Did you know that 12% of food bought for U.S. households is discarded? That amount of food waste adds up: $600+ per year, per home, in wasted food costs. On a national level, the U.S. throws away almost 50% of the food we produce. To put this into prospective, New York City alone has an annual food surplus of about 50 million pounds.

Here’s a few tips on food storage that could help bring that wasted food bill down in your home.

Refrigeration:
Your refrigerator is the first place to start. Do you know what temperature it is inside your fridge? Fridge thermometers are cheap and easy to use. The optimal fridge temperature is between 40° – 37° degrees. Anything above 40° is a step closer to a danger zone where food can easily grow bacteria.

Surprisingly, the refrigerator door is the area in your fridge where the temperature fluctuates the most. Make sure you aren’t storing any perishable items like eggs or milk inside the door.

The more open space you leave inside your fridge, the better it will do it’s job. Cramming food into your fridge creates poor air flow—limiting your fridge’s cooling power.

Make sure to cool hot food before refrigerating. It should reach the 40° or below mark within 3 hours after being cooked. Food that needs to be frozen, however, doesn’t need to be cooled before being placed in the freezer, where it should reach 0° for optimal storage temperature.

The longer you store food in the freezer, the more likely you are to loose quality in taste. But you don’t risk your food spoiling as long as it stays at 0°.  Packaging food that will be frozen in multiple smaller containers is good practice. It allows each container to cool faster and helps prevent waste (from thawing too much food at once).  Ideally food should freeze within 2 hours after being cooked.

Quick Tips

• Store meats on the bottom shelf and on a plate if there is concern of leakage
• Separate fruits and vegetables. Gases from fruits may spoil vegetables faster or give an “off” taste.
• Freeze fresh meats if they won’t be consumed within two days
• Freeze food in smaller portions so you don’t thaw too much at once, frozen food should only be thawed once
• If freezing soups or sauces, only fill the containers up 3/4 to leave room for expansion

Looking for a simple way to transfer your spices to a glass jar? Use a funnel. If you don’t have one handy, here’s an easy way to create your own funnel using an envelope.

When transferring spices to a jar, create your own funnel using an envelope.
1. Start with a standard white envelope.

2. Cut the tip off one corner.

3. On the other corner, cut the envelope at an angle from one end to the other.

4. Now you’re ready to open it into a cone shape. You can use manila envelopes for larger amounts.

We knew these storage items were winners when we stocked them – but you don’t have to take our word for it! Check out the reviews section for these top sellers to find out what customers like you have to say:

Reader's NightStand	84826 Reader’s Nightstand: Just one square foot and this handsome 4-shelf stand is all it takes to organize your books and magazines. Tuck it next to your favorite reading chair or use it as a nightstand.
Spice Stack	84898 Spice Stack: Turn a jumbled stack of spice jars into an organized system that fits compactly on a counter or cabinet shelf. Spices stay neatly out of sight and away from damaging light, but are easy to find.
InstaHanger	84926 InstaHanger: This hanger’s decorative wood inlay cover could be mistaken for wall art! But it’s much more practical than that, because it opens to reveal a steel rod that gives you 12” of hanging space.
Drawer Dividers	81639 Drawer Dividers: Utensils and cooking gadgets are easy to find and socks stay sorted when drawers are organized with these wooden dividers. Just put in place to create spaces the perfect width.
Magazine Butler	61638 Magazine Butler: See-through acrylic case organizes up to a year’s worth of magazines – and blends with any décor! Organize cooking magazines in the kitchen, craft magazines in the sewing room or business journals in an office.
Shoe-eze	62667 Shoe-eze: No assembly – just stack the Shoe-Eze™ sections in your closet. Their patented locking feature provides stability, and their crystal-clear design makes it easy to find the shoes you want.
Roll Out Drawers	80911 Roll-Out Drawers: These easy-rolling, pull-out “drawers” organize cabinets in the kitchen, laundry room, bath, even the garage—just roll out, and you’ll always find what you’re looking for with just a glance!
Mirror Jewelry Cabinet	82325 Jewelry Mirror Cabinet: Hide and organize your jewelry collection behind a handsome, framed full-length mirror!
Overhead Storage Organizer	81096 Overhead Storage: Turn unused ceiling space into valuable storage! This unique storage system gets boxes, sleeping bags and other bulky items overhead and out of the way.
Mission Media Cabinet	84247 Mission Media Cabinet: With 12 drawers for CDs and 5 shelves behind a glass door for DVDs, this Mission-style media cabinet makes it easy to organize a large video and audio collection!
Expandable Drawer Organizer	Bonus 11th Problem Solver 86244 Expandable Drawer Organizers: No more lost pens, notepads or rubber bands – this adjustable organizer has a section for everything and expands to fit a desk or kitchen junk drawer!

