Tis' the Season... for HEALTHY snacking!

With the holidays around the corner, I can nearly smell the baked goodness mayhem that will undoubtedly find its way to my hips.  As a method to ward off extra holiday pounds, I find that keeping healthy snacks on hand a great way to avoid sugar cravings.

The 2 cup Produce Saver,also known as my Pound Saver, keeps my grapes fresh and ready for me to snack on at work.  It seems that work is my weakness, as all my co-workers are fantastic cooks and love to bring in munchies to share.  Share the wealth, not the weight. HA!

Another Produce Saver awaits me in the refrigerator stuffed with celery for my mid-afternoon crash and burn that never fails to send me straight to the vending machine.  A little reduced-calorie/fat peanut butter to spread on my celery helps curb my craving and gives me a little pick-me-up to help finish the day.

It's the small things that keep me from feeling the guilt when I decide to indulge in a slice of homemade pumpkin pie. 

 

A website for other tips on healthy snacking at work: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/easy-healthy-workplace-snacks

Easy Find Lids - Rubbermaid Employee Rivalry Contest

We are excited to announce a little internal competition here at Rubbermaid.   To give you a bit of history on how this competition came to be, the team was in a marketing meeting back in November.   One of our goals was to brainstorm ways to get the word out about our Easy Find Lids System food storage containers.  Around the table, we all had different opinions on what favorite thing was, and  realized everyone uses them quite differently in our own homes!

We want YOU, the readers, to vote who has the most compelling argument.   In your post, list the NAME of the person you think has the best idea and WHY. To thank you for your vote, we will be selecting 5 posts at random to win an All-in-One set at the end of June.    

So here goes..... 

Lauren Spahr -  Leader, Marketing Communications

My favorite feature about Rubbermaid Premier is how well they stack together, both in my refrigerator, and then when I want to take food on the go. Check out how the entire contents of my barbeque are stored for a nice week of leftovers and how I can easily grab the stack to take them to work for the week.

Jim Deitzel - eMarketing Manager

  

There are so many great features about the Easy Find Lids food storage system that it was really hard to pick just one (but Lauren made me). So, my favorite feature is how the containers nest inside of each other (plus that lids snap to lids, plus there are only 3 sizes of lids so you have a really good chance of finding one that fits).

As you can see from this photo, I have three main stacks of containers in my cabinet. One stack for the 1.25 & 2 cup, one stack for the 3 & 5 cup, and another stack for the 9 & 14 cup. I also have a separate stack just for the Produce Saver containers, which I nest all together.

Within each stack I have both Premier and Easy Find Lids containers. Since all the containers within the system are the same shapes they all nest neatly together, which makes it very easy to keep the cabinet organized.

I store all of my lids in a single stack. Large lids on bottom, medium, then small. This conserves space as well and it makes it easy to keep the lids organized. One of the nice things about these lids is that even though I have six sizes of containers there are only three sizes of lids. This makes it very easy to always find a lid that fits and I’m never searching for missing lids.

NOTE: This picture was taken back in October but my cabinet STILL looks as neat as it did in this photo, which is amazing. Additionally I’ve added another small Produce Saver as well as a medium Produce Saver to my collection. They are absolutely invaluable when it comes to storing strawberries, blueberries & blackberries.

Megan Murphy -  Leader, Product Marketing

By far my favorite cabinet in my kitchen is the one that keeps my food storage. The Easy Find Lids System has provided me with the perfect organizational method. Every time I open up this cabinet I feel accomplished - like I’m doing something right. My Premier, Produce Saver, Easy Find Lids and Lock-its are all neatly stacked with lids snapped to the bases. Depending on my need, I always have the right container at the ready. Now if only my pantry made me feel the same way!!

Doug Marquardt-  Sr. Manager, Product Marketing

 

One of the coolest things about Rubbermaid containers is how they are specially designed for different uses. I think this is a great feature of the product line because it makes storing leftovers a lot less frustrating. For example, I don’t enjoy throwing out lettuce a couple days after I bought it, so I really like how Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers keep leafy vegetables fresh and crisp. I also like my plastic containers to stay clean and odor free. I used to throw them out when they would have leftover pasta sauce stains or onion smell. This isn’t a problem anymore with Rubbermaid Premier containers – they always stay clean and odor free!

Now for the bonus feature - you might think that keeping a bunch of special containers would take up a lot of space in my cabinets, but they actually nest together in one stack because of the Easy Find Lids system. Besides nesting together, the lids snap together and also attach to the bottom of containers. Pretty cool!

Katie Parsons-   Manager, Product Marketing

   

I love Rubbermaid Premier because I can always find the lid I need, when I need it. I’m not really known for my culinary skills but I decided to test them out by making a big Sunday dinner, last weekend. I managed to whip up quite the feast but had a lot of leftovers. I grabbed my Rubbermaid Premier and transferred the food into the container. My green bean casserole was still warm, so I snapped the lid to the base and left it on the counter to cool. I was able to move the container off the counter to clean it, and the lid stayed attached. When I was finished washing dishes, my leftovers had cooled off. I moved the lid from the bottom to the top and into the fridge it went! It’s really a handy feature!

