Resealable bags are the thrifty person’s kitchen tool. You can use them for so many things and as long as they didn’t have meat in them, you can wash them and reuse them many times over.
Let’s look at 10 ways to use resealable bags around your home.
1. Make a cookie crust for a pie. Using graham crackers or even Oreo cookies, you can place them in the bag, let all the air out and crush by hand. You could also use a rolling pin over them to crush the pieces super fine.
2. If you buy some fruit that you need to ripen fast, place them in the bag and seal it. Fruits will ripen about twice as fast using this method.
3. Like nuts on your Sundays or in your brownies? Seal them in a bag and pound with a hammer.
4. Marinate meat in the fridge overnight in one. You can also use it to make meatballs or meatloaf. Just seal the ingredients in a bag and mash together.
5.If you don’t like your hands getting sticky, Knead dough in it. To keep your dough from sticking to the bag, spray it with cooking oil.
6. Skip buying expensive pastry bags. Just snip off a corner and use like you would a pastry bag for icing. You can even color your icing by adding it to the bag before you snip off the end and a couple drops of food color. Knead it gently and then snip off the end.
7. Use a small sandwich size bag for keeping your recipes from getting splashed on. Just seal a recipe you are using in it and go about your cooking.
8. Place matches, your cell phone, first aid items and any other things you don’t want to get wet in a resealable bag before you go camping or swimming.
9. Save money by making your own stock and freezing it. You can make your own stock and fill resealable bags about half full. Let out the air and place flat in the freezer until solid. When you have them frozen, you can easily stack them on their sides and save room as well.
10. Get creative! Fill a resealable bag with a little bit of finger paint. Let out as much air as you can and seal the top. Using Painter’s tape, affix it to a tabletop and let your kids “paint” with no mess!
How To Effectively Clean For Reuse:
You may be asking yourself: “How do I wash them effectively and quickly if I want to reuse them?”
Here is the easiest way I have found to do just that:
1. Use your dishwasher if you have one. Turn the inside out so they get clean in the area they are most dirty. They should go on the top rack and be held in place with a plastic clothespin.
If you don’t have a dishwasher, you can do them in the sink, inside out, by hand. Just do them first in very warm water before you do any greasy dishes.
2. To dry, hang them over glasses, upside down. They must air dry. You can usually wash and re-use one about 5-6 times. Throw out any that are not sealing or are stained/greasy and never re-use bags that had raw meat in them. I also recommend only reusing the good quality name brand ones as I find them the most durable for reuse.
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I love all of these ideas!
These are such great tips and some ways I never thought to use these.
These are great ideas and thank you so much for sharing how to wash and reuse them! So helpful!
Lots of great ideas! I do use them to marinate meat in the fridge, very handy!
These are some great tips. I especially agree about using them as pastry bags. I also found a new use this weekend. I used one to create spaetzle (german noodles) since the holes in my colander weren’t big enough to do it. Instead I just snipped a bit off the corner of a bag and squeezed through that.
I will reuse them if there’s really nothing in it. I don’t; wash them but I have been known to do it..
Great ideas! I’ve seen a bag dryer, which would be convenient.
I never knew you could wash and reuse them. Great to know.
Great tips, first time I”m hearing of washing them for reuse, but now that I think about it, it makes sense!
What great ideas!! I would have never thought of some of them. I love the finger paint idea. 🙂