My first “carnival” entry! 
Call me frugal, efficient, or lazy – I’ll acknowledge them all. Any way you look at it, you may wonder why I have empty Ziplocs in my freezer. It’s all about doing fewer dishes and being prepared for healthy eating, my friend.
Some of my shortcuts when preparing a meal using real food involve doing some prep at other times. If I’m cutting onions, I ask myself: “Do I have time today to cut extra?” If I do, I throw some in a freezer bag (double-bagged for odor protection!) that is always in the door of my freezer. I mean always. If I’m out, I still leave the empty bag in there. It’s frozen, so I can then reuse it without problem, plus if I find it empty I know I’m out of cut onions, so I don’t keep looking “just in case”. It’s not like I could wash away the scent of raw onion and reuse that bag anyway!
In my fridge, sometimes you’ll find an empty plastic container in my meat and cheese drawer. It’s just waiting to be filled with sliced cheese. When I’m slicing cheese, I slice enough to fill the box. This way, my 3-year-old son can say, “Can I have cheese and crackers for a snack?” and I can say, “Sure, help yourself.” I don’t have to wash the cheese slicer or box every day, and we often are as ready to make sandwiches as the folks who shell out extra cash for pre-sliced cheese. I store the box empty because I hate dishes, and if I put it out on the counter to wait for more, it might get stinky.
I am also working on shredding my own cheese instead of paying Kraft or Meijer to do it for me. They add weird stuff to keep it from caking. I hear it’s made of trees. I probably don’t want to know! But I do hate washing the cheese grater. So I shred a box full at a time…and I leave the box in the fridge if it’s empty!
Other items that fill the empty containers:
- baby carrots for packed lunches
- soup-bound leftover cooked veggies
- salad lettuce that I haven’t washed, spun and chopped yet
- homemade applesauce
- dried out bread to be made into bread crumbs
- on my counter: if I have something dry like biscuits, I often reuse the container after just knocking out the crumbs in the garbage.
- …and my lunchbag often has a used sandwich baggie in it. If it’s something dry like crackers, I figure I can reuse the bag and save the Earth a little while I’m at it!
So if you visit my kitchen and open my refrigerator, your first thought will be: “Whoa. That’s a full fridge.” And then you’ll start to wonder why there are empty Ziplocs in there.
Click here for 10 Easy Prep Foods You’ll Always Find in my Freezer.
Hope you can benefit from my oh-so-lazy kitchen timesaver! It works for me! I can’t help doing a two-fer on this one – look for other basic tips at Works for Me Wednesday, and find other ideas for “Your Best Time-Saving Kitchen or Nutrition Tips” at the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival.
Visit Kitchen Stewardship on Monday for a Meatless Meals Carnival!
Cute title! Thanks for joining in, Katie!
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I do the same thing with bags in the freezer. I’ll start with tupperware for things like sliced cheese. Easy!
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Oh thank goodness, glad to know I’m not the only one with frozen empty baggies in my freezer haha!
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I need to let my 17 year old read your post . . .
He thinks I am crazy for leaving empty ziplocs in the freezer and for wash and reusing others.
Buy a great big block of cheese at one time. The cheese I buy comes in a circle shape. I cut the outer areas off so that I have a large square.
The outer areas are shredded. I cut the middle square in half and use my cheese slicer to make thin slices for sandwiches or snacks that are then stored in containers in the frig. I do two big wheels of cheese every 2-3 weeks. Plus at the same time I grate the fresh mozzarella I buy.
It is alot of grating at one time, but it is nice to have real cheese pre-grated in the freezer. Plus I only clean the cheese grater once.
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Those are great ideas! I’m going to try the Ziplocs in the freezer for sure
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That makes sense! I haven’t yet been grating my own long enough to figure out all the tricks. Of course freezing it is a good idea….
Thanks for visiting!
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Just so you know, cereal bags (the ones you get from the store, when you are doing eating the cereal) are GREAT for that second bag around the onions for keeping the odor out of the freezer! I also use the ziploc bag that my fish comes in. The bag does not smell fishy, and it works GREAT to keep the onion smell at bay!
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Very smart! I do reuse Ziplocs, but I never thought about the freezer as permanent storage for them.
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Thanks, Meredith! Your site has some excellent info, too! Glad you stumbled across mine…
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Seuss girl, My mom just offered to let me borrow hers to see if I would use it enough to add it to my “wish list”. No more skinned knuckles! I’ve also seen attachments for a KitchenAid mixer that might grate cheese, so I’ll have to look into that. Glad my ideas helped!
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I have recently started using my food processor for grating cheese – and it ROCKS! It has a grater attachment, and it is SO much nicer to grate a whole pound (or more!) of cheese at once than hand-grating. And SO fast!
I love your ideas; some I already do, some I’ll have to add in.
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Corn starch works great with DIY shredded cheese. I use it all the time when I have left over from tacos (: Just toss a little in there and give it a shake! It keeps the cheese from sticking from each other and you can’t tell the difference later.
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Hey, Just a quick note to let you know that I am a regular reader and I love you blog. You have a wonderful, fresh, can do, real world voice. Thank you for all that you do to keep on blogging. I had not thought of all of the “backroom” work before your great posts on what you do to stay current and online. Fondly, Ann
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Katie Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Thanks, Ann!!
