Mason Jar Heaven
Funny thing happened one day on Pinterest… I must admit I am not a social media lover. Some of you may be surprised by this. Well I’ve always loved Twitter. It’s easy and can be local or global and if there is any thing you want to know that is going on you can immediately find it on Twitter. Facebook has been a love hate relationship for me.
I was an early adopter of Facebook and a few years ago closed my account when I realized “why am I not getting this information from speaking with my friends and family” and “isn’t physical interaction a better way?!” So closing my Facebook account was part of my less is more personal campaign. Tracy you are doing it again… what does this have to do with Mason Jars? I’m getting there.
Well with this blog I have found that Facebook is a keen way to connect with the weight loss surgery community. IN fact one of my first followers encouraged me go back onto Facebook especially for reaching other weight loss surgery friends. And so the My Tiny Tank Facebook Page was born. I do have a personal profile as well but I must admit I post way more on my Page then on my profile.
Oh and if you do request my friendship I will accept but you’d be better off LIKING my Page.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. I haven’t quite figured out Pinterest. I have a Pinterest Page. And a few nights I’ve gotten sucked into pinning stuff. It was like a vortex. When I was able to pull myself from the Pinterest FORCE. I thought wow that was powerful. So now I approach it cautiously. I try to pin good stuff to my page but I am not good at it.
One thing happened though! I saw Mason Jars. HA!
There were mason jars everywhere.
I had to chuckle.
I was memorized by the beautiful photographs of foods in mason jars. And then I thought, hey! “I’ve been doing that for years.” And started to laugh. But laugh I did in a happy way as I love that folks are embracing resuse, glass and taking their own food with them!!
Yeah!!
A few years back I tossed all my plastic containers. My husband is a engineer/scientist and knows way too much about chemicals to make you comfortable with them brushing up against anything you are going to consume. Hence we moved to all glass storage. We trudged right down to Crate & Barrell and bought a sufficient amount of square containers.
At first I was concerned about breakage and my young child. But I have to tell you I haven’t broken a one. I also thought of the fact that they aren’t air tight…. well most of my leftovers are eaten the next day and if I feel concerned that the seal needs to be improved I use a bit of wax paper over the top before I place on the lid.
So where do Mason Jars come in? Well for portability of course!!
Lunches. Our lunches are filled with yummy foods packed in paper or glass.
I have to say my son’s lunch is packed in a small brown paper bag. We made the decision to move from the all popular lunch box to the brown paper bag. Ahh yea I know not so reuse friendly BUT way more sanitary and in fact gives him more time at recess and less time looking for the lunch bag that was left at school, in the car, you know. How much time do you spend looking of your kids surf!?
My mason jars have been around for a long time. I have a few different sizes. 16 oz. 32 oz. and I even have some wide mouth 8oz. jars. I don’t use the small ones very often.
I use my jars for making easy ice tea. I use them for serving smoothies. I use them for making my own salad dressing. Just add ingredients and and shake.
It makes for quick making AND ha ha he can make them himself!!I use them for making smoothie kits! I make a bunch of kits of the dry ingredients of my husbands smoothies.
I use them for making my yogurt parfaits.
One thing I saw on Pinterest which I had not tried was putting a salad in the jar. Huh! I wasn’t too sure about it but I tried it the other day and it was great!! If you use dressing you can put the dressing at the bottom, then add the spinach or leaf veggies and add the other bits and pieces. They end up not really touching the dressing until you want them to. You can then just shake the bottle and voila a tossed salad. Me I have a big bowl at work and I pour my salad into the bowl.
Do you own Mason jars also known as Ball jars? What do you use them for? If not can you think of any good ideas for using them in your lunch or storage needs?
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Comments (14)
Samantha
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I so need to catch onto this mason jar idea!!! I may have to start tossing out all my plastic.. I’ve heard of way too many bad things! Thx
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my tiny tank
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Hi Samantha. You won’t miss the plastic. It never drys in the dishwasher etc. I’ve been seeing more glass choices recently. My supermarket had glass Glad containers. Check those out. Keep me posted if you transition.
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Marlene
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I use mason jars as well. Not as much as you but I love them for left overs and my tea and what ever I can. And they are heavy and durable.
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my tiny tank
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Hi Marlene. Every once in a while I’ll buy new covers but I’ve never broken A jar. They are the best!!! Thanks for your comment.
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Robin
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Oh I love Mason jars…I have several different sizes as well. I found 1/2 gallon jars on amazon and I use them for storing my flour, homemade granola, coffee and even my calcium chews…LOL
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my tiny tank
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Hi Robin. Half Gallon jars sound amazing. I have glass containers for my flour and tea but they are not sealed. I may have to check amazon for those. Thanks for the tip.
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Stacie
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Looks like I’m going to have to get some that actually have lids. I usually use mine for drinks. Ball jars, Mason jars, recycled jam and pickle jars… when my kids were smaller and managed to break so many of my drinking glasses, I noticed that quite a lot of restaurants were using canning jars so I jumped in with the trend – because if my kids break them I don’t cry. I like the idea of using them for storing leftovers though – I’ll have to check and see if my kids can use them for lunches.
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my tiny tank
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Hi Stacy. They don’t break do they. I have learned that too. Amazing. I use them for everything. Left overs. Iced tea. Dry storage. I even put soup in them when I take it to work. No more thermos. Just a ball jar. Ha.
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Penny
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All my mason and ball jars are used for canning. Never thought of using them in place of plastic containers. I do use the really small jam jars to pack individual cupcakes for the kids. It’s a great way to pack them for lunch without creating a huge mess. I split an unfrosted cupcake in half. Put half into the jar, spread frosting on the other half and place it on top of the other half (so the frosting is sandwiched in the middle of the pieces). It keeps the frosting from sticking all over the lid. Plus the kids think it’s pretty neat looking.
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my tiny tank
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Hey Penny. I love your blog. Your nutrition information is so helpful. I’d love more details on the cupcake trick. Might be good for my sons lunch. Can you email me or maybe point me to a blog post. Have you seen the Cupppow covers for mason jars? Makes them into a drink cup. Love them. Thanks for commenting!!
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Penny
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Hi Tracy,
I’ve been enjoying your blog as well. It’s nice to read what other longer term post ops are going through and discovering I’m not alone
As for the cupcakes in jars. I’ve seen some blogs and recipes that show how to bake the cupcake right in the jar. I make my cupcakes first and then put them in the jar. Here’s a site that shows pretty much the same way I do it:
http://www.joyshope.com/2009/04/mason-jar-cupcakes.html
She uses the larger 8oz jam jars and puts 2 cupcakes in them. Which is a great present idea but not something I want to send kids to school with. I use the smaller 4oz jam jars and only put 1 cup cake. I also split the cupcake in half, stick the frosting in the middle and then put the top on. Keeps the frosting from sticking all over the lid. Plus the kids actually eat the cupcake and not just remove all the frosting off of them LOL. I’ve never seen the tops that turn mason jars into a drink cup. That sounds pretty neat!
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my tiny tank
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Penny, thanks so much for sharing the cupcake idea!! I make a good carrot cupcake and this would be a nice way to send to school for my son. I like your smaller size idea!!
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sonja
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great idea! I have seen this on Pinterest as well. I have also seen it on your FB page. I will definitely starttrying these for my salads when it gets warmer!
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my tiny tank
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HI Sonja. The mason jars are great. I use them for everything form making iced tea, to storing dry ingredients, to store left overs. So versatile. Pinterest is covered with beautiful pictures of mason jar uses. I love seeing them all. thanks for your comments.
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