Monday Money-Saver: Food Storage

As my husband was growing up, his family saved their plastic sandwich bags and reused them, a practice that has carried over into adulthood. The bags really aren't all that expensive, but why buy them more often than you have to? I don't take as many sandwiches for lunch as he does, but when I do, I try to remember to save my bag. Developing the habit is kind of tough, though.

I've toyed with the idea of doing the same thing with freezer bags after I've used them for ground beef. To save time and money, I often buy a large pack of ground beef and divide it up according to what's on the menu for the upcoming week. For instance, if I'm planning to serve Hamburger Helper, I'll put a pound of ground beef in a bag.

If burgers are on the menu, though -- this is where I get really wasteful -- I put a quarter pound of beef in a bag for each burger. So, to make three burgers, I use three bags. I do this to save time when I'm cooking. If the burgers are already made into patties and in their own bag rather than frozen together in one bag, I don't have to struggle to separate the patties I need from the ones I don't.

I don't know how I feel about reusing a bag that has had raw meat in it, though. Maybe I can find a permanent container so that I don't go through so many freezer bags.