Hefty Serve ‘n Store plates and bowls

I guess several cooking blogs were contacted by marketing firm Hass MS&L to critique the new Hefty Serve ‘n Store plates. I was thrilled to be asked since it meant FREE STUFF. However, I haven’t had the chance to use these yet. For camping, I like to use paper plates, since we can use them as firestarters in the campfire. Maybe at our BBQ later this month.

Lucky for you, Cooking for Engineers did an excellent review (complete with multiple testing of the product and even a call to the manufacturer). So I’m not about to repeat that except to correct one point – Hefty (Pactiv) does make colored versions of the plates in blue and red though I didn’t see them last week at one of my local Super Wal-Marts.

This would be a very cool product to have on hand when you know you’re going to have lots of leftovers and want to send them safely home with your guests without a mess. I’m thinking Thanksgiving in particular, though any potluck would suffice. Also, this is a great product for those people on diets who love to throw parties, hate to throw out food, but don’t want to be tempted by leftovers. Either the leftovers could be stored in these opaque containers (out of sight and out of mind) or handed out as people left the party. These would be great for Christmas cookie exchanges, so I hope Hefty designs some festive plates in winter holiday designs

These would also be great to use for crafts. You could put beans in between two plates or bowls and make a cool shaker. Then when the kids got tired of it, you could wash and reuse.

You could also use them as a holder for a project, like making a bead necklace. If you didn’t have time to finish your necklace, then you could put what you were working on in the plate or bowl, and then cover and store. Your project would be protected until you had a chance to get back to it.

Another craft idea is using the plates as a paint palette. If you wanted to stop the project and paint later, put another plate on top. Later on you remove the lid, add water (assuming it’s a water based paint) then start painting again. Once you’re done, you can toss or wash off to use again.

The ideas are endless. Overall a cool and innovative product.