by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Just in time for the holidays! I’m sharing a genius kitchen hack to help you more easily deal with all that leftover food.

Did you ever try to fill a plastic zippered bag with food for the freezer? It can get really messy trying to hold the bag while filling it with food. I always make a big frustrating mess.

But I’ve found a super easy way to hold bags open for me when trying to fill them – using something I already have in my kitchen. My canning jar lifters. Check out this clever Kitchen Hack!

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

Saving Leftover Food

Recently I invited my dad to join us for supper. I made his favorite comfort food – Instant Pot Roast.

But after our meal there was plenty of roast and gravy left over. So I decided to store the leftovers in the freezer. I knew RancherMan & I would enjoy it for another meal in the coming weeks.

Filling Zippered Bags For The Freezer

My freezer is my friend when I have leftovers.

Less Food Waste – Leftovers aren’t stuck in the refrigerator until they’re past their prime to become food waste.

Meals Fast – Having pre-cooked food in your freezer means a healthy home-cooked meal is heat-n-eat fast.

Less Cleanup – You’ve already dirtied up the measuring cups, utensils and cooking pots to prepare that food. Serving leftovers from the freezer means you don’t have to dirty up those same dishes again to enjoy another delicious meal. 

So I decided to freeze the rest of of this leftover roast and gravy.

Difficulty Filling Plastic Food Storage Bags

But if you’re like me you know how messy it can be to transfer food into plastic freezer bags!

It’s difficult to hold the bag with only one hand while filling it with food using the other hand.

The Bag Collapses – When I’m trying to fill the bag, it often collapses unless I’m holding it up with my other hand.

Spills – Since I’m trying to spoon chunks of roast into a wobbly bag, I often at least partially miss the bag opening, spilling the food.

Mess – Spilled food means yet another gloppy mess to clean up. Ugh.

Bag Holder Clip To Easily Fill Plastic Food Storage Bags

To more easily fill a freezer bag with food, many people buy an inexpensive *Ziplock Bag Holder to help with this task. It holds the bag open while you fill it.

And it’s handy, make no mistake.

But I found I don’t need to buy a bag holder, I already have what I need in my own kitchen. A canning jar lifter. Check this out!

Kitchen Hack: Filling Resealable Bags

I use a canning *Jar Lifter as a stand to hold my zippered bag open & steady as I fill it.

I turn the jar lifter upside down so the handles are on the counter. This leaves wide rounded section to hold my bag open for me.

I slide the zip lock bag over the jar lifters and spread it open as far as the bag allows. Then I fold the top of the bag over to hold it in place.

Finally I start shoveling in the food. This worked great for my roast and gravy!

Not only does this keep the bag open for me, but since I’ve folded the top over the jar lifters it keeps the zipper part of the bag clean too.

No more having to wipe off the zipper closure before I can zip it closed. Now I just seal the bag, add a label and put it in the freezer.

Adding Chunky Food To Resealable Plastic Bag

And you know how hard it is to get chunky food into a resealable bag? Check this out – roasted vegetables ladled into a reusable zippered bag with no mess!

Pouring Liquid Into Resealable Zipper Bag

But here’s the REAL test, y’all. Pouring leftover gravy (or soup) into a resealable zippered bag. Now I daresay there’s NO way I’d be able to do this without making a huge mess before.

But now?

Nary a drop spilled. No waste, no mess. This is an amazing kitchen hack!

Easier Way To Mix Deviled Egg Filling

Using my jar lifters isn’t only for freezer bags. I use it to hold repurposed bags open when I’m making my Deviled Eggs too

I use a great shortcut for making deviled eggs, y’all! I place my cooked yolks, mayo, mustard, pickle relish & salt/pepper into a plastic bag.

Then I mash it all together to blend, cut the corner and ‘pipe’ the fillings into the hollowed egg whites.

But before I started using this jar-lifter shortcut it was still a little messy. Now I use a canning jar lifter to hold the bag open for me. This has been game changing!

So if you have a canning jar lifter lying around in your kitchen, take advantage of this amazing shortcut to make it easier and less messy to transfer food to a plastic resealable bag.

~TxH~

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