Last Year's Gift Guide

If you missed it last year, here's my Tupperware Gift Guide for your whole family - from your thrifty, workaholic older brother to your brand new brother-in-law. Something for everyone!

Watch for this year's Gift Guide coming soon...

Microwave Pasta Maker

When Tupperware released this new product, I wasn't sure about it. Really? Pasta in the microwave? But I love my Microwave Rice Maker so I used it and it is fantastic. It works great and makes an entire one of those little boxes of spaghetti aka. 6 servings. Plus it's a lot smaller than you'd expect it to be which makes for easy clean up.

Why is the Microwave Pasta Maker better than on the stove? On the stove, you have to wait for the water to boil. If you've broken the lid of your pot, like I have, this takes forever. Then I usually forget about having water boiling on the stove and half the water has evaporated by the time I remember and put the pasta in...which means there's not enough water for the amount I'd planned on making. Oops. Then after you cook it, it feels like a waste of space to stick the pot in the dishwasher because it's so big so you have to wash it by hand (something that I hate to do!) Instead of dirtying a strainer also, there are holes in the one side of the Maker so that you can put the lid on and drain the water out. (one less dish needed!) In the Pasta Maker, your spaghetti is done in 11 minutes (even the whole wheat noodles since that's what I make) - it just seems so much faster and easier.

SO, I like to buy ground beef in the 5lb packs and then brown it all at once then freeze it. This makes it easy to pull out later and add to spaghetti, chili, etc. Yesterday during my kids' nap time, I started browning then put the meat into my Medium 1 Freezer Mates (holds about 1.5lbs).

Then for the last pound, I added sauce once it was browned so that I could make Baked Spaghetti for dinner that night.

While it cooked, I made my spaghetti in the microwave. Strained the water into the sink, poured the noodles into the baking dish, and...

Put the Microwave Pasta Maker in the dishwasher! See how little room it takes up? (Of course, it's also very easy and light to wash out in the sink if that's how you roll.)Added my sauce to the noodles and put it in the fridge until it needed to be heated up for dinner!

EASY!

The Microwave Pasta Maker is just $35. Perfect for your bachelor brother, new-mother-sister or anyone who is busy, busy, busy!

Make it a whole Pasta Gift set - see it here.

Next order going in on November 25. Or get it free by hosting a party before Christmas! rebeccashulba@gmail.com

storage solution

If you are lucky enough to have giant drawers in your kitchen in which you store all your Tupperware, check out this storage solution! Use a tension rod in the drawer to separate your seals from your stacked bowls and other containers! Love it!

sneaking in the veggies...

love my Quick Chef for sneaking in some extra veggies into my chili! i also chopped some celery, zucchini, and onions this way. sooo much easier than using a knife to get the pieces that tiny!

Tote-em Pails are BACK!

In the first couple months that I started selling Tupperware, these Tote-em Pails came out in a boxed set with a couple other things which made for a higher price tag. When I saw the pails in person, I saw how great they were and bought the whole boxed set JUST for the pails. I put them in the bathtub for my son (who was 10 months at the time) and they have been his ONLY tub toy for over a year and he still loves them. After seeing how much he uses and enjoys them, I wanted to buy more to give as gifts but I never saw them again...UNTIL NOW! They're back in time Christmas!

This photo doesn't do these pails justice:

why? it shows you that they stack but it doesn't show how many other ways that these pails are fantastic! here's what you can't see in this photo...

> on the bottom of each pail there is a different shape: octagon, hexagon, pentagon, triangle, and square, and circle.

> there are animals on the sides of each pail: elephant, hippo, panda, lion, dog, and seal.

> the turquoise, yellow, and pink pails have holes in the bottom for pouring water out of

> the pails nest inside one another and the bottom pail has a handle for carrying. PLUS the seals for the Microwave Cereal Bowls fit the top of that pail to keep everything inside!

Now that my son is two and a half, he likes to line the buckets up on the edge of the tub and sort his foam letters into colours, putting them inside the corresponding buckets.

Of course, these aren't just tub toys. They're awesome for the water table or even just the toy box. I bought another set so that we can have them at the beach next summer too without dirtying his tub ones. They're worth every penny of the $37 original price tag BUT THEY'RE ON SALE FOR $18.75! Love it.

Email rebeccashulba@gmail.com to order or to host a party. Order going in on Nov. 25th.

