I like to store dry ingredients in glass jars. Foods like rolled oats, any whole grain (wheat, barley, quinoa, rice, etc.), flour, homemade granola, seeds (sesame, poppy, flax), wheat bran, dried beans, -- you get the idea. :)

Glass jars are a safe, economical, and beautiful way to store foods! In fact, Joshua even uses a glass canning jar to take his daily morning mocha frappuccino to work with him! :)

How to obtain the jars:

• Second hand stores
• Friends who love pickles ;)
• Relatives who have extra jars in their basement that they no longer need or use
• Clean out and re-use glass jars that you purchase with food in them (pickles, salsa, jam, tomato sauces, etc.) -- Costco is a great place to find the extra big jars of pickles, artichoke hearts, peppers, etc.

How to obtain lids:

• Re-use the lids that came with the jars (necessary for odd sizes)
• Purchase plastic lids for regular-mouth or wide-mouth jars in the canning section of stores

How to get rid of smells:

• Wash jar and lid in hot soapy water and allow to dry. Place dry lid(s) in a container of baking soda for several days or until the smell is removed.

How to remove sticky labels from jars:

First, try soaking in hot (very hot!) soapy water, overnight if necessary. Peel off label and wipe away remaining glue with a dish cloth.

If that doesn't work, you can try:

• rubbing alcohol
• peanut butter
• vinegar
• a green Scotch Brite pad
• scraping with an old plastic credit card/store card
• the commercial product Goo Gone
• nail polish remover
• steel wool
• soaking in dishwasher detergent

Bonus tip: Peanut butter works the best to remove stickies from our plastic tablecloth cover when the children's stickers end up there instead of on paper. :)

How to make the lids airtight:

• Fold a couple layers of wax paper and place between the lid and the jar before screwing the lid tightly in place.
• Place a piece of plastic (from a heavy Ziplock bag, for example of thickness and texture) between the lid and jar before screwing the lid tightly in place.

(The extra barrier of wax paper or plastic creates a good seal when a lid is lacking a rubber seal.)

Where to store glass jars of food:

In a dark, cool place if possible. Light will damage food!

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

In order to keep the kitchen tips more easily accessible, posts not adhering to these guidelines will be removed. We need to be able to easily find/see what your kitchen/cooking tip is. :) Thanks for your participation! :)

Leave your tip links in a comment. I'll manually add them to this post!

1. Tips for using cornstarch (Alea)
2. Preserving/using apples (Katie)
3. 10 uses for a trifle bowl (Tara)
4. Coconut milk/buttermilk tips (Michele)
5. How to open a stubborn jar (Tereza)
6. Eggplant and sauce tips (Elsa)
7.