Wednesday, May 28, 2008

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GREEN BAGS!

I can't possibly be accused of sounding like an infomercial because I don't own a television and hadn't even heard of these gems until Linda left a comment on one of my posts. I happened to see a set of these in a clearnace aisle somewhere around town. It was worth a try......

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I put some produce in baskets. I think this is going to be most helpful for the extra cauliflower that everyone left me at produce co-op (and really we don't like it much - though you can sneak it in with other veggies it's sort of the sponge of veggies).

The key test was the bananas. We LOVE bananas but we get 4 shares of produce a week and with the weather warming up were finding we couldn't eat them fast enough. This photo is pretty convincing. All the bananas were the same green color at the start. The ones on the top were left out. The one on the bottom was stored in a green bag. YES! We are going to have perfect, slightly green bananas all week long. My family doesn't like to eat them when they start to have spots - which is silly - but true nonetheless.

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Note - if you store your bananas in a green bag; they grow ipods. ::snort:: Thanks for the tip Linda. We NEED this many bananas but didn't want them going bad at once. I don't need 6 heads of cauliflower but now I know they'll stay until I use them.

For more of my WFMW posts click here (there ain't many yet). To view hundreds of this week's tips from others go here.

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never seen green bags in action before. Thanks for the tip and the picture!

Kelly said...

Are they just called green bags? Are they with the Ziplocs and such at the store?

That is amazing! I could again buy a case of bananas and keep some green until I want them to ripe. They are supposed to look like the top ones when you eat them ;)

Do they work with broccoli? Our broccoli has not been keeping well at all!

Not that it is warm here yet or anything. We are at the lake and it was 43 when I got up at 8am, and 57 inside! :::shiver:::

Karla Cook @ Roads to Everywhere said...

I did not know about green bags. Great tip! Thanks for sharing!

I do have a suggestion about the cauliflower, though. A very yummy way to fix it... check out my post about Roasted Cauliflower. It is great this way!

Mamacita said...

Oh, how neat. I will have to look for these at the store. We recently started juicing, and I am fighting the "when good fruit goes bad" syndrome as well. :) Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Jenn said...

I have seen these on TV before and if they worked. Thanks for the tip.

I love your blog design! Could you tell me who did it. Would love a blog makeover. Thanks. :o)

Nancy M. said...

That's awesome! I had been wanting those bags, but not sure if they would work. Thanks for letting me know they do!

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

They are called "Green Bags". I'm not sure where they are usually stocked....I found mine on an end cap. LOL I did a quick google for a photo (before I took photos) and they are fairly easy to find.

Kelly, they are working great with all my produce. I do turn the bag inside out when I notice condensation.

Karla - thanks for the recipe - I'll check it out.

Jenn - Shabby Creations - she's quick, helpful and reasonably priced. If you use one of her templates she'll install it for $8 and best yet they'll still work with blogger if you use blogger. LOL If you end up going with her, please do tell her I recommended her.

Cynthia said...

We notice that bananas change flavor as they start to change color and we don't like the flavor change (or texture change to soft for that matter)... Maybe I'll have to look for some of these green bags. We do have a TV, but I rarely watch it so I've never heard of these either.

Linda said...

I never considered taking pictures! But thanks for giving me the credit. And you found yours on CLEARANCE? Girl, I'd go back and get as many as you can!!!! They do only last for about 10 uses (you'll notice that they start to fade as they are "wearing out").

I brought "green bagged" strawberries to my friend's house today...I'd bought them a week ago. She had a container bought 2 days ago in her refrigerator...mine looked better than hers!

And for those looking, you can find them in a lot of stores or on line now...just google greenbags.

De'Etta, glad you liked them. I wish mine would grow iPods!

Linda said...

oh, and I forgot to add...I wipe the condensation out whenever I remove fruits or veggies from them. I use them for EVERY fruit or veggie in my house (except potatoes, though I suppose they'd work for those too - might try that next). Tomatoes are wonderful - lettuce, particularly Romaine, will last a LONG time, so long as you try to remove moisture from the leaves. I put containers (grape tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, bagged grapes) right into the other bags without removing stuff. I don't use them on apples because apples have a decent shelf life (since I refrigerate them).

Anonymous said...

Sis:

Thanks for trying the green bags. I have been wanting to try them but didn't want to spend the money for just another #)$&%^&$#*+#@.

We sure need them around here with just the 2 of us to eat things. I still have a hard time not buying in bulk after all those years in Liberia and the Philippines in locations where one only got to a major town a few times each year. :):) l/p Mom T

Kathy in WA said...

This is a GREAT tip. Thank you so much. I hate seeing fresh produce go to waste. As soon as the month ends (my grocery budget is shot), I'll try to hunt some of these down.

Thanks!

Stephanie said...

Another cauliflower tip... A neighbor got our 11 yo the Jessica Seinfeld cook book (what it is... Deliciously Deceptive I think.) Make puree with the cauliflower and add it to sauces. She's got a ton of good recipes in the cookbook that use a 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, etc of it. You can add it to mac and cheese for an additional nutritional boost. After reading in the nutrition section of the cook book I learned that cauliflower is WAY more nutritious than I thought, so it's great for the kids. We're not a family big on hiding foods (they - meaning dh as well as the kid - all know exactly what we put in a recipe and that they need to eat it and why lol) but, I love the idea of using purees to give it an extra shot of good food mojo. :)

FYI - One head of cauliflower steamed gave me about 2 cups of puree to use in recipes. It's very bland so I think you could use it in just about anything, especially a cheese (or cheese-like) sauce. That might be another use for it!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the personal testimony about the green bags! Ya know, you see that stuff on t.v. and the people hawking that stuff seem so cheesy....it always makes me wonder.

I do have to say that even though the ShamWOW guy totally creeps me out with his Madonna-like microphone sticking out of his head, the thing REALLY works.

Anyway, I found some Becky Tirabassi videos on Amazon. They're used, but that's all we could find! And not your favorite one, but check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dvhs&field-keywords=Becky+Tirabassi

Herding Grasshoppers said...

How very cool!

If you don't have Green Bags, you can slow down the ripening of bananas by separating them - not leaving them attached in a bunch.

Works for us :0)

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Julie - we've done that trick - but we usually have over 30 bananas at one time. LOL