Moving from plastic to glass…Part 1!

Over the course of the past decade or so, I have been working my way toward being as ‘plastic free’ as possible. There’s no way I can swear off all plastic. Who could survive without modern plastic wrap?

However, even though there is a place for plastic in our kitchens and freezers and refrigerators, I think most of us could easily stand to convert just a bit more to glass. Over the years, I have read time and time again on how the chemicals in plastics leach into the foods we put in them.  From my research, it certainly seems that some foods are worse than others. Hot foods and tomato based products are two that I can think of in particular. I really don’t want to be eating plastic, do you?

Not only are the chemicals in the plastic bad for us, I also honestly do not like to add to the recycle bin or trash can more plastic (or anything else for that matter) than I need to. I appreciate all the Lord has created and the beauty of His creation, and want to reduce what my family adds into landfills.

So, what is a person to do?

First, pay attention to things in your pantry that are currently in glass jars. I’m talking about pasta sauces, green olives, pickles and baby food as a few examples. Over a few years, I accumulated probably twenty great glass jars from almond butter! (and later, much to my joy, found out my mother-in-law was doing the same thing!)  Sixteen ounce peanut butter and sunflower seed butter is often in glass jars. These work great too. Often just soaking these in a bowl full of soapy water for several hours in your kitchen sink will be enough to remove the label.

Canning jars are also great for storing things in your kitchen, as you can see from my photos.

I use these jars for storing nuts, chocolate chips, dried cereals (that my kids add to a snack), loose tea, herbs and spices!

And, did you know you CAN freeze in glass jars? I have learned a few lessons over the years, but overall, I do not have problems if I follow the rules. To freeze in glass jars, there are a few things to remember. First, freezing things like blueberries or nuts, you can fill it full. However, if you are freezing liquid, like a stock, or soup, or say, pumpkin puree, you need to make sure that you do not fill it up to the neck of the jar, or where the jar starts curving inward. What will happen if you fill the jar up too much is that the liquid will expand, push upward, and break your jar (I have had this happen more than once.) causing some extra work!

Pictured above are some things I store in my freezer.  Some of these things are stocks, mint tea concentrate, berries, diced/cooked chicken, ground meat, and even sauces in glass jars.
These are just some ideas to get you started! Stay tuned to Part 2 of this post!