My reader Patricia is a Shelf Reliance consultant. You guys know what a big fan I am of their products. I am just thrilled with my big ol’ can rotation system!!Â
Patricia emailed to let me know that Shelf Reliance offers more than storage systems, they also offer food items from their Thrive brand! So, Patricia has offered to give away a 4-pack of Shelf Reliance Thrive freeze dried fruit (Pouch size): Mangoes, Peaches, Pineapple and Strawberries. The retail value is $26.56 not including shipping.   Â
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Patricia let me know that the fruits are great just eating them right out of the package as a snack. They are also really good re-hydrated for use in smoothies & desserts. Be sure and head over and visit Patricia at Shelf Reliance Florida. She has great information on being prepared and general food storage basics!
To enter to win the 4-pack of Shelf Reliance Thrive freeze dried fruit, leave a comment letting me know your best food storage tip! I will choose a random winner on Monday 10/25 at 11 pm. Please comment on this post. Comments left on my Facebook page will not be included.
Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Patricia!  I received no compensation for this post.
152 Comments
I don’t do anything amazing. I put most things in Tupperware or Rubbermaid, or I put them in a Ziploc and toss it in the freezer.
Yeah I just store stuff in tupperware and send it with my hubby to work!
My love my dehydrator! Dehydrating is a great way to put up food.
My best food storage tip is to remember to have something to purify water. If you are storing with the intent of being prepared for a natural disaster water is so important. Be sure to have bleach or a filter of some sort also take a minute to look up what the ratio is for parts per bleach to water. I live in FL, so we always have hurricanes on out minds.
I like to use snack sized baggies. With three boys in the house any snack is gone in two seconds. If I open them and portion them out.They might last more then a day. Our little guy LOVES all fruit. He just can’t seem to get enough.
I am not great with storage & organization, so maybe I need to READ all the tips! I just clean out the pantry/storage areas whenever they get out of control. I do use one of those door racks on the inside of my pantry to store little things: spices, jello/pudding boxes, taco/chili seasoning, etc.
My best food storage tip is that no matter how you store it to make sure you eat it! It seems like every time I put something in tupperware bowls and in the refridgerator I never eat it!! SUCH A WASTE!!!
I think the way I store herbs keeps them fresher longer. Those that are very leafy (cilantro, parsley, etc), I keep in a cup with water and snip the bottoms, like flowers in a vase. Then I keep covered with the produce bag. Things like basil and thyme, I keep in a bag with moist paper towel covering the stem.
Stay fresh for 2weeks +
I just use Ziploc and Rubber maid and I put it in the fridge or freezer (depending on how soon I expect to eat it). It works really well!
The best food storage tip is to use the rubbermaid vegetable containers as they keep vegetables fresher for so much longer.
i really like the tupperware storage units!!!
I have a vacuum sealer that I use to buy meat in bulk and separate it.
i use snack size bags and tupperware to store!!!
All of those boxes of prepackaged cookies and snacks take up a lot of room in my small pantry…especially when hubby and kids leave the empty box in there! I dump all of the small bags of cookies and 100 cal packs in a basket in the bottom of the panrty to consolidate – and so little people can find them!
I like to buy meat in bulk and separate it into quarter size freezer bags. Before I put it in the freezer I put some marinade into the freezer bag so the meat will taste great when I pull it out to cook it.
I date everything on the top of bottles or front of boxes with a sharpie marker! Makes sure I rotate and keeps everything fresh!
I make and freeze my own baby food–especially when making foods that oxidize quickly (like avocado), I am sure to put the purees in ice cube trays right away and press plastic wrap directly into the surface of the food. This prevents oxygen from contacting the food as it freezes and keeps the color beautiful and the taste fresh!
I freeze fresh fruits by peeling, cutting into slices/chunks, then laying out in a cookie sheet to freeze separately. Then when all frozen dump into freezer bags~ you have fresh slices of fruit that are not stuck together..ready to eat!
I make and prepare my own crabby food and since they don’t eat much I freeze alot in advance. I make individual sizes for them with molded ice cube trays (think hearts and such) keeps the food just right for them and its a good size.
