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We got some nice one piece lids for the mason jars, so a lot of things are stored in mason jars. There's the old glass Fireking/Anchor Hocking square refrigerator storage boxes. There's the plastic tubs that things came in. A lot of stuff in the freezer is in plastic bags of some sort. Sometimes we store stuff in a cooking pot if it's just for awhile in the fridge.
Flour and other stuff in quantity is stored in food grade five gallon plastic buckets with a 'gamma' lid. Some sort of screw on lid which is much easier to use than the lids they come with.
The yogurt containers are used for starting seeds, not for freezing food.
Butcher paper for freezing meat.
Vacuum sealer for some things.
Zipper bags for things that I will be removing a bit at a time, but won't be stored for long: grated cheese, taquitos, Costco polish dogs..... If I am going to open the bag often, I like the zipper tab bags, but they are expensive, so only used for special jobs. Zipper bags are not sufficiently air tight for long term freezing.
I have semi-disposable small serving size plastic containers that last through many uses. I also have better quality larger plastic containers, and some rather expensive, sturdy restaurant size containers.
I have snap ware, which I really like, that I use for dry flours.
The "disposable" plastic tubs are from the restaurant supply store and cost about 50 cents each. I think they are for restaurants to sent liquidy stuff home with patrons. But I get over a year of heavy use out of each one and they are the right size for an entree. They wash up fine in the dish washer. They are similar to the little plastic food containers marketed by Glad company; that sort of weight and sturdiness.
I prefer the house brand zipper bags from the restaurant supply. They are heavier than the name brand and the zipper works better.
The really good plastic containers that restaurants use for food storage are costing about $10 each. They are really good containers and I have some that are 12 years old and still like new. They are worth every penny. They don't break if you strike or drop them while they are frozen. The lids fit and stay on. They are designed to stack well.
Not for prepared heat and eat meals, but I save and use the square plastic jars from Costco that they sells nuts and M&Ms in. I store all sorts of dry stuff in those jars: sugar, rice, grain, oat bran, nuts, candies.....
I freeze nuts and those jars withstand freezing with nuts as the contents. No promises about how they would handle freezing liquids.
I won't guarantee that they are mouse proof, but the mice haven't gotten into them so far. Not that the mice get to last long. Maybe they would get into those containers if they had more time. But those jars withstand the occasional sneak invasion.
I cook for my neighbor.
I use the foil/aluminum containers from the dollar store. Round or square ones.
You can usually get 3-4 containers for a buck. I'll use them for spaghetti, or stroganoff, and he puts them in the freezer and just tosses them when done.
And, I'll buy the square or round plastic containers for his chili. Those I can re-use.
For leftovers that I'm going to eat fairly quickly, I bought myself some square glass pyrex-type containers for storage and microwaving. For freezing, I have some larger gladware containers.
First, we like to pour the meals into a 1 qt or 1 gallon freezer bags. The advantage of this is that when frozen, it remains flat and is easier to store.
Second, we really like to to use the 16oz and 32oz plastic containers that sour cream and cottage come in. Also, several of the neighbors whom I occasionally cook for send me the plastic containers used to see lunch meat. They are great as single serving containers for soup.
A LOT of the responses I'm seeing here are apparently for one dish meals. I'd like to see what people use for meals that consist of more than just soups or casserole type meals, or do you all just freeze the components separately and reheat them together later?
I cook in big batches for just myself so a lot of the meals I freeze are more like the 'tv dinners' found in the grocery stores.
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