Essential equipment – Storage

Many years ago I was, for a short while, a Tupperware agent. I never made any money out of the job because all my commission was spent on the product! I’m sure we all have entire cupboards devoted to storing plastic storage containers. This is the cupboard you are afraid to open in case the contents falls on your head – as has happened to me on more than one occasion.

We need various plastic boxes to house left-overs in the fridge or freezer. And perhaps to keep small fresh vegetables and fruit in. For cereal, for rice, for pasta, for biscuits and as lunch boxes. One of the Tupperware products I really like (and still use) is the sheet of sticky labels to identify contents. What often happens in my kitchen is that plastic containers get lost under other plastic containers, and without some sort of identification I would be hard pressed to visually distinguish between caster sugar and salt, or couscous and polenta. You can, of course, use a felt tip marker pen. I use a pen for stuff going in the freezer which I mark with contents and date. Otherwise, you can pull things out of the freezer that are totally unidentifiable and of unknown provenance. Plastic boxes in the fridge need to be kept to the front – use within a few days or throw out!

So we do need plastic boxes. But a whole cupboard full? Not really. Have a clear out – does every box have a lid? Does every lid have a box? Think what you could do with the freed-up space.

Zip-lock bags work well for short and long term storage – they are inexpensive and take up next-to-no space.