When I have a surplus of fresh herbs from the garden I put them in the food processor with a tiny bit of olive oil and puree them, then freeze them in ice cube trays. Once frozen I move them to bags in the freezer. I can use 1-2 cubes in sauces and such for a fresh herb taste any time.
I also LOVE dried fruit, and so does my little guy! We would love to try this!
I buy meat in larger quantities and separate it out in freezer ziplocs for meal-sized portions. Learned that tip from my dad 🙂
All food is consumed at my house, there is no waste. For storing fresh food in the freezer, I use any containers such a s rubbermaid, tepperware or gladware.
When freezing fresh fish, put the fish in freezer ziploc bags and leave room to add some water later. Put bags into freezer. One or two days later, add about 1 cup water to the bags to help fish taste fresher. Place bags back in freezer.
I have a big basket on my counter with all of the snack packs, fruit snacks and 100 calorie packs. It is easy for kids to make up their own lunches, just grab and go. For us weight watchers, I use the snack size baggies to pre-measure my chips, nuts, grapes etc. and I mark the points on the baggie with a Sharpie, then I can recylce all of the boxes. You can use the boxes as gift bags if yopu cut the tops off, spray paint, punch holes for ribbon hanldes, soooo cute!
I huy fresh produce like onions and bell peppers in large quantities when they are on sale. I go ahead and dice them all at once and then put 1/2 cup to a cup in pockets of press seal. I then place those individual press and seal pockets inside a ziploc freezer bag and freeze them. It makes it very convenient then when I want to throw some in a casserole or other dish because I just pull out one little pocket at a time.
I bought the Ziploc Freezer Vac with coupons (I think almost for free at KMart during their old doubles), and I LOVE it! When I buy ground beef, I separate it out, place it in one of those bags, flatten it out, take out the air, and then stand the bags up like records. It saves soooo much space!
I like to buy my chicken breast and meat in bulk, when they are really cheap. I separate them, cut off gross stuff off chicken, and then store them in freezer bags in a quantity that is just right for cooking. That way, all of the mess is done at once and I have lots of meat in my freezer.
I think my best tip is to always know what you have before you shop. I try to stay organized by not buying things we already have, and use up the stuff we have.
Since my 5 year old likes a mix of cereals in the morning, I am left with a number of open boxes with a little in each box. This week I am going to mix them all together in a plastic container. Hopefully this will save me some space in my pantry and make him happy.
I keep all of the kids snacks together and reachable for their hands for after school snacks. I also buy meat in bulk while on sale and seperate it 1 lb each. Then I also write the date that it was sealed/ frozen and put the oldest in the front.
I guess me tip would be use the freezer. We have two small children so we don’t always use a whole recipe or a whole jar of pasta sauce. When we are done with dinner I keep some for lunch and put the rest in the freezer.
Dried beans are so much cheaper than canned but can be laborious or inconvenient. I make a large batch one day in my slow cooker and let them cool. Then separate them into 1 cup servings, put them in Ziploc bags and freeze them. Throw in the fridge in the morning and they’re ready to use for dinner!
I store most of my stuff in tupperware….especially with living in florida(humidity/bugs etc)
I put a lot of my fresh fruit in the freezer if I know it is something I will use to cood with in the future.
I squeeze the lemons from our tree and freeze the juice so I have lemon juice all year around.
If I can find fresh garlic on sale I buy them and then chop, mince or press the fresh garlic into a little bowl and cover it with oil. It keeps in the fridge for quiet a while and you always have fresh garlic on hand 🙂
I take noodles and store them in juice bottles that I have used and washed.
I try to get rid of as many boxes as I can, as they take up a great deal of space. I put all of my snacks into cute ceramic containers on top of my toaster oven so my husband can grab as needed when he is quickly going out the door. I also put my pasta in canisters as I can fit several boxes of spaghetti in one canister. I also seperate my meat into Ziplok bags based on serving sizes needed for recipes.
I freeze butter when its on sale
Definitely freee extra coffee in a cube tray so you can use it to cool down your ice coffee without diluting it
Vacuum sealed bags are my life saver! I use that and freezing items that I stock pile to preserve.
