Rant — “Resealable” Plastic Bags

scissor-drawer

Is it just me, or do other people have a hard time resealing the “resealable” bags that a vast variety of foods come packaged in these days?!!

If I was the type of person who sent emails or letters to Living Magazine or Cook’s Illustrated (two publications I enjoy, by the way), I would send in these items as some of my MOST indispensable kitchen tools:

  1. Kitchen scissors  (at least three pairs, because even in a house LITTERED with scissors, these babies walk!)(Actually, those are gardening scissors on the left above, because FOUR pair of black-handled kitchen scissors have gone missing).
  2. Rubber bands
  3. Clothes pins
  4. Zip lock bags.

Why these four items, you ask?  Because whoever thinks they’re making our lives easier with “resealable” bags are really NOT.

Actually, I don’t really know if they’re resealable because I can’t even get the fucking things OPEN.

Somewhere ( in the Boston Globe, maybe?), I read a funny comment by a columnist suggesting that the horrible, dangerous, impossible-to-remove-without-pliers-and-medication twist-ties that hold children’s toys to their packaging were designed by Asians specifically to drive American nuts… and I agreed.  But, think about it.  Toys are purchased now and then, with a big bunch of them during the holidays…  but, cheese or soft tortillas packages need opened every single week!  Sometimes, many times a week.

Anyway, long ago, I gave up trying to open and reseal those bags.  And, I don’t make a fumbling attempt and THEN bring out the scissors.  I just cut the bags open — snip, snip, snip.  If there is enough plastic left, I clamp it shut with a clothes pin or roll it closed and whip a rubber band around to act as a seal.  Sometimes, I shove the entire package into a zip lock bag (I like the gallon freezer size).

Not green enough for you?  Well, I DO wash the baggies.  And, sometimes, you can’t put a price or a carbon unit on sanity!

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