dinner with tupperware

Some days, I'll be making dinner and I look around and realize I'm surrounded by Tupperware. THIS is why I signed up to be a Tupperware consultant - I use it daily. The other day, I took a couple photos to show you what I mean.

In this photo from left to right: My Heat N Serve container held my ground beef - love it because it goes from freezer to microwave for easy defrosting. My Thatsa Bowl Jr. is what I used to mix my hamburger in. My Hamburger Press is my favourite summer tool. My Freezermate holds breadcrumbs for whenever a recipe calls for them - they're handy. My assistant is using one of my Measuring Cups. (Also, there are two large Freezermates in the background - one is holding cookies and the other is holding hamburger buns!)

Other Tupperware tools used for my dinner making process yet not photoed? My Cutting Board, my FAVOURITE Santuko knife for slicing tomatoes, and my Chef Series Dutch Oven for boiling corn on the cob.

Then we took our meal outside and ate it on our Tupperware plates and my assistant drank from his favourite Bell Tumbler with Sippy Lid. :)

Having the right tools in the kitchen makes dinner so much easier. Indispensable.

tupperware and costco shopping

Today, I did a Costco shop. I don't buy a lot of items at Costco but there are a few things that I just must buy in bulk.

#1: snap peas. I love snap peas because they are a good vegetable that don't need to be washed or cut up. Costco is the cheapest place to buy the 1.3kg bag. It pours exactly into my Fridgesmart Medium Long and lasts FOREVER! (and don't forget that the Fridgesmart set is on sale right now!)

#2: whole wheat pasta. Pasta is a staple in our house and lately, because I haven't had to time to lug my kiddo over to Costco, I've been buying the smaller boxes of whole wheat pasta at our regular grocery store. Whole wheat doesn't come in jumbo sizes at the grocery store so these smaller boxes cost about $3 each. At Costco, the 4lb. bag of rotini whole wheat pasta is $5.99! Yes, it's a lot of rotini pasta BUT it fits perfectly in my Modular Mate Rectangle 3 and will last at least a year (though we'd definitely eat it by then).

#3: blueberries. Frozen blueberries are a necessity in my house because my son LOVES them and eat a handful or two a day. They're also considered a "super-food" so why not eat lots? I buy the 3lb bag and pour it straight into my Large Freezer Mate. It holds that amount perfectly and when it's in a container, it stacks easily and neatly in my freezer.

What do you buy in bulk?

speaking of freezing...

since i was on the topic of my freezer, here's a tip. if you are freezing something in your Freezer Mates and it doesn't fill the container to the top, either pick a new container OR scrunch up some waxed paper to fill the remainder of the space. this will keep your frozen food from getting freezer burnt. when i pour a bag of perogies into the largest Freezer Mate, as i use up the perogies, i put in some waxed paper (or it could be a plastic grocery bag or something - anything to fill the space) until there's few enough perogies in the container to pour into a smaller Freezer Mate. it really helps keep my frozen foods longer. do it.

freezer organization

my freezer - a before and after picture all in one. i used to think, why would i pour my bags of peas or frozen strawberries into a container? and then one day my freezer was so packed full of bags that when i opened the door, a bag of peas fell out and spilled all over my floor. now they're in a freezermate.

what's amazing to me how small some of the containers are in the freezermate collection yet they hold way more than you'd expect. if you know your modular mates, you know that tupperware gives each height a number ranging from shortest (1) to tallest (5). freezermates are also modular which is why they are the best for organizing your freezer.

in the starter set, there are two small 1s and two small 2s. they're tiny. but if you're living on your own or as a couple, they're a good size. the small 2s can hold a little over a pound of ground beef! the small 1s are the perfect size for two pieces of chicken. buy a package of 6 breasts and divide them into meal-sized portions in your freezer mates!

in the family set, there are two medium 1s and two medium 2s. in the above picture, there are 4 medium 2s in there but you can just see the fronts. these are a great size for most small bags of frozen fruit or veggies. I love these 1s (like i talked about above) for chicken or pork chops (or whatever kind of meat). I bought a costco sized pack of fresh chicken breasts the other day and divided them into 4s in my medium 1s. then i poured salad dressing on them. when they are thawing for dinner one day in the near future, they'll sit in their dressing and taste great!