Every time I fire up the grill, I throw as many red and green peppers from the garden as I can. When they are cool, I dice them and put them into the freezer in a zip top bag. If you spread them out flat, you can break off a small piece for a single serving or use the whole bag. They add a lot of flavor to sauces, beans, etc for a small amount of effort.
Regarding veggies, everytime I have a little bit of leftovers from whatever we were eating for dinner, I throw them in a small plastic tub that I keep in the freezer. When the tub is full, I make vegetable soup. Nothing is wasted!I suppose I could also thaw and blend into baby food for my 9 mo. old, but I haven’t done that yet. Hmm… I just gave myself a new idea! Thanks for that!
I buy celery, onions, green peppers in bulk, chop them all and freeze. It’s always so nice when I cook something and don’t have to spend time chopping them up. I just defrost and add to my recipe
i vacuum pack my food!
Cant live without a FoodSaver vacuum sealer machine.
I put my dry food in a box and rotate it out every 6 months
I freeze leftover broth in icecube trays . . . you can also freeze bacon drippings the same way for use instead of oil or butter.
When cheese is on sale for $1 or less, I stock up and freeze it, both shredded and block cheese. Also..when chicken breast are on sale for $1.99, I purchase at least 10 packages, open them, and divide them out into Ziploc bags (2 per bag) so my husband and I will have them available and ready to cook!
Each week, I put the groceries with the longest expiration date behind those with the nearest in order to try and lessen food expiring before being used.
I’ve been doing the fifo system I learned in accounting. First in, first out. As I buy a new item, it goes behind the others, so I usually dont throw anything away because I’m using my oldest products first. 😉
I rely on my FoodSaver storage system
I freeze a LOT of my food, but I also had my DH build a great cabinet to store all of my dry goods. The shelves are shallow, so it’s easy to see what I have and keep it organized!
Cant’ beat my good ol Ziploc!
1. Buy what you eat.
2. Use what you buy.
3. Swap with family, friends, neighbors to try new thing and help use up things that turn out not to be a family favorite.
This is probably so basic it won’t count as an entry but I have found that leaving things in their original package and then putting in Ziploc bags, Tupper ware containers, etc. keeps them fresher much longer than putting things (ie cereal, Cheezits, etc.) in Ziploc or Tupperware alone.
I like to use the Rubbermaid Take Along containers for freezing, they are resilient and spillproof
I rotate canned and freezer items on the FIFO system, if I find a good buy on frozen food it usually goes in the deep freezer and if I already have some of that item already in the deep freezer, I move those to the kitchen freezer. Like many of the comments, if I find a good buy on produce like fresh corn I’ll blanch it and freeze them dating all the freezer bags. Same with green beans out of the garden. I sliced peppers from my garden and froze those as well for pepper steak etc. if I want to use them for chili instead I can just take the strips out and dice them.
When we got to the store, we put newer cans in the back of pantry so the old ones get used first
My 9 year old daughter loves the freeze dried strawberries but she calls them “dried-up strawberries” and loves to have them in her school lunch!
my fave dried fruit is peaches, crumble them over greek yogurt and sprinkle powdered honey over it for a healthy snack.
A food dehydrator! Dried foods take up less pantry space than canned, and free up space in your freezer, too.
When u buy lettuce take it out of plastic wrap, cover with damp papertowels and put in ziploc bag
Since I am single I only buy icecream in pints. I store them upside down in the freezer. I’m not sure how but this keeps them from gewtting freezerburnt for a really long time.
I use lock and lock for alot of my food storage. I have broccolli I bought the beginning of sept. in a lock and lock it is still fresh. I love to put my snacks in them they stay so much fresher. I would love to win this I’m addicted to mango and its getting ridicously expennsive so I would love to find a new place to buy it. Yet I’m leary about how it will taste. So I would love to try it free.
Would love to try these!
we have two fridges, one in the house and the other in the storage room. the one in the storage room keeps extras or repeats. i always check both fridges before heading to the store so i don’t get something we already have.