Rachel Pike -  Associate Product Manager

 

My favorite feature about the Easy Find Lids system is the fact that the same lid fits different size bases. For example, the same Premier lid fits the 3-cup, 5-cup, and 7-cup bases. That means when I pull a lid out of my cabinet, the first lid I grab will most likely be the right size for my base. It’s just another way that this system eliminates the frustration and time drain of the "great lid hunt."

Share your food storage organization story and win prizes

Yesterday we launched www.EasyFindLids.com, a brand new Rubbermaid website. We created this site for people to share stories about their food storage organization stories. We're hoping you will submit stories about your success and challenges organizing your food storage containers.

In addition to sharing your story on www.EasyFindLids.com we've incorporated a feature so you can also post your story to Facebook. Our hope is if you have a challenge you can share it with your friends and they can help you with your problem. This is our version of 'Group Therapy' :)

And if your friends can't help you get organized, maybe we can.  Once a week we are going to randomly pick 5 winners to receive a 20 piece set of Rubbermaid Easy Find Lid food storage containers.  Even better, at the end of October we're going to pick one winner to receive $500 in Rubbermaid product.

With that said, share your story. If you have a challenge, maybe a friend can help you out. If you've already conquered your food storage container problems, sharing your story will help someone else out.

I hope you enjoy and have fun!

P.S. As an extra bonus we've included coupons on this website for $1.00 off select Rubbermaid food storage containers.

Consumer Video Review of Produce Saver

Yesterday @rubbermaid forwarded me some links from ExpoTV and I thought I'd share one of them with you.

“jar7519” does a great job explaining why he loves Produce Saver and how it works.  He is able to eat more fruits and vegetables because they stay fresh and crisp longer when stored in these helpful containers.  Produce Saver also helps him to save money since he doesn’t have to throw out bad produce.

This video was found on ExpoTV.  It was not created by Rubbermaid.  We would like to thank jar7519 for his endorsement of Produce Saver! 

See all Storage & Organization reviews at Expotv

Win a set a 4 Rubbermaid Produce Saver food storage containers

This morning as I was eating my cereal, granola with blueberries and blackberries, I was thinking about this blog and wondering what my next post would be. Actually I know what it should be but I haven't had time to organize under my stairs yet :)

Just the other day I added a second 2-cup Produce Saver to my existing set of three. The addition of this little item has made me very happy. Since I use lots of berries I needed a second small container so I could put all my small berries in them. So decided to do a little sweepstakes and give away a set of Rubbermaid Produce Saver food storage containers which contains 4 food storage containers.  Perfect for any kitchen.

To enter all you need to do leave a comment in this blog post. I'll take entries all the way through March 2nd, 2009 at noon Eastern.  Then I'll randomly select a winner.  Be sure to leave you email address in the email field so I can get in contact with you (you're email will not be displayed).

Best of luck to all of you.  BTW, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/rubbermaid

Kitchen Cabinet Clutter – Organizing the mess under my counter

Working at Rubbermaid has its pros and cons.  One of the pros is getting samples of our products. One of the cons is getting samples of our products. How is getting samples a con you ask? The issue was I had way too many food storage containers and beverage bottles. It seemed every time I turned around I was bringing another container home and I never seemed to get rid of old containers. Water bottles would fall out of my cabinets when the door was opened. I could never find a lid to my food containers because I had too many and too many types. 

Last weekend I decided to do something about this problem.  After having a couple cups of freshly ground coffee I stood in my kitchen and began the process of organization.

Step one was to identify and define the issue.  For me the issue was two-fold.

1. I had too many containers and I certainly didn’t need all of them
2. I was utilizing my space poorly. My frequently used items were stored in a cabinet that was deep and hard to reach while lightly used items were kept in the prime locations.

Step two was to sort and purge. I ended up pulling everything out of my base cabinets and sorted it into piles on the kitchen floor. Beverage bottles went in one pile, pots & pans in another and so on. Once everything was sorted I began the process of purging. I started by finding all of the food storage and beverage bottles and matched bases to lids.  Anything that didn’t have a match went into the recycling pile.

Next I pulled out anything that was damaged, old, stained or I just didn’t need. This was a fairly easy process for me as I ended up keeping only stuff that was new like my Produce Saver, Premier and other samples from work. Additionally, since Calphalon is a sister company of Rubbermaid I had some very nice pots and pans. There was no need to keep old stuff from college. My wife on the other hand had a hard time parting with the bakeware her grandmother passed down to us (although she eventually did).

Step three - With the sorting and purging process complete the next order of business was to put everything away. I didn’t want to just put stuff back in the same spot since the original storage locations were not optimum.  So I began to take inventory of what was left and ended up identifying a few major categories of items: (1) food storage container, (2) beverage bottles, (3) pots and pans, and (4) bakeware. With those categories identified I then prioritized which items I use most frequently along with the space required to keep these items organized.

I ended up giving priority and easy access to the food storage containers and beverage bottles. These two groups of products ended up in the largest cabinets with the easiest access (the kids needed to be able to get these items easily without making a mess). The pots and pans were put into the cabinet that had the least convenient access since only my wife and I accessed those items (and in theory are responsible enough to keep them organized). The bakeware got the remaining cabinets.