Freezer Mate SALE!

speaking of freezing food (i can't believe that's what i JUST posted about and didn't even know about this sale!) ...all Tupperware's Freezer Mates went on sale this month! how great is that? here are the deals:

everyone's FAVOURITE freezermate size: the large 2. you can RARELY buy these separately (like i've only seen them on sale once in the last 2 years) and now you can get TWO for $38.50! that's less than $20 each and they are PERFECT for baking -they hold a dozen muffins/cupcakes or i always fill mine with the costco bags of berries and peas so they won't get freezer burned. Or as you can see, they fit big batches of soup or i just used mine yesterday to hold 8 pre-made burritos. these are the BEST!

here's what i call the "go big or go home" set if you really want to get that freezer organized - 24 pieces for $95. this many would normally be $214! you're saving a TON of money and they have a lifetime guarantee. where else can you get that? or SPLIT this set with someone and just pay $47.50 for half - that's an AMAZING good deal to get your freezer started looking awesome.

look how much nicer the one side of my freezer is with these! they are lego for the freezer - make them fit perfectly depending on the sizes of things you're putting in there.

read about my idea for hosting a Freezer Meal Tupperware Party here - everyone preorders their Freezer Mates and then I'll send you a list of potential recipes, you choose a handful, we set a date for all your mom friends to come over and we PREP! Everyone will go home with their containers full of meals all ready to go!

if you're not ready to commit to 24 containers, there are a couple other sets for you but they are "purchase with purchase" sets. let me explain...

if you are buying $120 worth of Tupperware, THEN you can get this set for just $23.50: the Family Set of 4. these are my most used sizes. because the medium 1s are so thin, they thaw quicker - in fact, i have a pound of prebrowned hamburger in a medium 1 sitting in my sink thawing right now. getting ready to make burritos for dinner. other ideas?

a medium 1 holds 4 chicken breasts or...

two cups of mashed bananas, for example.

or if you are spending $85, you can get the Starter Set for $15.50. these look ridiculously small in real life but you want to freeze food with the least amount of air possible and small containers is one way to do that.

the small 1s hold 2 chicken breasts and the small 2s hold a pound of ground beef (among many other things as well).

the sale is on until mid-October - want to order some Freezer Mates or book your party? email rebeccashulba@gmail.com

freezer meal tips & party ideas!

As a mom with a toddler and a baby coming in september, I've been doing some research on freezer meals. It would be great to have a freezer stocked with meals so that I don't have to think about what to have for dinner or say, "get me a pizza!"

I'm working with a cookbook called "The Big Cook" and have been planning out what ingredients I need. Every recipe calls for large freezer bags. The idea is that you make anywhere from 4 - 12 of the same meal and put each into a bag and freeze. The night before, you let it thaw, then it goes into a slow cooker the next day (or there are oven instructions as well). I'm planning on doing 4 of each of the recipes that I've picked out.

I know I've blogged before about my love of my Tupperware Freezer Mates but I use them everyday. What better (and green) way to organize my freezer meals? And then I can use them again and again (because I could really get into this pre-planning thing!).

I just came across a blog post written by a pro-freezer meal maker with tips for making freezer meals. Among all the tips she gives, she describes what you should look for in a container. She lists the following characteristics:

Good containers are key to help protect the flavor, color and nutritional value of frozen foods. The bigger the container, the slower it freezes. You want the food to freeze faster. Don't freeze fruits or vegetables in containers larger than a half gallon.

In general, your containers should have the following characteristics:

Moisture and vapor-proof,

Odorless, tasteless and grease-proof,

Food grade,

Durable and leak proof

Won't become brittle and crack at freezer temperatures

Easy to use, seal and label

Easy for compact stacking and good use of freezer space

Reasonable cost

Then she suggests you use Tupperware Freezer Mates!

Want to try a freezer-meal Tupperware party? Get a handful of friends together who want to do the same thing. I'll put together a list of Freezer Mate options/recipes and you can decide how many you want to make/order. Everyone can pre-order their Freezer Mates and I'll send you a list of ingredients that everyone needs to bring. You get your girls together, I'll bring the Freezer Mates, and the recipes and we can spend a night prepping meals! I can even bring my recipe for Tuppertinis to drink while we prep! It's sure to be the most productive Tupperware party you've ever been to. I'll do draws for prizes and you (the hostess) can either take the free credit you'll earn from all the Freezer Mate purchases OR we can split it up among you and your friends and you can all pick something for free!

Email me at rebeccashulba@gmail to get the whole scoop!