I buy family packs of meat and store them in ziploc freezer bags.
My best food storage tip is to consistently check expiration dates (like maybe every month) and move boxes around so I know I’m eating the stuff that will expire soonest first. It’s not revolutionary, but it works!
just the basics, rotate, fifo, and of course freeze everything you can! 🙂
Would love to win. My daughter could take these for a quick in between class at school.
FIFO (first in, first out) and I label everything that I’ve opened or put in the freezer so I know how old it is.
My best food storage tip is the Food Saver Vacuum Storage System. I buy large bulk packages of items, split them into smaller packages and only open one as needed. Food can be frozen for several years. Things like cheese can be kept in the refrigerator for extended lengths of time, because the are airtight, just as they are at the grocery store. The Food Saver has saved me tons of money, because I don’t get freezer burn on my food anymore.
We love using a food saver to store our food. Keeps food fresher longer. No need for tupperware!
Our best food storage was buying our freezer at a yard sale so we can buy meat when it is a good deal. We also have a shelf in the garage for all dry foods. Not as great as yours but it works for us for now.
My favorite storage tip is just freezing blueberries quickly on a sheet pan before bagging them up. Makes those cheap summer berries available for months.
I use the ziploc Vacuum bags to store fruit and lemon juice cubes in!! then reuse them in summer for fresh lemonaide!!
I like the Ziploc vacuum system much better than the Food Saver, the bags didn’t always stay sealed. I buy the whole pork loin at BJ’s for 1.99/lb and cut it up into my own roasts and chops, freezing in the ziploc vacuum bags.
I store stuff everywhere I can. When I stockpile I make good use of rubbermaid tubs that can be stacked because they keep my items dust free.
usually freeze in food saver bags, as i think it always tastes fresh, but if in a hurry and using zip locks, i use a straw and suck out as much air as possible before freezing — takes up less space and keeps it better without the excess air in there.
We stock up during Buy One/Get One sales and freeze the extra items to save on things we usually buy. We also have a Food Saver system that is great with long-term freezer storage. I have heard that empty cereal bags act to prevent freezer burn when used as extra insulation for freezer items. Would love to win these. Thanks!
These freeze dried fruits seem like a great product! Thanks for another great giveaway!
All I do is use ziploc
Freezer storage bags-it works for
Me!
My best tip is that it’s worth it to spend money on good storage containers. I love the Oxo with the pop-top lids!
can’t wait to try it out, thanks for the chance!!
Grains/Sugar/Shelf stable items in large quantities go into 5 gallon food grade buckets w/ oxygen absorbers. Freezer items I prepare in proportion to what we eat and do once-a-month-cooking. I freeze a lot that shouldn’t technically be frozen including cheese, milk, bread, garden vegetables, gravies, homemade cookie dough, yogurt, etc. I spend $25 a week for my husband and I’s meals, home, and health stuff and buying a ton of whatever is at a good price is the only way it works.
We put our beds on boxes of food storage 🙂
I use any unused space. Under the beds in some great wooden boxes hubby built is one of the best.
I don’t have half as good a food saving idea as the rest of you (I’m learning some great tips!). But for dried items, I put everything in Tupperware as soon as it comes home, then I can recycle the packaging as well.
We don’t do very well with leftovers here at my house, so I now freeze them immediately in individual serving dishes- my very own microwave dinners ready for the taking! 🙂
I love dried fruit!
We love the ziploc vacuum storage bags! We buy large packs of meat on sale, then divide them into the bags, vacuum and freeze. They really help keep the food fresh and they’re pretty cheap!
Yeah…we keep juice under our kids beds…..what…you don’t??
My storage idea I actually learned today at my grandmother’s house. The meat was on sale today in a Hispanic grocery store so I got a lots of meat.I learned to season the meat, then divided in small proportion, after that use clear plastic wrap to wrap each proportion, then put it in a Ziploc back and to the freezer it goes. That way everything is frozen and I just cook what I am going to need. 🙂
Also, to buy a lot of blueberries when they are on sale and freeze them up (DO NOT wash them first). You will have blueberries for a long time with out worried about the full price later.
