Little known Kmart trick is a complete game-changer for meal prepping

No one ever feels good about food going to waste… But every home cook is guilty of discarding half-empty mouldy jars of pasta sauce, gingerly sitting at the back of the fridge for months on end.

Luckily, one savvy foodie is here to save the day (and your leftovers) with the ultimate solution to change your meal prep for the better.


Karyn Cullen was cleaning out her fridge when she ended up scrapping four half-empty sauce jars that were at risk of going bad. So, she did what any savvy shopper would do – head to Kmart for an easy fix.

'I cleaned out the fridge and threw away four open jars of pastes. I hate wasting food and was really annoyed with myself,' she wrote in a post on Kmart Home & Hacks Facebook page.

jkjSaV_72W5fnd4aWL884GwPQhwS2Sc63imqTruMttRrj_5qWYrZ0OXbXqxWMVF3OZUv_Wx8MkDUujkjYHDxmyWKsMK-7NJw6jSm-uRSAkTyBKBiAgBNgTx_VyUDYtC7SuRGpmcPs94TWBt6fkwVZjSsmjsJWRZKIlej2Be0FKfYreFrXVYNSjbpHA

Karyn was cleaning out her fridge when she had a light-bulb moment. Source: Unsplash

‘But it's not possible for me to use them all within four weeks, so I started thinking about how I could avoid it and wondered if I could freeze them.’

‘I pulled up Kmart’s website and saw that they had ice cube trays with lids. I thought that would be perfect! When I went into the shop, however, I spotted the hard trays with the rubber bottom and thought they would be much easier to use – they are!’


Karyn came up with a kitchen hack for days. By simply using Kmart's $1.50 ice cube trays, she was able to freeze pasta sauce, curry paste, garlic, and ginger to extend their life.

To replicate the hack, all you need to do is pour any leftover sauces–curry pastes, pasta sauces, or spice paste–into an ice cube tray before leaving them in the freezer for several hours.

oeb7I5UUzmyiegxdUZA7pIX7sJWucrJobpiTd8c0skFI7I-TsEdlDYqqZocJM5iw4WidQeONpgcLTvFfweB0YpFNKJ8k67-gikzIo2H3qWd5AaOVHPsqDnmc0Wm2PQVmGOSyKJrf14gT22-x1QAbihHY6hi4dFR01PgYNDspo1ERiSvSWL4ZmkmQmA
UPQ0k90uJx9JPI3FL1M6w84sxDo3yamLbWpk77ZA_95ccZ3I84E2GrItr3cLGoJmKapFdOmPr0OGBIqZ7j2lHLvbuq-wR7O6WtqU5Hj7BysnD5GnJoh1xWoSppR-_nX7SK99QpuhwFcfhbvFa9a4RTXCO5K_S10-Rs-G8KSZlxjUYl0ru8ubY54NEg

She freezes the sauces and keeps them in separate bags. Source: Men's Health

Then, pop the frozen blocks into labelled zip lock bags or containers. You can opt to include their use by dates as well to keep better track of them.

‘I use them in curry, stir fry, bolognese, anything really,’ she explained.

The brilliant fix floored thousands of users.

'The response has been amazing. I think this is a common challenge for a lot of households and the fix is so easy.' she said.


‘It saves you time, doesn’t take up a lot of space in the freezer, and more importantly, saves you money in the long run!’

There you have it, home cooks! The less food we waste, the better. What are your thoughts on Karyn’s ice cube tray tip? Are you guilty of throwing away half-empty jars of mouldy sauces? If so, will you be giving this hack a go? Let us know in the comments below!
 
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I have been doing this for years but I don't use the ice block trays. I use small plastic containers including empty philly cheese etc. I also freeze coconut milk/cream for curries too. I have been single for a number of years now and so meals are smaller, so any thing I buy that I cannot use, it goes straight in to the freezer. I like dried fruit and nuts as well, and so I store them in the freezer too, otherwise I either A eat them too quickly, or B they go stale.
 
I'm my house nothing has time to go mouldy,

We do use ice cube trays for other things
Eg I have alot if lemon trees with the most juiciest lemons , I use heaps and give heaps away but there are certain times of the year my trees have no lemons so I freeze lemon juice in trays .

