How many vegetables did you cook this week?
If you’re like most families, the number of vegetables you serve is smaller than you’d like. I know you want to cook nutritious meals for your family, and you intend to give them many servings of fruits and vegetables each day, but your schedule is crazy. If you need help, read on, because cooking veggies just got simpler.
If you’re really busy, skip the produce aisle and head straight for the frozen food section. Those vegetables were actually picked and frozen at their peak, so they are fresher than the vegetables that have been sitting in the produce section (and on the truck, etc.). And, the frozen veggies will be waiting in your freezer indefinitely, for your convenience, and not rotting away in your produce drawer.
Now, for the hard part. Actually cooking them. Three Glad® SimplyCooking™ Microwave Steaming Bags arrived in the mail — free, and I was asked to try them out and tell you what I think. After telling my friends what I thought about them, (they work, but you have to throw them away every time), their eyes lit up. You see, the very feature I don’t like about this bag – it’s disposable – was the one feature they did like.
They were intrigued with the idea of being able to cook vegetables, without dirtying another pan. “Anything that’s quick and easy, I’m buying,” they said.
If simple is what you’re after, then this bag is for you. I mean – simple. Pictures of vegetables are printed right on the bag, along with the cooking times. Your kids can even do this. The word “steaming” is in the product name — the bags actually steam your vegetables, requiring no added water. Nutrients are sealed in, and nothing gets washed away.
Plastic in the microwave? Yes — this kind of plastic is OK. Glad does not use polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but instead uses plastics that are approved for use in high temperatures. And, no, there are no dioxins in plastics. Read this study from Johns Hopkins to learn more.
I will buy a box of these — but I probably won’t use them everyday. I’ll use a pan instead. But on crazy nights, and especially during holiday dinners, I’ll pull one of these Microwave Steaming Bags out just to save myself a few steps.
Hi Susie-
Thanks so much for this insight…I’m trying to put healthy meals on the table after working all day and I don’t like the kids to have take out…yuck.
[...] you will have to think ahead – a little bit. For more ideas on quick and easy home-cooked meals, read on, here. Bookmark [...]
Thanks for this — I’ve seen them advertised, but always hesitate on these things, wondering if they really work and not wanting to spoil some perfectly good veggies. Thanks for commenting on my blog, too, by the way . . . I’ve bookmarked yours to check back now and again!
[...] the perfect serving size, and full of nutrition. Baby food, like most frozen and canned vegetables, has not been sitting on grocery store shelves, and then in your vegetable bin. Seinfeld also offers this short cut in her book; canned [...]