The Cleverness of Juicing

April 6, 2012

Juicing.  More people do it than you know.  They juice at home.  They juice on the go.  They let their kids juice.  Juicing is clever, and sneaky, and a smart way to give your body the good things it needs.  Why is it great?  And why aren’t you doing it?

As a parent, it is a constant battle to try to get my child to eat a vegetable.  She is smarter than she looks, cover that green veggie with some cheese?  Please, Mom!  I will suck the cheese off and discard of the good for me green thing.  I can’t be the only one who has been to battle with a child over eating something that is good for them.

I started juicing recently, and it hit me like a mac truck!  I was putting all this great stuff into my juice, and you couldn’t taste the things that maybe weren’t always so great tasting.  So why don’t I just sneak those things into the juice, and give my child the juice.  And I win, and my victory is really her victory as well!

So what do you need to know about juicing?  And what are some great things to sneak into your kids juice? We will tell you!

The biggest thing to know is you really can’t mess it up, the worst thing that could happen is you’re out the cost of the fruit & veggies you used and you don’t like the juice.  Things like apples will give your juice a brownish look as it sits, so if looks matter…you may want to skip the apples if you aren’t going to be drinking right away or add some green veggies to conceal the brownish color.

A common juice to sneak in veggies is one with a great fruit base.  Pineapples, strawberries, kiwis and bananas are all a great way to cover the addition of kale, spinach and carrots!  Your kids won’t know they are getting vegetables and you can sit there gloating to yourself about outsmarting your little one!

And for you, a morning juice is a great time to start with your daily vegetables, because it will help keep you going until lunch!  If you are juicing to diet or cleanse many juicing diets are simply a base of things like lemon, watermelon, oranges, and pineapple (think light fruits!).  But if you’re juicing just to add nutrients, heavier fruits and veggies will give you a filling feeling that will help keep your sugar levels even through the day!

The maximum benefit for juice is when you are able to drink it right away.  But keeping it cold will extend those benefits!  No matter why you’re juicing, packing your juice in a PackIt will help keep it cold enough for you to enjoy all day!  Large juice bottles can be kept perfectly cool in our Single Bottle Cooler, where as if you have smaller containers to boost yourself as a snack, the Personal Cooler may be just what you need!  Don’t let the time you spend away from the juicer keep you from juicing all day!! Juice It then Pack It.

{ 0 comments }

PackIt to Spring!

March 29, 2012

Spring is here, and we know everyone is anxious to get moving!  It is time for spring vacations, spring cleaning, playdates at the park, and picnics in the back yard!  We have some ideas on how you can use your PackIt Cooler while out and about this spring season!

Packing for a spring break vacation, or a weekend getaway to the beach?  Packit coolers can make traveling a little easier.  Instead of coolers filled with ice or hard space consuming ice packs, a PackIt Cooler just needs to be unfolded and stuffed full of food and drinks for the drive!

Packing up for a day of site seeing with kids can be exhausting to think about.  Kids think about food more than adults, so having a Personal Cooler at the ready with plenty of snacks to keep their sugar level from getting to low can really save the day!  And a Snapwear Set means your kids snacks stay in their containers with out getting smashed along the way!

{ 0 comments }

Using Your Personal Cooler In The Winter

February 2, 2012

Using a cooler in the winter.

During the summer you can come up with a dozen reasons to have a cooler handy. But during the winter it is easy to think that they aren’t needed. After all for many people the weather is still frightfully cold. Coolers & freezable lunch bags are useful year round and here are some ways you can continue to use yours when there’s a chill in the air.

