Tips, hints and tricks to share with our members

[Jade Emperor]

I regularly buy products that have been imported from China and Japan. I have a specialist company who can source what I need, short of fresh produce, obviously.
I always notice the over-abundance of packaging.
A box of crackers for cheese? The outer box, inside three packs in foil, each three pack another cellophane wrap, all crackers lined up in a plastic tub.
Just such overkill - and killing the planet along the way

 

[GinnyPNW]

I like to make my own spice mixes. It makes quick work of prep for cooking. I've been using Mason jars to store my homemade spice mixes and rubs. Recently, it came to me that old pop and beer bottles would make good storage bottles for some of my spice mixes. Plus, there are many options for stoppers for the bottles too. Both purchased or recycled.

 

[taxlady]

One advantage of using bottles, is that they usually have a smaller footprint than mason jars.

 

[GinnyPNW]

One advantage of using bottles, is that they usually have a smaller footprint than mason jars.

Agreed, Taxy! And, they look better on the counter, I think. Of course, there are some pretty darn cute Mason jars available...

 

[Jusa]

Agreed, Taxy! And, they look better on the counter, I think. Of course, there are some pretty darn cute Mason jars available...

I reuse Mason jars and even those jarred pasta sauce containers. I like to store pasta and dried beans in them.

I bought some sprout seeds recently and plan on using some of those empty jars to sprout. Need some super power foods in my life!

 

[taxlady]

Oh, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with mason jars. I use them to store lots of stuff. But, bottles are often going to be better for something smaller, like spice mixes. I have several spice mixes in small mason jars that are actually far too big to be using for spice mixes. They take too much space, considering the actual volume of the content.

 

[Jusa]

Oh, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with mason jars. I use them to store lots of stuff. But, bottles are often going to be better for something smaller, like spice mixes. I have several spice mixes in small mason jars that are actually far too big to be using for spice mixes. They take too much space, considering the actual volume of the content.

I know what you mean. I'm just reusing what I can.

 

[taxlady]

To be honest, I am terrible at getting rid of jars. I have loads of jars in several sizes.

 

[Jusa]

To be honest, I am terrible at getting rid of jars. I have loads of jars in several sizes.

View attachment 67732

My mom had buttons. Jars of buttons we found after she passed.

 

[Linda0818]

My mom had buttons. Jars of buttons we found after she passed.

My mom kept buttons as well. She probably had hundreds of them.

 

[GinnyPNW]

My mom kept buttons as well. She probably had hundreds of them.

Yep, mine too...but she has tins. Like the tins that cookies or (fruit) cake might come in.

 

[Jusa]

My mom kept buttons as well. She probably had hundreds of them.

I think it's a depression era thing (with my mom). She was born in 1927. She also had tons of unmatched plastic containers growing up, that drove me crazy. I wasn't allowed to throw anything out. Which is probably why I have mostly pyrex/glass now.

 

[GinnyPNW]

Oh, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with mason jars. I use them to store lots of stuff. But, bottles are often going to be better for something smaller, like spice mixes. I have several spice mixes in small mason jars that are actually far too big to be using for spice mixes. They take too much space, considering the actual volume of the content.

Today, I found an old cardboard for a six pack...or 4 pack, in this case, and I put the spice bottles in that. They are easy to keep on a shelf and easy to grab too. Funny, the things one might find around the house, if one looks....

 

[Jusa]

Yep, mine too...but she has tins. Like the tins that cookies or (fruit) cake might come in.

Mine has a bunch of those that were empty. I wasn't allowed to toss those either.

 

[Linda0818]

Yep, mine too...but she has tins. Like the tins that cookies or (fruit) cake might come in.

And we would open those tins hoping to actually find cookies, only to see a pile of buttons or sewing materials.

 

[taxlady]

That cookie tin thing, I have a bunch of those tins.
What can I say, I like Danish butter cookies and so does DH.

And the whole sewing kit in the cookie box thing seems to apply all over the world.

 

[Linda0818]

That cookie tin thing, I have a bunch of those tins.
What can I say, I like Danish butter cookies and so does DH.

And the whole sewing kit in the cookie box thing seems to apply all over the world.

I love those cookies. I buy a couple tins of those every year at Christmas.

I want some NOW.

 

[pepperhead212]

I just put away most of those cookie tins I re-use every year - there are still a good number of tins at friend's places, and they all know if they want cookies next season, to return the tins!

Also, something I do every year, to keep the tins from rusting, is I don't clean them until next season - I just knock the crumbs out, and put them together, like puzzles, to fit as many in a bag as possible. Then, next season, I take some isopropyl alcohol on a PT, and wipe all the tins out, to get the old butter out (people know not to wash them out, before returning them). I only noticed one tin that had rust in it, and it was one that someone gave me something in, and they had washed it, and stuck it in the cupboard until the next season, and that's what happens.

 

[Jusa]

I don't make cookies often but I do like eating them

 

[dragnlaw]

Ditto Jusa, Ditto!