As Seen On TV

A few weeks ago, I did something I have never done before. I ordered something I saw advertised on TV on one of those cheesy commercials. I ordered the Debbie Meyer Green Bags. The commercial must have just been on during one of those times when I was particularly angry about my produce going bad because I bit. I was a bit skeptical of course because the commercials are so cheesy and so is the website. Plus I’m not altogether sure that the website is secure for ordering with your credit card. But I was THAT mad about rotting strawberries that I didn’t give a shit. I just ordered. (Then I got clued in to the fact that you can now buy them at Walgreen’s and Target so I’m kind of kicking myself for my knee-jerk reaction.)

My main complaint about them is their shape. The package comes with two sizes, medium and a large, but they are long rather than wide. This is fine for loose fruit like cherries or berries, but it’s really hard to get grapes in them unless you pull them off the stem. And if you can find the time to pull all your grapes off the stem to store them, I salute you. Or I give you the finger. Maybe the one finger salute. I’d really like to see them shaped more like the traditional zip top bags you can buy at the store. The commercial shows a head of iceberg lettuce being stored in them and I have no clue how anyone would get a round head of lettuce into one of these long skinny bags.

One of the first things we tried in them was a big bag of cherries. We had them for well over a week and they were still as fresh as the day I bought them. There are, of course, a few caveats. First, you have to start with dry produce. No putting wet produce in them. So if you choose to wash the fruit before putting it away, you better let it sit out to dry thoroughly, except letting fruit sit out sort of defeats the purpose, no? Also if you have say a strawberry or a blueberry that is already going south, it does no good. So check the fruit and don’t put anything already bruised in them. And I just chuck the stuff in there and wash what I need as I use it. I have always done that with produce so that is really no change in routine for me.

But my favorite thing about them is what they do for bananas. We go through a lot of bananas around here, as I suspect many homes with toddlers do. I always end up at the store mid-week for more bananas because they go bad well before we can eat them all.  I had heard that if you separate your bananas rather than leaving them in the bunch, they spoil slower, and that is somewhat true. But if you separate them and put them into these Green Bags, you will be amazed at how long they last.

One little picky thing, though is that on the commercial and on the website they show tomatoes on the bags in the fridge. Tomatoes do not EVER go in the refrigerator unles they have been cut. A whole tomato will get all puckery in the fridge, but leave it on the counter and it stays fresh. Now, I’m not saying you can’t put your tomatoes in a Green Bag,  just not a Green Bag in the fridge. No way, no how. But I have a laundry list of nit-picky things like this about the kitchen storage and cleaning and such. Don’t get me started on that. It just makes me look crazy.

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