obviously, the best value is the complete set. SO many freezermates AND this is the only way to get the large 2. (i often use this container to store baking on the counter and not in the freezer) i just need to splurge and finish off my freezer. i'm so sick of the mess in there. how's your freezer looking?

if you feel the same way but are thinking, "i can't afford that complete set", having a party is the way to go. why not get the set for free? hosting a party can be having some people over for coffee one morning (and getting your mom in winnipeg to join your party through TupperConnect) and you'll benefit from free host credit based on the amount purchased.

ice cube trays...with seals

you know when you put your ice cube trays in your freezer, the longer they sit in there unused, the dirtier they get. little flecks of things from the freezer...like freezer "dust" you could call it. is this just me and my messy freezer?

anyways, it hadn't bothered me that much but then i started taking my leftover baby food from it's jar and pouring them into my ice cube trays. a great idea to not waste baby food when my assistant is not yet eating more than a cube at a time. i quickly discovered, however, that when left in the open freezer air, the food cubes get a rubbery surface which is pretty unappetizing. so after wasting a batch of food cubes, i started popping them out after a few hours of freezing and putting them in my freezer mate.

i thought to myself, "wouldn't it be great if i could just put a lid on these ice cubes?" then at one of my parties, one of my customers was talking about when tupperware had ice cube trays with seals! i found this picture...

well wouldn't you know - the NEW tupperware catalog is coming out on march 1st and in it? ICE CUBE TRAYS WITH SEALS!!! i'm pretty excited.

if you are a mom with young kids/kid on the way and have mom friends, why not have a handful of them over for coffee one morning and i'll put together a little demo on tupperware items for babies - we can focus on making baby food, kid related containers, meal planning (to make life easier), and toys!

new years resolution: get organized

some friends of mine live in a little apartment in vancouver. little apartments come with little fridges. theirs is no exception. it makes for extra grocery shopping and the legitimate excuse to get take-out: "there's nothing to eat in here".

when jimmy decided to start eating healthier and drinking green smoothies, he and his wife began buying more veggies. alyssa, at my first tupperware party, bought a large fridgesmart for these veggies. when her husband discovered how well it worked, he thought they should have another one. alyssa showed him the "forget me not" set in the catalogue. jimmy exclaimed, "why don't we already have these?" (store your half onion or tomato in a container that hangs from the rack in your fridge so it doesn't get pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten) you see, jimmy, being a man of reason, could see the value of the product. prolonging the life of his vegetables meant saved money...but sometimes even better - tastier, crunchier vegetables. and that lifetime guarantee - how can you go wrong?

with small refrigerators come small freezers so alyssa has also bought a set of freezer mates - modular mates for the freezer essentially. another great purchase for an organized fridge/freezer.

if you want to try out a green smoothie, here's jimmy's recipe:

The green smoothie is basically the same every time I make it, but it could be made from whatever is around. The important part is the green. Kale is the best, but you could use spinach or even green lettuce if the flavour is too much. The latter ones also make for a more liquid smoothy. My basic recipe is:

1-2 leaves kale (cut out the stem)
2 tbsp flax seed
2 tbsp wheat germ
1 chunk of ginger (about the size of the tip of your thumb)

Blend this stuff first with 2 cups of water to thoroughly break down the kale and flax seed. Then chop up and add,

1 apple
1 orange
1 banana
1 kiwi or pear (the kiwi's are weird in the winter, so I use pears now)

Blend it all together and you're done. That makes about 1.5 litres of green smoothie. The flavour comes from the fruit and ginger. I've found that the above is a combination. If we have strawberries that are about the go bad I add those, and blueberries are great too. I try to keep the cost down per smoothie so I only use berries when they're in season.

jimmy and alyssa already have two large fridgesmarts and have plans to buy a third - they are that worth it. if you want to keep your veggies fresher for longer, try the fridgesmarts.