Ziplock and freezer!
We individually wrap the meat and label what it is and the date.
I buy family packs of meat and store them in ziploc freezer bags.
I do the FIFO, first in, first out to make sure my older products are used first.
anywhere and everwhere
I try to only buy what we’ll use…and donate any that we won’t! Sort often
Lots of Ziploc freezer storage bags!
Just keep reorganizing as your supply changes.
If you’re storing items in 5 gallon buckets in your garage, keep them raised up off the cement floor. The temperature fluctuations can cause your food inside to sweat and give off moisture which can lead to mold.
I freeze everything!!! From Bread to chips to cheese to leftovers, I date and freeze it all, usually in single servings using plastic containers and baggies!
A good food storage tip for my house: keep boxes of mac & cheese out of the 2 year old’s reach. 🙂 I’m just saying…
I buy the large chicken leg quarter packages, marinate and wrap individually in plastic and then I put all the individually wrapped pieces in a large freezer bag and put in the freezer. This way I can just grab the pieces I need and they will have a wonderful flavor.
I freeze chopped onions. I can get two or three onions chop them up all at one time separate into small individual containers and I dont have to chop onions for monthes.
Rotate, rotate, rotate!
I just double freezer bag things. Seems to work fine.
est food storage are the plastic bends you get from the dollar store. I store my free pasta and pasta sauce; drink mixes; cereal, and other odds and ends.
Put into frezzer storage bags and stack to freeze.
Store what you eat and rotate, rotate, rotate!
I use ziplock bags for freezing food.
I swear by my vacuum sealer! I buy larger items / bulk items and break down into 1 or 2 person servings, vacuum seal it and toss it into the freezer.
I wanna win! Choose me! 🙂
Devise a first in, first out system so items get used before expiring.
I cook several whole chickens at once (one in crockpot, boil one on stove, cook one in microwave in pampered chef stoneware) debone all, then divide into freezer bags. Anytime I need cooked chicken, it takes no time to thaw them and make a quick meal!
I try to freeze everything including blocks of cheese that are on sale.
I unpack frozen items from orignal packages and repack in more space saving freezer bags and write cook instructions and date on bag with marker.
I love the casserole method of freezing the whole dish in a foil-lined large casserole dish, then removing it once solid to re-use the dish and save freezer space.
FREEZER! We freeze so much stuff, from wholesale meat, to some condiments, to leftovers from meals….pasta dishes and soups freeze especialyl well.
we use the freezer a lot and i put extra shelves in my walk-in closet to put extra stock stuff like soap, and other stock item
I freeze some items and use containers for other items. some items that come in boxes like granola bars i take out of the boxes and store in bags and that saves alot of room. i bought a shelving system to put in my laundry room and i stock extra things i buy and that works great.
Fresh fruits and veggies have always been a storage task for me. I love fresh produce and love to get it on sale – but feel it is such a waste if the food goes bad before I get to it. Veggies should not be stored in plastic. This causes it to go bad quickly b/c it is receiving no air flow. You should only wash items right before eating them. Otherwise, they may spoil quickly from the excess moisture. Another good tip is to cut the root off of root vegetables. When the root is left on it will sometimes continue to drain nutrients out of the vegetable. I’ve done a little internet research on this – so not all ideas are original. If anyone has other tips, please share ;o) Freeze-dried produce may be the way to go ;o)
I freeze everything from hmburger, bread to cheese. I also rotate, rotate, rotate!!
I use empty plastic ice cream pails, to hold bags of baking items that don’t stack well (like choc chips, nuts). I can also then stack the ice cream pails if need be to save room.
shelf stable foods are under rated. What would you do if the power to your freezer goes out?
I use freezer bags and label and date everything to make sure it gets used before it gets freezer burned.
One of the things I use in my storage is UHT milk (the ultra-pasterized kind, that doesn’t need refrigeration) It is real cow’s milk, just processed differently.
I immediately transfer dry pasta, etc., into glass canning jars or recycled quart or pint jars. I use canning lids and seals to be sure the jars are sealed tight. I then put the original packages in the recycle bin.
