Mason jars are perfect for us
Either in the fridge, freezer, a dark cool cupboard... it's really handy. Just make sure to close it tight, or if you're freezing it, leave about an inch of space at the top, freeze and leave the lid screwed loosely for about 30 minutes.
We bought a case of quart and pint mason jars. Then we found out pint mason jars make really good glasses, and we bought another case.
Here's how we use our jars:
Chicken or beef broth take at-least 2 quart mason jars every week.
Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, salsa, red peppers, carrots and ginger, etc) take 2 quart mason jars every two weeks, or if I want more variety, 4 pint mason jars. But fermented vegetables have a very long shelf life (even after you open them), so if I had gallon mason jars I could make a year's worth of different fermented vegetables! Then I wouldn't have to spend 20 minutes massaging the shredded cabbage every two weeks :-P
Preserved olives go on pint mason jars (wish I could afford enough to fill a quart jar!)
Husband brings 2 pint mason jars to work. It depends on what leftovers we have. It could be 1 jar soup, 1 jar half meat and vegetables. It could be 1 jar meat, 1 jar with vegetables and rice.
When marinating meat I use a quart mason jar overnight (I generally just marinate small pieces of meat)
If I make yogurt, it goes into pint mason jars.
If I have too much yogurt, I make cream cheese out of it and the cheese goes in one pint mason jar, and the whey goes into another jar.
If I make a lot of coffee, I put it into a quart mason jar and it goes in the fridge. Sometimes in the freezer for two hours or so. It's really good cold.
Nuts or fresh nut butters go into pint mason jars. They last a lot longer that way.
I have only a few half-pint (jam) jars, and I use it with baking soda in the bathroom (for brushing teeth... toothpaste hurts my throat), another one for coconut oil to rub on my body after a shower, and a couple other I use if I'm given fresh spices.
A burrito fits perfectly into a pint mason jar and that way it doesn't get squished in your backpack. And there's enough room left in the jar to squeeze in a few sliced sticks of carrots and celery.
You can bake cakes in pint mason jars and freeze them for later.
Cookies last a really long time in a quart mason jar. You could even freeze them and thaw as many as you want each day.
Raw cookie dough goes into pint jars and then I stick it in the freezer. Each pint jar (of pressed dough) makes one cookie sheet. If you ever have leftover dough, ANY AMOUNT, just form small cookie balls and freeze them all together in a quart jar. When the jar is full of random cookies, it's time for a batch of MYSTERY COOKIES!
I put all my seed packets in a pint mason jar. It looks so pretty with the pictures facing out
I rarely eat flour products so I don't have much flour at home, I buy freshly ground flour as needed (maybe 6-8 times per year?). When I do buy it, I store it in a quart mason jar. It stays fresh much longer! Cornbread is much tastier like that. If you use flours often, I really recommend this (though most people would probably want a half-gallon or gallon jar).
I make small meatballs and store them in the freezer in the quart mason jars. I just grab as many meatballs as I need when I want to cook them. (Generally I eat them at breakfast, one jar lasts me one week)
Tomato sauces, cream sauces: quart jars.
Pre-sliced vegetables (I like to have them handy for 5 minute soups or breakfast omelettes), go into quart mason jars, all mixed with each other.
If you use lunchmeat a lot, you could keep opened packages together in a quart mason jar, that way it will stay fresh longer.
Dried beans, rice, etc, go into jars after I open the package, so they stay fresh longer.
Leftover roasted meat is sliced and then dumped in a quart mason jar with the pan drippings and any meat juices. Then when I cook each serving I use some of the meat juices and pan drippings and the meat tastes just as good as if I had just roasted it.
Pig lard, beef tallow, bacon grease, fresh butter... depends on how much I make/have. Generally pint mason jars. Whether they go in the fridge or the cupboard depends on how solid the fat is, and on the season (winter/summer).
When I make ice cream, it goes into quart jars. I just shake it every hour so it ices creamy instead of chunky.
We do have large plastic square tupperware, but I ended up just using it for organization. I keep paper napkins in one, my beauty products in another, and yet another has unopened toothbrushes, toothpaste, cotton swabs, bars of soap... then I have another under the kitchen sink with extra dish-washing tools that I don't use often (extra detergent, metal scrubbie, a baby bottle scrubbie I use for my coffee mug, etc). Or to sort vegetables and fruits in the fridge.
I have small tupperware, I use it to keep my hair elastics, another one for those pesky pennies, another one where I dump my cellphone, wallet, and keys... I have a bigger tupperware I use to keep phone/game/tablet chargers all in one place, right next to the outlet.
When soaking barley or beans in water, I use stainless steel bowls, not tupperware.
For take-out leftovers, I use aluminum foil. We rarely get take-out so this works. I put two pizzas face to face and wrap in aluminum foil. If the last leftovers has 3 slices, I put two facing each other, and one facing away. (so the pizza doesn't get all messy). Chinese take out... same thing, I wrap into how many I think will be "one serving". Then my husband brings each package to work with one pint jar of soup or some such.