Another thing we freeze is when babies are just starting on solids they are perfect for freezing babies food eg carrot, pumpkin ect even cooked meat
 
When I used to grow passionfruit, they all ripened at the same time.
I used to put the pulp into ice cube containers, and store them in the freezer. This way, I had passionfruit pulp all year, as well as lemon juice and zest.🍋🍋
When I have plenty of tomatoes, I cook them up and half fill margarine containers, freeze them, then put the frozen sections into freezer bags. It's great having serve sizes already cooked for tomatoes on toast. 🍅🍅
 
No one ever feels good about food going to waste… But every home cook is guilty of discarding half-empty mouldy jars of pasta sauce, gingerly sitting at the back of the fridge for months on end.

Luckily, one savvy foodie is here to save the day (and your leftovers) with the ultimate solution to change your meal prep for the better.


Karyn Cullen was cleaning out her fridge when she ended up scrapping four half-empty sauce jars that were at risk of going bad. So, she did what any savvy shopper would do – head to Kmart for an easy fix.

'I cleaned out the fridge and threw away four open jars of pastes. I hate wasting food and was really annoyed with myself,' she wrote in a post on Kmart Home & Hacks Facebook page.

jkjSaV_72W5fnd4aWL884GwPQhwS2Sc63imqTruMttRrj_5qWYrZ0OXbXqxWMVF3OZUv_Wx8MkDUujkjYHDxmyWKsMK-7NJw6jSm-uRSAkTyBKBiAgBNgTx_VyUDYtC7SuRGpmcPs94TWBt6fkwVZjSsmjsJWRZKIlej2Be0FKfYreFrXVYNSjbpHA

Karyn was cleaning out her fridge when she had a light-bulb moment. Source: Unsplash

‘But it's not possible for me to use them all within four weeks, so I started thinking about how I could avoid it and wondered if I could freeze them.’

‘I pulled up Kmart’s website and saw that they had ice cube trays with lids. I thought that would be perfect! When I went into the shop, however, I spotted the hard trays with the rubber bottom and thought they would be much easier to use – they are!’


Karyn came up with a kitchen hack for days. By simply using Kmart's $1.50 ice cube trays, she was able to freeze pasta sauce, curry paste, garlic, and ginger to extend their life.

To replicate the hack, all you need to do is pour any leftover sauces–curry pastes, pasta sauces, or spice paste–into an ice cube tray before leaving them in the freezer for several hours.

oeb7I5UUzmyiegxdUZA7pIX7sJWucrJobpiTd8c0skFI7I-TsEdlDYqqZocJM5iw4WidQeONpgcLTvFfweB0YpFNKJ8k67-gikzIo2H3qWd5AaOVHPsqDnmc0Wm2PQVmGOSyKJrf14gT22-x1QAbihHY6hi4dFR01PgYNDspo1ERiSvSWL4ZmkmQmA
UPQ0k90uJx9JPI3FL1M6w84sxDo3yamLbWpk77ZA_95ccZ3I84E2GrItr3cLGoJmKapFdOmPr0OGBIqZ7j2lHLvbuq-wR7O6WtqU5Hj7BysnD5GnJoh1xWoSppR-_nX7SK99QpuhwFcfhbvFa9a4RTXCO5K_S10-Rs-G8KSZlxjUYl0ru8ubY54NEg

She freezes the sauces and keeps them in separate bags. Source: Men's Health

Then, pop the frozen blocks into labelled zip lock bags or containers. You can opt to include their use by dates as well to keep better track of them.

‘I use them in curry, stir fry, bolognese, anything really,’ she explained.

The brilliant fix floored thousands of users.

'The response has been amazing. I think this is a common challenge for a lot of households and the fix is so easy.' she said.


‘It saves you time, doesn’t take up a lot of space in the freezer, and more importantly, saves you money in the long run!’

There you have it, home cooks! The less food we waste, the better. What are your thoughts on Karyn’s ice cube tray tip? Are you guilty of throwing away half-empty jars of mouldy sauces? If so, will you be giving this hack a go? Let us know in the comments below!
Is this meant to be a new idea…NOT!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: debjane
I'm my house nothing has time to go mouldy,

We do use ice cube trays for other things
Eg I have alot if lemon trees with the most juiciest lemons , I use heaps and give heaps away but there are certain times of the year my trees have no lemons so I freeze lemon juice in trays .

