Save It! – Cereal Bags
This post might lead you to believe that I am totally crazy. I mean, who saves their cereal bags? I know you’re thinking “Good grief. Stacy’s really lost her marbles now.” Keep an open mind until I’m done with this post…maybe by the end you’ll be saving your bags too – or at least you will understand why I save mine. If you begin to understand me, please give my husband  a call because I’m sure he would enjoy the insight.
The most obvious reason to save a cereal bag is so that you can crush cereal. Lots of recipes call for crushed cereal. So, instead of digging out a nice, new Ziploc bag, I just crush my cereal in the bag it’s already in. I might crush a lot more than I need so that I have extra for another time. I like working ahead! I used to be a procrastinator – and then I graduated college. Plus, cereal always has the little bitty pieces in the bottom that are already crushed. Now you can just use them in a recipe instead of throwing them away. Never waste your cereal. I’ll fuss at ya for that. I actually like all the goop at the bottom of the bag – best part! Oh, and be careful when you’re crushing cereal with your hands. If you get a little carried away, you might bust the bag open and let it spill all over the cabinet and floor – not that that’s ever happened to me or anything.
I have one of those plastic “lid” doohickies that you use to cover things in the microwave, but it doesn’t work with everything. When I want to keep things from splattering all over the microwave and the cover won’t work, I place old cereal bags over the top to keep it from popping. I’ve been some places where the microwave has never seen a cover. There’s stuff on there from the Nixon Administration…..and it’s so hard you can’t get it off with a jackhammer.  They should have saved their cereal bags. Stuff like that makes me gag. GAG ATTACK! Plus, if the bag gets really nasty and dirty you can just throw it away instead of washing it. Yippeee!!
I love making granola. Whew! I could eat it every day and live a happy life. If I have an empty cereal bag, I just pour my granola in there. After all, it was used for cereal in the beginning, so shouldn’t it be fine for more? I’m not very graceful or neat, so I usually have to use a measuring cup to pour it in….unless I need to feed Dottie, then I let it fly.  You know my favorite way to eat granola? Half a banana vertically, then pour some yogurt over the top….sprinkle with granola and eat it with a spoon. OH BABY.
If you need to make burgers or any other type of formed meat, then you usually have to put it on a plate or something until you cook it. Now, I am uber paranoid about raw meat and washing everything……I mean, UBER paranoid. So, if I use a cereal bag to put the meat on, then I can just throw it away when I’m done. That eliminates the need to bleach every surface  in the house. Oh, and make sure you don’t use the inside part of the bag – unless you want Trix flavored stuffed burgers.
I am sorta messy when I cook. Okay, so I’m a LOT messy when I cook. If I’m making something that  is going to make a mess all over the counter, I try to use a cereal bag under my utensils. See, here I was making waffles and using a measuring up to ladle. In between waffles, I needed to lay my cup down, so I put it on a cereal bag. It caught all the mess and I just had to throw it away. Nice! I LOVE easy clean up……I really need one of those George Forman grills with the removable plates. :-)
Okay, one last one. If you’re chopping vegetables, keep a bag nearby to put all your ends and skins on. Then, when you’re done you can just pick it up and chuck it in the trash. You could even just throw them down into the bag if you wanted. Anything goes!So, basically we’ve learned that you can use an empty cereal bag for anything you’d use wax paper to do. You could use it to separate meat that you’re freezing. You could also use it under homemade candies that need to set up. Do you have any great ideas for empty cereal bags?

So do you still think I’m weird now? It’s okay……I sorta am.

 

 

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About Stacy

Stacy is the author of Crock On: A Semi-Whole Foods Slow Cooker Cookbook and a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Annie (3) and Andy (newborn). After an “awakening” in March 2011, her family switched to a more natural, whole foods diet. She likes to blog about how to live on less than you make and how to eat good food while doing it. Her passion is teaching others how to save money and she tag teams with her husband in this endeavor. At Stacy Makes Cents you’ll find information on how to save money in the kitchen, how to have fun with your kids, and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Her passion is teaching others how to live debt free. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with her daily antics.

  • http://impossibleway.livejournal.com Brandy

    Here’s another use for old cereal bags: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/4099

    • Stacy

      Great idea! :-) Thanks!

  • SUSAN MCCORMICK

    I don’t think your crazy it’s a great idea.

