Leftovers compromise: glass containers with plastic lids
With fears that the plastic from which we've been eating and drinking for years may be putting toxic chemicals like Bisphenol A into our bodies, many people are going back to the pre-Tupperware era for their food storage needs, suggests Re-Nest. While some are picking up vintage Pyrex dishes from eBay with glass lids, many who carry leftovers to work for lunch are using these Pyrex dishes with plastic lids that lock on tight. As long as you remove the lids before putting the dishes in the microwave it should be a happy compromise.
I'm partial to one suggestion offered: just put a saucer or plate on top of a bowl. Not good for travel, I suppose, but easy and not at all wasteful.
There's another intangible benefit to using glass instead of plastic: eating your food out of glass makes it feel more like a meal and less of a obligatory midday calorie sludge, increasing satisfaction. (At least for me! Maybe you like eating out of plastic bins scored with the evidence of a thousand forkings prior.)
You could also go for a more traditional bento/tiffin solution, provided you don't mind apportioning the next day's lunch when you're putting up the leftovers.
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You are spot-on about eating from glass.
We switched over to these and I will tend to grab one of these Pyrex bowls for general use.
It really does ~feel~ better somehow.
I'm really glad it's not just me.
I've been using refilled glass juice bottles since forever. Drinks just taste better without plastic leeching into them. I had this weird semi-somnolent vision last night of doing an Instructables on making your own bottled water. (Long story short: do it like jam.)
We're still using plastic sandwich boxes for a lot of our leftovers, but we just use plates and bowls a lot. Now we're kind of switching over to stainless steel bowls. Pyrex bowls are kind of hard to open, and we usually dish the stuff out before we heat it.
I ditched all of my plastic containers for a set of these last year. And amazingly, it turns out that I never needed more than 5 containers anyhow.
glass is definitely the way to go with these. being pyrex, they are also oven-safe, which is a huge win if you don't own a microwave. you can also be certain you've scoured out the nastiest of rotten food, should you happen to forget about something lurking in the fridge.
Aww crap, this story reminded me that I have an old Corned beef brisket encased in pyrex sitting in the back of my fridge.
Maxoid, I learned the hard way that "oven-safe" does not necessarily mean "broiler-safe." Just a word of caution.
Also, since I eat while moving around a lot, I've found that a Pyrex pie plate is superior to a normal flat plate for preventing spills off the edge while eating foods with sauces.
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While I can certainly see why you'd be cautious, and that using glass containers might be more environmentally friendly in the long run, it really needs to be noted that the jury is still out on the toxicity of BPA at this point.
While I can certainly see why you'd be cautious, and that using glass containers might be more environmentally friendly in the long run, it really needs to be noted that the jury is still out on the toxicity of BPA at this point.
I use Mason jars for storage and microwaving; metal lids are okay, but the plastic ones sold specifically for freezing are better.
Also, with careful honey and salsa-brand choices, you get Mason jars for free; although the Wide Mouth Pints are best for freezing.
What?
Even the link that's in the above blog post equivocates... "Bisphenol A — a chemical which may or may not induce hormonal changes, especially in children."
a coworker was telling some people during lunch about how she'd tossed all her plastics after hearing recent noises on net and in conversation re: BPA. she tapered off pretty quickly because lunch was nearly over and she had to rush outside to have a smoke, heh. perhaps cutting out some possible risks from one thing might help offset those from another...a see-saw kind of thing. we're amazing and funny creatures.