I'm sure many of you can relate to overflowing plastics cupboards, with mismatched lids; lids that no longer fit properly; old tatty containers; and never being able to find what you're looking for! I think food storage containers have actually been multiplying in our house over the last few years. Here's how I put a system in place to try to organise them.
I did a clear out recently, just to get rid of any that were stained beyond repair, very old and tatty, or had lost their lid. I would highly recommend this first if you're feeling frustrated every time you open the plastics cupboard! I've bought a lot of glass containers over the last year to store fruit and vegetables as I was worried about the effects of BPA plastics on food, and read that glass was a much safer option.
However, if you saw my newly-organised fridge, you may have spotted the new Tupperware containers for the fruit and veg. So now I need a lot more room to store all the glass containers! #storagecontainerhoarder. I'll be using these for leftovers to store in the freezer, so nothing lost.
The picture below shows most of what we have (there are a few more in the fridge). I use a whole cabinet to store the containers. I used to have everything on the one shelf, but it was a nightmare trying to get anything in or out. I find the containers stack quite well in their different sizes on the top shelf...
While the bottom shelf holds lid containers, place-mats and mason jars for our lunches.
As we have both round and square/rectangular containers, I separated the lids into these 2 storage baskets (around $3 each from the dollar store). I like the baskets because they slide in and out so you can easily find what you're looking for. It's also much easier to have the different shapes separated.
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The mason jars do take up quite a bit of storage space when not in use (and in the fridge) so this is something to think about if you have a small kitchen but want to go the mason jar salad route... although I highly recommend them as they are delish!
So that's my quick tip for today - separated areas for lids and containers, and pull out baskets to sort the different lid shapes to make finding what you need easier.. Why not give it a try!