  • Tia

    I don’t think you’re crazy – I save butter wrappers. I use them to grease casserole dishes. I think I’ll start saving my cereal bags too, I’m sure Daniel will think I’m crazy, but oh well.

    • Stacy

      We’ll make a club – The Husbands Think We’re Crazy Club :-)

  • http://lifeblessons.blogspot.com carmen @ life blessons

    I also hold on to my cereal bags and reuse them to hold homemade breads and freeze them. I try to shake all the crumbs out and then they work like a charm!

    • Stacy

      Good tip! I usually freeze my bread in empty bread bags that my family saves. :-)

  • Christy

    I save and use mine all the time. I often use them instead of baggies for sandwiches if I know a plastic container won’t make it home.

    • Stacy

      Smart thinking!

  • http://kinnells.blogspot.com Amy

    Throw away your veggie ends and skins. WHAT?!?! Freeze them and then pull them out to use with a chicken carcass to make homemade chicken stock. Overnight on low in the crockpot works great every time.

  • Jenny

    Just be sure your bags don’t contain the preservative BHT. Many of the non-natural brands state in the ingredients that they contain BHT in the packaging. Ugh!

    • Stacy

      Thanks for the tip.

  • Yvonne Monjaras

    The last recommendation of using the bag for throwing out vegetable peelings. Big no no, This should be put into a compost to use in the garden later. But other than that Kudos. Great idea. The trix flavored burgers was the best one. Now can someone tell my husband that it is okay to reuse stuff.

    • Stacy

      We’re not big growers, so we don’t have a compost pile. :-) Now I feed the scraps to the chickens – when I wrote this post we lived in a townhouse with no yard. LOL

  • Maria

    Not to burst your bubble on the microwave, but I know you are on a “healthy track” so I have to. Microwaves make food carcinogenic. I went to school for athletic training, and nutrition…they taught us ALOT of things that I have come to find is different. Microwaves were said to “be a great way to cook lowfat”. However, it changes the food. I just wanted to let ya do the research..I know you have little ones like me, and I would want someone to tell me if I didn’t know.

    • Stacy

      Ha, ha! This really gave me a giggle, Maria. :-) This post is from November 16, 2010. I should have updated it when I wrote my microwave post. So, yes…you are right. Check this out: http://www.stacymakescents.com/kicking-out-the-microwave

      • Maria

        Okay, good:-) I started not to write that…trust me… me and my mom have wars ’bout microwaves…but did anyway. At least ya know..my conscience is clear. lol

        • Stacy

          My Mama still uses one too – so I get it. :-)

  • Lauretta

    My mom taught me to package meats for the freezer in cereal bags and then put in a sugar or flour bag. Wrap with a couple rounds of masking tape, use a marker on the tape to label and presto! :) feels very thrifty!

    • Stacy

      And I do so LOVE feeling thrifty! :-)

  • Annette

    I too save cereal bags & have used them for many of the tips already shared. But I also use them when gifting homemade goodies such as cookies, snack mix, & flavored popcorn by simply filling the bag with the goodies, then folding the bag down against the food, & stapling the bag once to hold it shut. Then I will use either a pc of scrapbook paper or a pretty note card (or use recycled Christmas cards during the holiday season) cut down to size & folded to create a bag ‘topper’ as I call it, & I staple it over the folded part of the bag. I will also use the bags occassionaly as shipping ‘envelopes’ & when shipping to a child, I will decorate it with stickers. And since I’m a crafter, I may have more than one craft project going at a time, so I will occassionally use them to keep&organize the supplies for each craft project together while I’m working on them.

    • Stacy

      I’ve done that too! But yours sounds way cuter. :-)

  • Brenda

    I am glad there is someone out there that speeks my language! I have just discovered you. …… Ohhhhh happy dance! I hate the lid “do-hickies”. Cereal bags! So cool! Just got chickens , started a garden, do the coupon thing, now it’s time to work on the menu with coupon thing. I feel like a teenager on the phone! Some one I can brain pick! We so need to be friends. Lol. Can’t wait to make my own laundry soap, hand soap, and all the other stuff people, including my husband, thought I was a weirdo for wanting to do. Baking my own bread! Love it! I use my grandmas kitchen aid, the thing is as old as I am! I need to shut up now. Thanks for doing way you do. Weirdo power!!!!!!!

    • Stacy

      I just got chickens too!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)