I save soiled tissues. Don't you?

I usually keep my store bought buns and homemade bread in the fridge. 

I can easily heat them up in my airfryer when we want to eat it. 

Are you aware that you should place a piece of tissue or kitchen towel on the plate in which you will be serving your heated bread, pastries or pizza? If you don't place a piece of tissue or kitchen towel under your heated food, vapours will form on the plate which will make your food soggy. Most of the time, the tissue used is still good enough to be reuse. So, I have been saving them in a plastic container after making sure that all crumbs sticking to it have been removed.  I started this habit after discovering Vinda kitchen towel. The paper is so thick that it is such a waste to discard if it can still be re-use.

When I need to clean my stove after cooking, I will use these tissues instead of a cloth. Though soiled, they are still good for absorbing oils and any drips on the stove. In doing that, I now no longer have to wash my table cloth as often. 

In the long run, that saves me time and water as I can just discard the tissue or kitchen towel once I am done with them. 

You can also consider keeping your used tissue or kitchen towel if you have only used it:

-to wipe your hands dry
-to wipe your mouth
-to dry up containers, pots or pans

It is best to save your soiled tissue or kitchen towel in an airtight container. That will prevent any ants from getting to them if there are still crumbs or residue from food left that you have missed removing.

Here is another good reason for you to save soiled tissue or kitchen towel. It is also handy for wiping off sauce and stains on your table before you wipe it with your table cloth.

I would have had a hard time washing such stains off my table cloth if I had not use a piece of tissue first.

I also re-use soiled tissues to wipe sauces and residues off my plates, containers, pots and pans before I wash them.  

By doing that, I can save the water for rinsing them for other purposes. I will share how I store and re-use such water in my next posting.

Check the Diameter of Your Pots and Pans

Do you know how to measure the diameter of your pots and pans? 

You measure the size at the top, from the inside of the pot or pan, as shown from this product information from Igozo, currently, my favourite cooking utensil brand.

Here are some reasons why you need the mesaurement for the pots or pans you have on hand. 

If you know the size, the next time you buy another pot or pan, you can buy one similar in size to what you already have. That way, the covers can be interchanged and you will not be stuck with a pot or pan without a cover as it has been damaged.

However, if you have a pot that is smaller in width at its base and wider at the top, you should not have any problem using a cover from a pot of smaller diameter as long as the pot you are cooking with is deep enough and the smaller cover is large enough to sit over the food. So, based on how much food I am cooking, I do not have any problem using covers from my 28cm or 30cm pot or pan to cover this 32cm wok that I have.

So, saying, I do not store my pots and pans with the covers they came with. I store them separately on a pot lid organiser.

Do you like to use your pots for steaming food? I do. So, I am always on a look out for heat resistance bowls that I can use on my rack for steaming. It will be easier for you to find bowls in the right size if you know the diameter of your pot. These are some of my favourite glassware to use as they come with covers. I will use the glass covers if I do not want water vapours from the steam dripping into the dishes, which will dilute the sauces in them.

Recently, I bought this two tier tiffin from Igozo. I like it that it is supplied with two stainless steel containers that I can use separately.  I sometimes remove the stainless steel containers and packed food that do not contain sauces in the plastic tiffin carrier.

I discovered that the stainless steel containers fit perfectly on the steaming rack of my 1L mini multi-cooker that I have in my bike shop. So, while boiling water for my coffee in it, I can heat up my leftover home-cooked food to eat on its rack. 

The two stainless steel containers can also be used together for steaming food in the Igozo steam pot that I bought recently. 

With these containers, I can now heat up more dishes while boiling my soup. 

I am sharing all these information because I hope that one day should my children take over my kitchen ware and utensils they will know how to fully utilise them and not think about discarding them if they are still in good condition.  

For example, they may have issue using the tall cover of one of my pots if they are cooking something near a wall mounted hood. They can solve this problem by using a regular flat cover of the same diameter from another pot that I have.

Another note for my children:

Just remember not to heat dishes this way when you are boiling herbal soup or lotus root soup as they can affect the flavour of your dishes.