1. Bringing food to a friend. Cold & flu season is hitting hard and a freezer meal they can just pop in the oven would make you their favorite friend. And don’t forget the best “Welcome Home Baby” gifts come in the form of no-fuss casseroles! Now that we have the larger Shop Cooler and Social Cooler, it’s easy to pack several meals for a friend in need.
2. Snacks for the toddler while you are running errands. This is a year round reason to keep a personal cooler in the freezer, stocked & ready to go at a moments notice. Toddlers are notoriously hungry (and picky). The Snapware sets are pretty much perfect for some cut fruit or cheeses!
3. BYOB. Bring your own water, tea, cola, or adult bevy to a tail gate or just to someone’s house to watch the big game. And the Bottle Service Wine Bags would make your full bottle for the hostess the best she gets.
4. Leftovers. If this isn’t the most year round use for a Freezable Personal Cooler I don’t know what is! Everyone knows spaghetti tastes better the day after. And if you have office lunch swaps, the Social Cooler would make that spaghetti tasty and stylish.
5. Transporting frozen foods. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean that ice cream doesn’t get soft sitting in traffic on the way home. Keeping frozen things frozen is the perfect job for the Shop Cooler.

When you have freezable coolers you love, it is easy to find ways to use them all the time!

{ 0 comments }

A Little Bitty About The Candy Cane

December 21, 2011

Did anyone get that email about how candy canes have titanium dioxide in them, which is a cancer-causing chemical? Everyday we hear about how some food, household item or chemical is dangerous to our bodies. Trying to exercise, use sunscreen, use the right suncreen, wear seatbelts, use hand sanitizer, get flu shots and eating healthy…hearing about the beautiful holiday candy cane being a possible carcinogenic…It cannot be true!! We checked it out on snopes.com…and found out…there is truth to the fact that titanium dioxide is a cancer-causing chemical. It is used in sunscreen and many other products. It is used because it is white in nature and does not allow for light to penetrate it. Which brings in the candy cane. Just how do they put those brillant red stripes against the white and as you lick them…the red does not seep into the white? Hmmm… Luckily, ingredients to have to be posted on packages, so it's always best to know exactly what you are putting into your body. And how about the saying "everything in moderation"? Eating healthy is key. Fresh foods, organic foods and storing them at safe temperatures. We think it's probobly okay to have a candy cane or two around the holidays…maybe you can even put it in with your PackIt Personal Cooler or Wine Bag Gift? Just a thought…

You can check out the snopes.com article here: Do Candy Canes Cause Cancer?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

{ 0 comments }

Why is a PackIt the Best Gift?

December 7, 2011

{ 0 comments }

Reasons To Pack Your Child’s Lunch

November 28, 2011

Everyone knows you don’t go grocery shopping if you are hungry…so imagine your kids at school going through the lunch line and trying to decide between chicken nuggets, pizza or a hamburger!  While schools are attempting to make lunches in the cafeteria healthier due largely in part to new legislation on childhood obesity, it’s still very difficult for a child to make the healthy choice when offered. How do you take control? Packit…Pack their lunch! 

Here are our top 5 reasons to pack your child's lunch:

1. Control. A healthy packed lunch lets you avoid the lunch line and any bad choices or temptations. Plus your child can sit down and start eating right away and not wait in line. By bringing their own lunch you are able to control what kinds of foods that they eat. You are also able to control the portion size of these choices, which can be very beneficial when watching things like sugar intake and calories.

2. Variety. Thanks to the internet, there are hundreds of fun lunch ideas, and this allows you to pack a variety of healthy foods. Using a PackIt, you can bring yogurt, tuna salad, fresh fruit or anything that tastes great cold. The same choices over and over get boring!

3. Economical. Add up the cost of how much you spend per week on your child’s lunch, then for the month, then the school year…ouch. Packing their lunch saves money. You can use leftovers. That brings the cost of the lunch itself down to practically nothing! 

4. Eliminate the Picky Eater Syndrome. Studies have shown that children of all ages can help with meal planning, grocery shopping, and in this case packing their lunch,and when they do, they will be more likely to eat it. Avoiding power struggles by allowing them to pack what they like (that is also nutritious) and encourage experimenting and being creative will help them to try new foods instead of picking the same thing everyday in the lunch line. 

5. Safer for both you and the environment
Use a refillable water bottle like Vapur, metal cutlery and glass dishes from home — and pack it all in a PackIt. PackIt is PVC-free, BPA-free, lead-free, non-toxic, earth-safe and reusable. Everyone feels good. 

