Foodcents's Blog

Merry Monday, my lovely readers. I hope everyone had a great weekend and the short week cruises through for everyone. Do you all have your Thanksgiving all planned out and ready to attack? I sure don’t, not a chance in the least bit:) No worries though, it will all come together.

I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mama’Cents. I can not begin to express the amount of love, respect and so many other things I have for my mama’!!! She is not only my mama’, but one of my dearest friends. She has been a constant source of support since my MS diagnosis and always keeps my snarkiness in check !!! I am not sure what I did to deserve such greatness from a mother, but I will gladly continue to take it:) LOVE YOU, MAMA’!!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Little stalks of heaven!!!

I love asparagus, anyone else? This time of year the price per pound of it goes down. I guess it’s a Thanksgiving thang’, but it doesn’t need to only be served at Thanksgiving dinner. Grab some of these tasty veggies  and experiment with them. Grill ‘em, roast ‘em, steam ‘em or whatever else you might like. I find that if you are going to roast or grill it, a nice little marinade of 5 minutes & some balsamic vinegar really makes this super tasty. Throw whatever else you wish into the marinade (I love lemon as well). Leftover roasted or grilled asparagus is great in the leftover department, throw it on a salad or a sandwich.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I recently contacted the company 3B Bags or “Belief Beyond Bags”, to learn a little more about their products. I had seen their products and their story on local media in recent months, so I was curious to know more. I love the fact that the three owners of 3B Bags are three friends and mothers who saw a need to create a product to eliminate the use of the plastic produce bags.

Pack of 3 bags

The company recently sent me a couple of packs of the Reusable Produce Bags to try out myself and review. Each pack comes with three bags. Two of the bags are 11×14 inches, while the third bag measures 14.5×18.5 to hold your super large produce.

The first thing I noticed about these bags, upon receiving them, was the minimal packaging the company chose to use for this product. I think this is important to note, as it peeves me how wasteful companies often are in packaging their products. The packaging is 100% recyclable and extremely minimal, which I love. I liked the fact that these bags, made of 100% nylon, had no funky smell to them as products often do when you first open them up.

Since receiving these bags from the company, I have used them countless times. Each bag holds a TON of produce. I have put 15 apples in one and had no problem with the bag holding all that weight. Each bag has a drawstring to ensure your produce doesn’t fall out, as it often does with regular plastic produce bags. In addition, the bags are see through, making produce code easy to see at check out time.

I really do love these bags, I am using them all the time. I had to get in the habit of putting them into my reusable grocery bags, so I would remember to bring them to the store. Just like anything, you have to get in the habit of making sure to bring these bags, but quickly it becomes second nature. I have even used the large one to put all my groceries in, when I realized I had one in my purse and had forgotten to bring a regular reusable grocery bag. It worked like a charm!!!

I will admit the bags are not cheap, as they sell for $7.50 for a three pack. However, since using them I do think that they are worthy every penny. I foresee these babies lasting a very long time, which makes it a good investment for the wallet and the earth. They are incredibly versatile and easy to clean as well, which can not be beat!!! I have already bought some to incorporate into Holiday gifts. Thank you to the 3B Bag ladies!!!

For those of you in the Denver area, I have seen the bags at King Soopers and Vitamin Cottage, so you might want to keep your eyes out for them!!!

I got to try these out, now you all have a chance to as well. 3B Bags has offered to give away a pack of the Reusable Produce bags to 5 lucky winners.

• Go here check out the 3B Bags website. Leave a comment on this post about something you learned, others uses for the bags or any other nifty tidbit you come across on the site.
• Follow me on Twitter for another chance to win. Please leave a comment on this post, letting me know.
• Follow 3B Bags on Twitter for another chance to win. Please leave a comment on this post, letting me know.
• Tweet this giveaway, be sure to include @foodcents & @3BBags in your Tweet. Again, please let me know you did so my leaving a comment!!!
• If you have a blog, link to this giveaway, for another chance to win.

This giveaway will end at 1:00pm on Sunday (November 29, 2009). Please note this giveaway is only open to US residents.

3B Bags is also offering free shipping when you buy 4 or more of the Reusable Produce Bag packs, until December 5, 2009.

Ok, time for me to go get my grocery shopping on and then some pilates. Have a beautiful day!!!