Sham Wow Instead of Paper Towel

[Niele da Kine]

To drain greasy foods, there are some handy wire racks which fit on the sides of the pan which work well for draining foods. Especially since the grease all goes back into the pan and the wire rack is in a warm area so the food stays warm, too.

If you haven't completely kicked the paper towel habit, you could try cutting the roll of paper towels in half. Then when you use one, you are automatically already only using half as much. They are too expensive to buy around here so we've been using red shop towels for cleaning cloths and small white towels for everything else. Almost invariably, though, when folks visit us one of the first things they do is go out and buy us paper towels. Personally, I don't like them since they are flimsy and non-reusable, but they are guests so we let them waste money on paper towels and thank them kindly for their efforts. We still have paper napkins, but that's because my DH always gets extra when he eats out for lunch and brings them home. I let him use them since I prefer the white towels, a bandana or a cloth napkin.

We don't buy ziplocs, either, although there's always a few kicking around if we really need one. For food storage, I put things in glass jars and label them with a Sharpie marker. It will rub off the glass later when I switch the jar's contents. We have a lot of those storage jars with the wire hinged lids so the lids don't get lost. Freezer stuff gets put in plastic or paper and then put in a square plastic container until it is a frozen brick. Then I take it out of the container and re-use the container to shape the next brick. That keeps everything the same shape and easy to stack.

 

[valmom]

Oh, glad this thread was revived. I am happy to report that we have officially kicked the paper towel habit!! I didn't think it was possible (I have never used much in the way of paper, but SO went through at least a roll a week). Then, something she read on the internet clicked and she announced that we were never buying paper towels again. I almost laughed- I had been trying to do that for a year! I just agreed and said it was a wonderful idea! We still have to have a roll around for when her parents come to visit since they are a necessity of life, but we have successfully transitioned to no paper by using those white washcloths that they sell by the dozen, and knitted cotton washcloths that I made, and sponges that go in the microwave to smell better.

The zip-loc, we aren't having so much luck with. I do wash them whenever I can catch them before they go in the trash, but I don't use them much and *someone* still throws them away. I bought a bunch of the elasic banded plastic bowl covers to try to break the habit. I'm the only one who uses them. But, I am confident that we will get there!

 

[Shiloh Acres]

To drain greasy foods, there are some handy wire racks which fit on the sides of the pan which work well for draining foods. Especially since the grease all goes back into the pan and the wire rack is in a warm area so the food stays warm, too.

If you haven't completely kicked the paper towel habit, you could try cutting the roll of paper towels in half. Then when you use one, you are automatically already only using half as much. They are too expensive to buy around here so we've been using red shop towels for cleaning cloths and small white towels for everything else. Almost invariably, though, when folks visit us one of the first things they do is go out and buy us paper towels. Personally, I don't like them since they are flimsy and non-reusable, but they are guests so we let them waste money on paper towels and thank them kindly for their efforts. We still have paper napkins, but that's because my DH always gets extra when he eats out for lunch and brings them home. I let him use them since I prefer the white towels, a bandana or a cloth napkin.

We don't buy ziplocs, either, although there's always a few kicking around if we really need one. For food storage, I put things in glass jars and label them with a Sharpie marker. It will rub off the glass later when I switch the jar's contents. We have a lot of those storage jars with the wire hinged lids so the lids don't get lost. Freezer stuff gets put in plastic or paper and then put in a square plastic container until it is a frozen brick. Then I take it out of the container and re-use the container to shape the next brick. That keeps everything the same shape and easy to stack.

Thanks

When I get to where I can buy things again, I'll have to look for a rack like that. Sounds perfect!

You gave me an idea ... I think I'll try lining my casserole dish with wax paper and freezing stuff in it, then popping it out and wrapping it.

It's been a while since I put something into a ziploc to freeze (maybe a month) but as I was spooning hot stuff into that ziploc .. it just made me want to cringe, thinking of that cheap plastic getting heated next to the food and who knows what might leach out. Not to mention it's all so disposable ... I'd much rather freeze the bricks and stack them.

