
It's kind of funny to track what's been in the containers with that particular lid.
What this means is that you can never trust the lid that's on a container to actually tell you what's in that container. That canning jar lid, for instance, is currently on a jar containing pickled radishes and onions. It's not sauerruben.
Likewise, sour cream or cottage cheese containers are just as likely to have leftover baked beans or tomato sauce in them as the dairy products suggested by their labels.
This is why when my sister visits, she always holds up whatever she's taken out of the refrigerator and asks what's really in it. Because it really could be anything, and only I can tell for sure.
So tell me: Do you do this? Or do all your containers tell the truth about their contents?
11 comments:
Kristen,
I have discovered that a dab of hand sanitizer on a cloth or paper towel will take the old magic marker (sharpie) off. The other trick I use is that
I put a piece of the invisible scotch tape on the lid and then write on that. When I use whatever is in the container I can then just peel the tape off and it's ready for it's next use.
I love your blog! You amaze me with all that you do and keep up with in a rather remote location.
I currently have two jars of overnight oats in my refrigerator -- one labeled Pickle Relish, the other Peaches. And there's a jar of chopped peppers in my freezer labeled Chicken Broth. I figure if I leave this earth, my heirs will simply toss everything.
I tired of the mismatched containers in my fridge- many big yogurt containers holding mysteries irritated me. And they were a pain to store. So over the past 2 years I've moved to only one type of rubber maid containers- see-thru, different sizes have the same lid, and they stack in the cupboard like a dream ( well, when I take my time to I put them away. )
I do save nice g glass jars for future use though.
A person after my own heart.
Thank you! For the advice, the kind words, and for reading. :-)
mbmom11: I bet your refrigerator looks a lot better than mine.
I use any old container, but I finally defrosted too many things that turned out to be something else. Now I put a strip of masking tape on the container and label it. I use the tape over and over, it takes a long time to wear off.
I'm much better at using up leftovers if I can see them. So what goes in the fridge is usually in a see-through container. But I keep a roll of masking tape and a sharpie in the kitchen to label any containers that go into the freezer.
I use a grease pencil so it rubs off.
Alcohol will remove permanent marker.
If I clean them I reuse them. Heaven only knows how many things that weren't cottage cheese have been in my cottage cheese containers.;)
Look these up on Amazon: 1000 Blank Removable Freezer Labels. It's true you (or at least I) only use each one once except for things I keep refilling with the same stuff--but they have eliminated all doubt about contents. They don't fall off but are easy to peel off--or they stay on through handwashing when I am going to refill with the same.
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