I always make sure I have some plastic bags and sandwich bags ready at my pantry for when I need to store leftovers. I think they are great and in some ways better than plastic containers like Tupperware because they are more versatile and space efficient, not to mention disposable so I don't have to worry about cleaning anything up. I usually just let the food cool and I place everything in sandwich bags for refrigeration and sometimes I even just plastic bag the whole bowl if I'm being lazy. For other things I also swear by having clamps, which I especially like using for bags of potato chips and other similar items.
I've been thinking about this more lately, when I am preparing larger meals, and plan on having some leftovers to possibly use for lunch throughout the week. The problem with stuff like Rigatoni and Meatballs in Sauce is that the pasta ends up soaking up all the sauce, so when I try to reheat stored leftovers they are bone dry and not pleasant to eat at all. I could add some more sauce I suppose, but that's wasting even more sauce just to doctor up a leftover dish, which seems wasteful. What I've been thinking about doing instead is trying to freeze some of the components of the meals separately, then re-assembling them once frozen, so they don't intermingle too much until right after I heat them up and I'm about to eat them. For example, I was thinking about keeping my leftover sauce and pasta separate, then maybe portioning the sauce in either a spare ice cube tray, or maybe sandwich bags, then freezing it until solid. That way, I can place the frozen sauce cubes over the cooked pasta in a microwave safe container then pop it all back in the freezer for future use. I'm thinking that should keep the pasta from soaking up the sauce until I am ready to re-heat it.
What I like to do is let the food cool, cover the plate/bowl with clingwrap then put it in a sandwich bag. That way you have two layers to prevent any food odors from spreading into the fridge.
I never liked plastic and I never will. No matter how convenient or cheap it might be, I will always store my leftovers in glass or porcelain bowls and jars. I have made it a point many years ago to have as little plastic as possible in my home, and I have rigorously stuck with it.
I typically use tupperware containers (but the glass ones) for leftovers that I made from lunch or dinner or something. But if it's a snack or chips, I also like to use ziplock bags. Especially for when I freeze chicken meat from a whole chicken (cause they keep well in the freezer and goes great for stock or chicken noodle soup in the future). I would be careful though with what you put in the ziplock bag. I don't tend to put "hot" things in the bags, and if I do I keep it open and on the countertop until it's completely cooled before I store it.