Thanks, I'm going to try that next time I have stuff to freeze!

And yeah. I did pretty much kick the paper towel habit. That little bit in the garage has been there forever. I won't bring them into the kitchen to use from the garage (dust blows in from the yard) and I'm not buying more.

 

[Denim Deb]

I barely use paper towels, but my hubby uses them all the time!

 

[Marianne]

Rags....RAGS and more rags. Paper towel was the first thing I gave up and I don't miss 'em. I use newspaper to deal with euwww messes, and then follow up with wet, soapy rags.

I use washcloths for napkins. Hubby still buys napkins for himself, so I snag one to drain greasy stuff.

I do buy freezer zipper bags, wash, onto the dishwasher racks to dry - I just leave the door cracked a bit. Then I don't have them scattered all over the counter or table. I always pitched them if they had raw meat in them. Now I wrap meat in freezer paper. A box of zipper bags will last me a long, long time. I had one bag that was three years old before it sprung a leak. It was blue, so I knew when I got it.

I have various glass jars for storage, great for storing the rest of the onion. I reuse cottage cheese containers, too.

Man, I sound cheap! But for me, it's the green thing to do. At first it was a necessity, now it's a choice.

 

[calendula]

I save cottage cheese containers too, also sour cream, yogurt cotainers, jars bottles. We rarely need to buy ziploc bags. We use sandwhich bags for the kids lunches for school though, because the jars and big plastic containers wont fit in their lunch boxes. We are running into some storage issues though with saving so many containers. We need to organize them and figure out a good way to KEEP it organized! I was thinking about switching to cloth napkins as well, we are currently using paper. Not sure how the rest of the family would like that idea though!

 

[Marianne]

I save cottage cheese containers too, also sour cream, yogurt cotainers, jars bottles. We rarely need to buy ziploc bags. We use sandwhich bags for the kids lunches for school though, because the jars and big plastic containers wont fit in their lunch boxes. We are running into some storage issues though with saving so many containers. We need to organize them and figure out a good way to KEEP it organized! I was thinking about switching to cloth napkins as well, we are currently using paper. Not sure how the rest of the family would like that idea though!

Yes, isn't it funny how the ritzy places use cloth napkins and we all feel just so special, but at home the thought of cloth freaks some people out? One of these days I may sew up some nicer cloth ones, but since I'm the only one using them, designated washcloths fill the bill pretty easily.
I read somewhere that a gal had red cloth napkins that she put out when they were having spaghetti and other tomato based meals. Thought that was a pretty good idea.

I don't blame you for using bags in the kid's lunches. Sometimes you gotta compromise. By re-using other plastic/glass containers, you're still keeping a lot out of the waste stream.

And storage? Yes, hassle if you don't have much of a kitchen or a pantry. Of course, cottage cheese containers and the like can be stacked, lids can be corraled in a coffee cannister or something, but the glass can't be stacked easily. I was keeping glass in a shoe box, and then put another shoe box of glass on top of that. I finally just took some to the recycle center as I have gobs of canning jars that I can use, too.

 

[valmom]

I stack my plastic containers in the cabinet and store the lids in a... zip lock bag! It's amazing how many lids fit into a gallon bag. My glass storage (mostly canning jars) are really tough to store and tend to live in the basement in totes to keep them clean.

 

[Marianne]

I stack my plastic containers in the cabinet and store the lids in a... zip lock bag! It's amazing how many lids fit into a gallon bag. My glass storage (mostly canning jars) are really tough to store and tend to live in the basement in totes to keep them clean.

Now that's a good idea, would take up less space then the coffee cannister.
I store my canning jars in a low tech manner...cardboard boxes. All the totes that I have are used to store our nomadic son's clothes and possesions. He's in Saudi Arabia now, but eventually will work his way back to the states for a visit....with more stuff to leave here. :/