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Yay!!! I’m so happy to read this post. I do the same thing. If my husband ever came anywhere near the kitchen and discovered my “dirty little secret” I’d be in big trouble, but I am a “rinser” and “let be” cook too. I just finished reading your post over at Simple Organic and I agree 100% with the items you rinse and the way you save time, resources and money. I applaud your courage in posting such a topic as I am comforted to know that there are other moms out there that are doing the exact. same. thing! You just made my day!!! : )
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Becky B. Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:13 pm
I couldn’t agree more – I do the same things. Your post has made my frugality and greeness feel just a little bit more “normal”
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Katie Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 12:25 am
Glad to do that for you- sometimes I feel a bit “weird” but all the readers here help that a lot!
Katie
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Katie Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 12:31 am
Ashlye,
Glad to have a kindred spirit! 
Katie
Awww, and you mine! I won’t tell your husband anything, promise.
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If you were a man, you’d be my SOULMATE! I started doing this back in college bc I hated taking my dirty dishes to the bathroom to wash them. I figured out if I’d keep my CEREAL BOWL IN THE FRIDGE, bacteria wouldn’t grow. Then I just had to wash it every three or four days. Same with a milk glass and my spaghetti bowl. These were the same foods I ate EVERY SINGLE DAY so I just reused the same dishes for the same foods, keeping them in the fridge/freezer in my dorm room between uses.
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Katie Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 12:28 am
Nikki,
Katie
LOL – that’s awesome. I wish my freshman year roommate had done that instead of leaving the cereal bowl in the dishtub b/c she didn’t want to wash it. When semi-solid milk stretched from bowl to spoon, we started talking about getting different roommates!
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Oh, I so identify with having those empty ziplocks! One notable one that is always in my freezer- the stock bag! Yes, it’s a bit greasy from the last chicken carcass and a bit orange from the last pile of carrot peelings. But why wash it when I’m just going to throw the same stuff in next week?
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Glad to know I’m not the only one
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Hey, I don’t know if anyone has said this before, but instead of buying ziploc bags, I just reuse old milk bags. Cut the top off, rinse, and let it air dry. It’s great for dry snack bags, just roll up the top, maybe put a rubber band around it if needed.
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I just wanted to share with you that I read that you do this, oh, maybe 3 months ago, and this weekend, my husband and I had a head on collision with the fact that I have been doing this:o) Not a fight, mind you, but rather, attacked by all the random baggies that came out of the freezer as he looked for some flour. I like to label mine:o) Turned out I had 3..THREE bags labeled for pancakes/waffles/etc. LOL. Also, I keep an empty glass bowl with a lid in the butter tray of the door for when I pick up my oddly shaped/ varied size organic-made-from-raw- milk- butte from my farm guy.
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Katie Reply:
December 1st, 2011 at 1:43 am
LOL!
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I do this too! lol
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I slice up fruit a bunch at a time and put it into baggies already mixed up for smoothies and put into the freezer door – then I just dump one in the blender with some yogurt and milk and I’m good to go. I also made 1/2 pint canning jars in the fridge filled with fruit so I just grab one out for a snack and I’ve got great fruit ready!
I buy the big blocks of cheese and cut it in half and freeze half of it – it thaws out really well and then I don’t worry about part of it going bad if I can’t eat all of it first
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Think nothing of it
You’re probably going to reuse a perfectly good plastic bag. I attempt to do the same, but my husband throws them out most of the time.
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Wash and reuse. I prefer not to use them but try to reuse if we do.
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Not strange, I do the same! Great mins think alike!
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Put cheese in it, if I remember correctly!
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I’d say, “Whew, I’m not the only one that does this.”
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Thanks for the info never thought of the freezer bags..now I will!!
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I’d assume I was looking in *your* fridge. (I’ve been reading your blog for a long time!) I’d love to try some of these ideas, but I just don’t think my husband could handle finding an empty bag in the fridge. What kind of container do you store your sliced cheese in? We always slice it as we use it, but this could really save some time while I’m making lunch – the time I can always expect at least one kid to be flipping out.
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I have several stacked up on top of my dehydrator, next to my fridge right now! I grabbed one today to put the rest of the English muffins in after breakfast.
Silly frugal nature, lol.
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I used to have a KitchenAid (until I burnt it up making whole wheat bread and homemade butter– oops!), and I had the cheese shredder attachment. LOVED it! IF you plan on keeping your KA for any length of time, I highly recommend the shredder and slicer. Both came in exceedingly handy. The only thing I ever regretted was not getting the meat grinder. *shrug*
Thanks for this great post. Makes me not feel like a crazy-lady… at least not when it comes to my baggies in the fridge/freezer. LOL
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I do a lot of the same prep-ahead, but that’s smart to keep the same bag handy! I re-use the same bag for stale bread, but that’s so smart to just leave it in the freezer if it happens to be empty. A lot less waste!
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Great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
The cheese grater is easy to clean by just soaking it in hot soapy water for a few minutes. I don’t like store bought grated cheese because it’s chalky (maybe from the tree additive??) and doesn’t melt as well as fresh.
Love your Facebook page, btw.
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I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one with empty baggies &/or containers in the freezer & frig!
I’ve got the cheese containers, just started the onion (but hadn’t double bagged, excellent suggestion!), lots of bulk items I put in smaller containers and of course the left over pancakes/waffles/etc for warming up in the toaster for quick breakfasts.
Thanks for all your suggestions! I always learn something and I’m also feel a little less crazy to learn I’m not the only one doing these things!
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I reuse the baggies for cheese and our bread as many times as they will hold up.
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Laura Graham – it’s just a little plastic box that holds exactly 1 8-oz. block. One of the few remaining pieces I haven’t given away from the plasticware set we got for our wedding!
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