going GREEN...

I'll admit it...I'm a sucker for those As Seen On TV ads. I love to watch them and I wonder if the products are really as good as they say.

I currently own the Swivel Sweeper - yes, it's AWESOME. I use it all the time! I don't own a broom for my kitchen anymore...I LOVE having that little thing handy to clean up the crumbs on the carpet after Scotty has snacks. But in order to keep it running, you DO have to perform maintenance on it. Strings, threads and mostly hair wind around the brushes. If you don't remove them regularly, the brushes are ineffective. And it doesn't hurt to wash it from time to time!

I own the Vidalia Chop Wizard. I really like this thing, too. Great for chopping and making things uniform. I use it to chop up fruit for fruit salad...potatoes for potato salad...it makes short french fries. I've also used to to make small cubes of potatoes. It works, just as advertised. I wouldn't suggest standing it up to measure if you're using "juicy" things (tomatoes, strawberries, etc), as it doesn't have a seal and it will leak, but it's great otherwise.


SO...the point of the title...GREEN BAGS. Debbie Myers' Green Bags, to be exact. Could these things POSSIBLY work? Do they really make your food last longer? Well, I've had the opportunity to try them...and they DO work. YUP!

You see, we love fruit here...but often, it goes bad before we've finished it. Strawberries are only eaten by Hannah and I. And I get over-enthusiastic when I'm buying, especially when there's a sale! We always end up throwing out a few fruits. Sometimes, it's just poor selection, or the tail end of the shipment at the store, so you don't get good shelf life. Other berries never seem to survive more than a few days in the fridge. And while we all eat fruit, not everyone eats the same kind, and we actually have to monitor Scotty's fruit intake due to his "fast gut" (he digests food in less than 6-12 hours - so you can imagine what a lot of fruit will do to him!). Inevitably, I was throwing away more food than I wanted to. Grapes...well, you either have to wash them (removing them from stems) right away, or the stems get all dry and brittle and the fruit gets soft and mushy (I like crunchy fruits, including grapes!)

Once again, they require some "work" to get the desired effect. You need to be sure that the food is dry...very dry. The bags will retain moisture and must be dried out regularly. But...a container of blueberries lasted for over a week...I bought 2 because they were only $1.50 each (in JANUARY???? HAVE to buy more than one!). We ate one rather quickly, but I didn't want the other to go bad before we finished the first. And the green bags most definitely extended the shelf life. When I finished the second container, the last of the berries were still as plump and moist as the first container opened 8 days earlier! And grapes? Well, 2 weeks into it, they are still as fresh and the stems are still green. I've had to dry the bag out 2 times so far, but that was because I missed a few grapes that had splits or cuts.

And bananas. WOW. 5 days later, they were still exactly the same as when I bought them...mostly yellow with a hint of green at the top. Firm, with no brown spots. I haven't had the opportunity to try them on veggies yet. I hate wilted celery and lettuce...and tomatoes that get wrinkly within a day of purchase...so those will be my next "experiments".

They're reusable, up to 10 times, too.

So, once again, I will recommend these to anyone who asks about them. This post is NOT a solicited ad or "pay per post" or anything like that....just my personal opinion.