After all was said and done it had only taken me 60 minutes to complete this very satisfying task.  It’s been about a week since I completed the project and all of the cabinets are still in good shape. And since I took into consideration the way we use our kitchen I expect the cabinets to stay organized for a long time too.

So, the moral of the story is: If you have kitchen cabinets that are in need of reorganization, go for it. It won’t take too long and you’ll be glad you did. If I can do it so can you.

Produce Saver - "How To" Usage Guide

I have received a few questions lately on how to correctly use Produce Saver so I thought I would put together a handy “how to” guide based on my own experiences to help answer any questions that may be out there.

First, purchase Produce Saver in the size that will best fit what you are intending to store.  For a traditional pack of strawberries, the 5 cup Produce Saver should work nicely.  For a large bunch of grapes or a small head of lettuce the 14 cup would be better suited.  Finally, for a small container of raspberries or blueberries, the 2 cup should be just about right.

Once you bring produce home from the grocery store or farmer’s market don’t wash it before storing.  Moisture will only increase the risk of decay.

Make sure the Crisp Tray™ is in the bottom of the container.  Place the produce in the container taking care to not pack the produce in too tightly so it doesn’t get bruised or damaged.

Place the lid on the container and store in the refrigerator.  Produce Saver containers easily stack on top of one another or with other Rubbermaid food storage containers.

You’ll see that excess moisture will settle in the bottom of the container beneath the tray.  The vents in the side of the lid will allow produce to breath even with the lid on to protect the produce. 

When you are ready to consume the produce, take out what you need and wash it before consuming or preparing.  Now you’re ready to enjoy fresh produce!

A couple of other tips: if you purchase produce that is already packaged in a pre-sealed bag such as bagged lettuce, it’s best to keep the lettuce in the pre-sealed bag until you are ready to use it.  The pre-sealed bag is really the best environment for the lettuce because it has been infused with special gases designed for preserving the lettuce for as long as possible.  Also, Produce Saver is best for un-cut produce that is still in the same form as when you purchased it.

When storing Produce Saver, you can save space and keep organized by snapping the lids and trays together and then snapping them to the bases of the nested containers.  It’s a great way for finding your lids and trays with ease!

I hope my tips are helpful!

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You can download our complete Use & Care Instructions here.

Are you a fan of Produce Saver yet?

As some of you may know by now, I'm a giant fan of the new Produce Saver food storage containers (see one of my previous posts).

What I want to know now is... how big of a fan are you?  I'd love to hear your experiences and even more, I'd love to share your comments with everyone else. 

If you're also a fan of Produce Saver, let use know and tell the world.  Click the comment link below and tell use what you think.

One last thing. In case you aren't aware, we currently have a sweepstakes running on Rubbermaid.com where you can register for a chance to win a set of Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers. Take a moment to register. You may end up a winner.

Wilted, soggy & fuzzy lettuce

When was the last time you opened your refrigerator door hungry to use some fresh cilantro to garnish a salad or to snack on the raspberries you just bought or to cut a leaf of lettuce for a sandwich when you realized they were wilted, soggy, or had something fuzzy growing on them?! For me, the answer was “all the time!” It upset me to throw everything out even though I knew it had to be done.

Now, I use Rubbermaid Produce Saver and it has made a real difference in the amount of produce that stays fresh longer. Thankfully, Produce Saver is really simple to use and the technology is so basic: Just give produce the airflow it needs to allow it to breath and lift it out of moisture to prevent bacteria growth. This has been achieved with Fresh Vents in the side of the lid and a Crisp Tray that sits in the bottom of the container. Now, my produce stays fresh and crisp!

I would love to know what your favorite use is for Produce Saver. Mine is cilantro. Now, I don’t have to throw it away as often which saves me money and the guilt of being wasteful.

Check out our TV ad featuring "Produce Gone Bad"

I love my Produce Saver

Sure, I work for Rubbermaid but that doesn't mean I have to love every product we make. However I LOVE the new Produce Saver food containers!  Especially for strawberries.

Nearly every morning for as long as I can remember I've had granola for breakfast. Granola on it's own is sometimes boring.  In the past I would occasionally purchase berries (strawberries, blueberry or raspberries) to add to my granola.  But, they would typically go bad before I would use them all.

Recently I purchased a few of the Produce Saver containers while I was testing the rubbermaid.com online coupons.  I knew from the product manager, Megan Murphy, that they were designed to keep produce and vegetables fresh longer.  I however didn't really think that it was such a big deal.

Well... it IS a big deal.  Since I bought my Produce Saver containers I've had berries on my granola every single day (It's wonderful).  I can purchase a pint of strawberries, empty them into my medium (5 cup) container, store them in the refrigerator, and they keep for nearly 2 weeks.  My mornings have improved tremendously because of a simple container.

One final thing I'd like to share. I use the 5 cup container for strawberries but I use the smaller 2 cup container for blueberries and raspberries. I would recommend buying them both.