Eat, Eat, Eat! LOL!!!
we store our baking goods in store bags then mark them with sharpie the purchase date and what is inside … for example bread flour 8/5/10… so one 5 lb bag of bread flour would be inside a kroger bag… this uses the plastic store bags which we have so many of and seals up the paper flour bags, oat containers, choc chips, etc… all cereals and canned goods purchased are also marked with sharpie with purchase date. we find they get stale by purchase date and some don’t last to their expiration date (since we live in the south). and we rotate by the purchase dates…
Stock up on produce when at peak–flavor and price, that is. Wash well, lay on tray or cookie sheet to freeze. Once frozen, bag/contain and label. Great with berries, cherries, and the like.
Divide your freezer storage up into cubes: reserve that cube-shaped section for frozen meat, this one for sea-food, that one for convenience meals, this one for produce, etc. Put your produce–you know, that healthy stuff you want to eat more of–in prime real estate so you see it every time you open freezer. For odd shaped packages, like your newly-frozen fruit, I recommend keeping them in a basket/plastic cube (I have used the hard plastic liner from an unsalvagable lunchbox shell to great effect), or flat-stacking them (lay baggie on side, preferrably keeping label facing you, and wiggle and pat until it is flat enough to stack the next baggie on top of). After all, nobody likes being pelted by the frozen avalanche that comes from a poorly organized freezer. Well, unless you live in FL like me, and actually don’t mind it on occasion in summer–all nine months of it…
A well-packed freezer is most efficient. : )
I think the best thing is to invest in a deep frezer I bought a small one last Chrismas at Sam’s and now I make fewer trips to the grovery store because I shop the sales and stock up on items I use a lot and stick them in there. Right now i have both my fridge and deep freezer full and I am just eating things out of it so I have not been to the grocery store in a whiile.
I want to start drying fruit.
I unpack all frozen meats from their orignal packages and repack in more space saving freezer bags. I then write the date on bag with marker.
When storing in something that is not original packaging, abel everything! Quantity (cups, lbs, etc) if relevant (especially for freezing meats, liquids etc), expiration date, date it was opened, what it is…
We have a regular top/bottom freezer/fridge and I find that I can make better use of limited space when I line them up/down i.e. ‘sideways’ side by side like books once they are frozen.
Also… we store extra cereal stacked rather than lined up – so the box top is facing out and it’s easy to see the use by date. This way we can stack cereal to the top of the cupboard.
I really like to use my vacuum sealer and I always date and label:)
When buying meat (or produce, etc.) in bulk, repackage in smaller sized portions as soon as you get home from the store. Refrigerate the portions you plan on using in a few days and freeze the rest. This will save you hundreds of dollars in a year, from not throwing away wasted food.
Simply freezer ziplock bags.
It is so important to label and date yoour freezer items. I like to buy in bulk and separate into our family’s portion size. I also make sure that I rotate my stash…making sure I use everything before it expires or gets freezer burn. 🙂
My best tips are to always use a good, quality freezer container to make for better stacking and always date your products.
My best tip is to buy items that you need and that don’t expire too quickly.
I’m loving this vaccuum sealer I scored for $3 the other day!
I have a large chest freezer with plastic milk cartons to seperate the sections. I also rely heavily on my vacuum sealer. And as everyone else says, be sure you write what is in it, how much and the date.
I put things like pasta in glass jars so you can see what you are storing, and don’t forget to rotate all your pantry goods.
I only keep two backups at a time for each of my items due to space constraints. So, for example, I won’t be buying the Quaker Oats this week since I still have the two entire ones from the last BOGO (we don’t seem to use alot of this). The only way I make an exception to this rule is if it is a money-maker, free or just a few cents. Then, I just come up with something that will use alot of the product quickly lol
I have a rule…the kids/husband can’t open another box/bag of something until they finish the end of the other…otherwise there would be 20 open containers of the same item!
Don’t forget to blanch your veggies before freezing. I learned this the hard way when my okra thawed mushy.
Keeping your storage area a little cooler than the rest of the house and keeping out the bright sunlight helps everything to last longer.
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