Do you throw away a lot of food? It’s amazing, or shall I say embarrassing how much food we waste. And all because we’ve made the mistake of buying too much. Most people get carried away when shopping for food and end up buying more than they actually need. Overbuying is bad for your wallet, but so is not storing your food correctly. How many times your bread, oatmeal or cereal went stale because you left the box open? One too many, right. And what about the fruit that often goes mouldy all because it was left in a bowl on the counter instead of storing it in the fridge?
Yes, not packing and storing your food correctly is usually the main reason why it goes bad quickly and you have to throw it away. This is not only a terrible waste but it’s quite expensive as well. But you’re not the only one at fault here. Did you know that $8 billion of edible food is thrown every year in Australia? That’s 4 million tones of food or 523kg per household. Yes, we’re all at fault here folks. But can anything be done and what? Three words – proper food packaging.
My husband and I recently went over our family budget and the calculations pointed out that we were wasting so much money on the food yet very little was consumed. So of course, we needed a practical solution to this problem. I figured, if I was still going to cook my kids’ favourite dishes in bulk, I needed more than just a plastic wrap for storing and packaging. So I’ve decided to do a research on the best food packaging products that would keep my meals as fresh and tasty as the day I made them.
There are many great products perfect for storing both cooked dishes and fresh food but not all are suitable for all types of food. For instance, NEVER store meat or fish in a cardboard box. They can easily get spoiled plus, this will for sure make a complete mess in your freezer. Hence, make sure you take the material of the food packaging into consideration.
As I’ve said earlier, meat and cardboard packaging are a combination you should avoid. In this case, aluminium foil and plastic containers are the best food packaging solution. They are designed to provide the necessary protection for raw food and are a neat and clean way to store all kinds of meat in the freezer including fish.
Special food bags made from grease-proof paper are ideal for storing cooked dishes such as leftover French fries, fried chicken, baked potatoes, etc. For keeping fruits and veggies fresh in the freezer, it’s best to store them in special plastic containers that come with handy protective lids. Regarding other leftover meals like sandwiches, cookies, toast, it’s best to wrap them in large lunch napkins and then store them in paper bags or plastic boxes.
The average Australian household throws away food worth around $1,030 each year but all these unnecessary costs can considerably be reduced by simply using food packaging which can keep food fresh for longer periods of time. Food packaging is one of those things that everyone should have and use. These products will not only help you have a well-organized freezer, but will keep your kitchen neat and clean as well.