Another thing we freeze is when babies are just starting on solids they are perfect for freezing babies food eg carrot, pumpkin ect even cooked meat
try slicing your lemons and then cutting the slice in half and lay them on a tray and freeze them then store in the freezer for the summer they are so nice on a hot day in a glass of water or just a cool drink of your choice
 
No one ever feels good about food going to waste… But every home cook is guilty of discarding half-empty mouldy jars of pasta sauce, gingerly sitting at the back of the fridge for months on end.

Luckily, one savvy foodie is here to save the day (and your leftovers) with the ultimate solution to change your meal prep for the better.


Karyn Cullen was cleaning out her fridge when she ended up scrapping four half-empty sauce jars that were at risk of going bad. So, she did what any savvy shopper would do – head to Kmart for an easy fix.

'I cleaned out the fridge and threw away four open jars of pastes. I hate wasting food and was really annoyed with myself,' she wrote in a post on Kmart Home & Hacks Facebook page.

jkjSaV_72W5fnd4aWL884GwPQhwS2Sc63imqTruMttRrj_5qWYrZ0OXbXqxWMVF3OZUv_Wx8MkDUujkjYHDxmyWKsMK-7NJw6jSm-uRSAkTyBKBiAgBNgTx_VyUDYtC7SuRGpmcPs94TWBt6fkwVZjSsmjsJWRZKIlej2Be0FKfYreFrXVYNSjbpHA

Karyn was cleaning out her fridge when she had a light-bulb moment. Source: Unsplash

‘But it's not possible for me to use them all within four weeks, so I started thinking about how I could avoid it and wondered if I could freeze them.’

‘I pulled up Kmart’s website and saw that they had ice cube trays with lids. I thought that would be perfect! When I went into the shop, however, I spotted the hard trays with the rubber bottom and thought they would be much easier to use – they are!’


Karyn came up with a kitchen hack for days. By simply using Kmart's $1.50 ice cube trays, she was able to freeze pasta sauce, curry paste, garlic, and ginger to extend their life.

To replicate the hack, all you need to do is pour any leftover sauces–curry pastes, pasta sauces, or spice paste–into an ice cube tray before leaving them in the freezer for several hours.

oeb7I5UUzmyiegxdUZA7pIX7sJWucrJobpiTd8c0skFI7I-TsEdlDYqqZocJM5iw4WidQeONpgcLTvFfweB0YpFNKJ8k67-gikzIo2H3qWd5AaOVHPsqDnmc0Wm2PQVmGOSyKJrf14gT22-x1QAbihHY6hi4dFR01PgYNDspo1ERiSvSWL4ZmkmQmA
UPQ0k90uJx9JPI3FL1M6w84sxDo3yamLbWpk77ZA_95ccZ3I84E2GrItr3cLGoJmKapFdOmPr0OGBIqZ7j2lHLvbuq-wR7O6WtqU5Hj7BysnD5GnJoh1xWoSppR-_nX7SK99QpuhwFcfhbvFa9a4RTXCO5K_S10-Rs-G8KSZlxjUYl0ru8ubY54NEg

She freezes the sauces and keeps them in separate bags. Source: Men's Health

Then, pop the frozen blocks into labelled zip lock bags or containers. You can opt to include their use by dates as well to keep better track of them.

‘I use them in curry, stir fry, bolognese, anything really,’ she explained.

The brilliant fix floored thousands of users.

'The response has been amazing. I think this is a common challenge for a lot of households and the fix is so easy.' she said.


‘It saves you time, doesn’t take up a lot of space in the freezer, and more importantly, saves you money in the long run!’

There you have it, home cooks! The less food we waste, the better. What are your thoughts on Karyn’s ice cube tray tip? Are you guilty of throwing away half-empty jars of mouldy sauces? If so, will you be giving this hack a go? Let us know in the comments below!
Such a simple idea for so many condiments. Thankyou
 
all you have to do is turn the bottle or jar upside down and shake to get the food to the to the top so there is no space between the lid and the sauce and it will keep for months I do this with tomato paste
 
  • Like
Reactions: Forestlin
No one ever feels good about food going to waste… But every home cook is guilty of discarding half-empty mouldy jars of pasta sauce, gingerly sitting at the back of the fridge for months on end.