From Kathy M, Solutions’ resident expert on home & garden tips & how-to’s:
Here at Solutions, we test the products ourselves before selling them to you, and when my boss started handing out Drawer Dividers I jumped at the chance to try them out. Continue Reading Drawer Dividers Review by Kathy M…

Resolution: Get organized.
Advice for sticking to it: We feel more relaxed when our surroundings are neat and orderly! Cut through closet clutter by applying a “two-year” rule: if you haven’t worn it in two years, you probably never will. Don’t let the mail stack up – sort through each day when it arrives. Look for unused storage spaces under furniture and behind doors. Schedule time each week or month to clear away clutter.

More ideas: An organized closet is possible!

Featured product: Stack pots and pans without scratches!

Keep Food Staples Fresher!

The pantry is a busy cook’s favorite “room” – but keeping it tidy can be a challenge! With these simple tips, your pantry can be a kitchen cure-all instead of a catch-all.

First, think about what you keep in your pantry. Many people use a kitchen pantry to hold nonperishable foods, but it can also be used to store cleaning tools, kitchen tools, utility items (such as emergency candles and batteries) and even table linens. Think about what you want to store so you can figure out how best to store it
Continue Reading Organizing Your Pantry

Whether you’re moving into a smaller apartment, helping a college freshman move into a dorm, or creating a home office in an extra closet, organizing and creating storage space in a small area can be a challenge.
Continue Reading Big Ideas For Small Spaces

Keep tabs on what's in the back of that cabinet!

If you find yourself having to clear a space on the counter to prepare a meal, chances are you’re all-too familiar with how fast clutter can pile up in the kitchen! Short of a costly and major renovation, what can you do to conquer the chaos and reclaim your kitchen? Here are ten great tips that will get you on the road to turning your kitchen into an inviting place for family and friends.

1. Take stock of what you have.
Empty cabinets, pantry and drawers. Have you been holding onto empty margarine containers, mismatched dishes and logo mugs that never see the light of day? Disposing of them will free up valuable kitchen real estate!

2. Sort remaining items by category.
Keep items of similar size, shape and type together. Stacking plates, keeping canned goods together and nesting spoons makes them easier to locate quickly.

3. Aim high when putting away seldom-used items.
Reserve the higher shelves in your cabinets for antique china, crystal, serving pieces and other items you don’t use much. Keep mixing bowls, casserole dishes, glasses and other everyday items within easy reach. This will also reduce the risk of mishaps.

4. Look above for extra storage space.
A ceiling- or wall-mounted pot rack not only frees up cupboards—it looks stylish, too! Racks also make finding the right pan quick and easy. Hang a wire basket from the ceiling for produce stored at room temperature.

5. Hook up!
Hooks installed inside a cabinet door are great for hanging measuring spoons, cups and other small items you want to keep out of sight. Look for spots on the wall near the stove, alongside the sink or behind a door to hang brooms, mops and dust pans. Hang a paper towel dispenser or dish towel on the wall over the sink, while the spot above the stove can be reserved for potholders, tiles and long-handled utensils like spatulas.

6. Go portable.
A freestanding caddy can hold silverware, while a crock can hold wooden spoons and ladles. Just set them on a counter or kitchen table, or tuck them out of the way in a cabinet as the need arises. This can be a great way to keep utensils in reach…and avoid overstuffing your drawers!

7. Maximize drawer- and cabinet-space.
Install pull-out racks on runners in your bottom cabinets! These make it easy to reach items stored in the back. Dividers or partitioned cutlery trays in drawers keep different items separate and organized.

8. Prop up cookbooks.
Rather than waste counter space by laying a cookbook or cooking magazine flat on the counter, arrange them in magazine holders.

9. Store for a view.
Loose packets of tea bags, salad dressings and powdered drinks can be kept neat and easy-to-find in transparent containers stacked on the pantry shelf.

10. Stack smart.
Pile plastic food storage containers by size, from large to small, inside one another. Store matching lids in a separate pile, also by size. When choosing containers keep in mind that square ones take up less room than round, while collapsible containers can save even more space.

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