Luckily, one savvy foodie is here to save the day (and your leftovers) with the ultimate solution to change your meal prep for the better.


Karyn Cullen was cleaning out her fridge when she ended up scrapping four half-empty sauce jars that were at risk of going bad. So, she did what any savvy shopper would do – head to Kmart for an easy fix.

'I cleaned out the fridge and threw away four open jars of pastes. I hate wasting food and was really annoyed with myself,' she wrote in a post on Kmart Home & Hacks Facebook page.

jkjSaV_72W5fnd4aWL884GwPQhwS2Sc63imqTruMttRrj_5qWYrZ0OXbXqxWMVF3OZUv_Wx8MkDUujkjYHDxmyWKsMK-7NJw6jSm-uRSAkTyBKBiAgBNgTx_VyUDYtC7SuRGpmcPs94TWBt6fkwVZjSsmjsJWRZKIlej2Be0FKfYreFrXVYNSjbpHA

Karyn was cleaning out her fridge when she had a light-bulb moment. Source: Unsplash

‘But it's not possible for me to use them all within four weeks, so I started thinking about how I could avoid it and wondered if I could freeze them.’

‘I pulled up Kmart’s website and saw that they had ice cube trays with lids. I thought that would be perfect! When I went into the shop, however, I spotted the hard trays with the rubber bottom and thought they would be much easier to use – they are!’


Karyn came up with a kitchen hack for days. By simply using Kmart's $1.50 ice cube trays, she was able to freeze pasta sauce, curry paste, garlic, and ginger to extend their life.

To replicate the hack, all you need to do is pour any leftover sauces–curry pastes, pasta sauces, or spice paste–into an ice cube tray before leaving them in the freezer for several hours.

oeb7I5UUzmyiegxdUZA7pIX7sJWucrJobpiTd8c0skFI7I-TsEdlDYqqZocJM5iw4WidQeONpgcLTvFfweB0YpFNKJ8k67-gikzIo2H3qWd5AaOVHPsqDnmc0Wm2PQVmGOSyKJrf14gT22-x1QAbihHY6hi4dFR01PgYNDspo1ERiSvSWL4ZmkmQmA
UPQ0k90uJx9JPI3FL1M6w84sxDo3yamLbWpk77ZA_95ccZ3I84E2GrItr3cLGoJmKapFdOmPr0OGBIqZ7j2lHLvbuq-wR7O6WtqU5Hj7BysnD5GnJoh1xWoSppR-_nX7SK99QpuhwFcfhbvFa9a4RTXCO5K_S10-Rs-G8KSZlxjUYl0ru8ubY54NEg

She freezes the sauces and keeps them in separate bags. Source: Men's Health

Then, pop the frozen blocks into labelled zip lock bags or containers. You can opt to include their use by dates as well to keep better track of them.

‘I use them in curry, stir fry, bolognese, anything really,’ she explained.

The brilliant fix floored thousands of users.

'The response has been amazing. I think this is a common challenge for a lot of households and the fix is so easy.' she said.


‘It saves you time, doesn’t take up a lot of space in the freezer, and more importantly, saves you money in the long run!’

There you have it, home cooks! The less food we waste, the better. What are your thoughts on Karyn’s ice cube tray tip? Are you guilty of throwing away half-empty jars of mouldy sauces? If so, will you be giving this hack a go? Let us know in the comments below!
 
It’s cheaper to buy a large jar of sauce and take what you need. With the rest I freeze it in a similar quantity in small zip lock snack bags. I flatten it and push the sauce to the zip and close it, virtually has no air in it now, and it’s a flat pack. When you need it you just lay the frozen flat-pack on top of your dish while it’s cooking and you stir it in in no time. Just add another flat-pack if it’s not enough. 😁
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ezzy
Is this meant to be a new idea…NOT!!
No it’s not a new idea to some of us, but that young person who recently started their life away from home might not have caught up with all the tricks we older people have learned over the years.
 

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