{ 0 comments }

PackIt Honors Veterans In 2011 Veterans Day Ceremony

November 15, 2011

PackIt proudly honored veterans this year in the 2011 Malibu Veterans Day ceremony at Legacy Park in Malibu, CA. PackIt joined members of the community coming from all parts of Los Angeles the as they celebrated local veterans in the ceremony organized by the City of Malibu, Malibu Chamber of Commerce, Pepperdine University, and The Malibu Times. Special custom American flag Personal Coolers were donated to show appreciation to veterans from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard. "We are so proud and privileged to participate in this Veterans Day ceremony and honor America's finest," said PackIt co-founder Jeannette Dirksen. "We love and appreciate whole-heartedly the men and women in uniform who have bravely served and continue to serve our country."

PackIt's Government Relations Director, Chris Garcia, who served on the Veterans Day committee, had a chance to personally thank Commander Chris Cegielski (U.S. Navy) for his service to our country. "To me, every day is Veterans Day," Garcia said. "We should thank these heroes each day and show them the utmost respect and unwavering support they've so valiantly earned."

PackIt was also a sponsor for the inaugural Malibu Navy Days event earlier this year in June, and helped to welcome the crew of the U.S.S. John Paul Jones. The 505-foot Navy destroyer docked just outside of the Malibu Pier as the community welcomed crewmembers to shore for the weekend. Co-founders Jeannette Dirksen and Melissa Kieling attended the ceremony with Government Relations Director Chris Garcia. Dirksen and Kieling were inspired as they congratulated Command Master Chief Marilyn Kennard, who is the highest-ranking African-American female to ever serve on the U.S.S. John Paul Jones (picture above). 

{ 0 comments }

5 Healthy Lunch Ideas and How To Get Your Kids To Eat Them

November 9, 2011

Parents are always looking for healthy lunch ideas. But getting our kids to eat the healthy foods we pack can be tricky. So here at PackIt, we thought we’d share some ways our employees get their kids to eat the healthy lunches packed for them! 

1. Involve the Kids – Pack Together  Whether it’s spreading on condiments, rolling up tortillas, or filling baggies with carrots, pretzels or grapes, the joint effort can be fun and will give kids a sense of pride when they open their PackIt.
2. Shift to Healthy Versions of Favorites Almost every food can be found in a healthier version today. Low fat or nonfat yogurts instead of yogurts packed with sugar. Low fat cheeses and dips. Baked snacks instead of fried. Use the snack size baggies for portion control. Keeping dairy products cold makes the food taste better and is safer for them too!
3. Combine New Foods With Favorites  The first one that comes to mind is celery with peanut butter or cream cheese. Try a new fruit or veggie with hummus instead of ranch. Use cream cheese as a spread with jelly instead of peanut butter. Bitesized, dippable and varied foods are the key to success when trying new foods! 
4. Option A or Option B Trick   Instead of asking what they want…try giving 2 choices: Would you like peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread or a tortilla? Do you want an apple or an orange sliced up in your lunch? Do you want to use your red PackIt or the blue PackIt?
5. Sneak in Fruits & Veggies  It’s a good try to put the banana, apple or orange in their lunch bag, but more than likely, it’s getting tossed in the trash at the end of lunch. We recommend peeling, segmenting and sealing in a zip-top bag. Throw in a small cup of flavored nonfat yogurt. They’ll have fun dipping the orange slices in the yogurt! Same goes with carrots, apples, and cucumbers! 

PackIt allows you to pack nutritious healthy foods for school, work, camping or sporting events. It cuts waste because you can bring home any uneaten food, because PackIt will keep it cold all day long. You can get a PackIt online – www.packitcool.com or at a store near you. 

{ 1 comment }

Post Halloween PackIt…

November 1, 2011

They are only this age once… As she filled her Trick or Treat Bag and ran house to house, we transferred her candy into the PackIt that I was carrying filled with cold mini water bottles. What is it about Halloween and Trick or Treating that makes us crave water?! We ended up with no more water bottles but a PackIt AND a Trick or Treat bag filled with candy and some sleepy kids. Success.

{ 0 comments }

It’s Not Just What You Pack, It’s What You PackIt In…

October 31, 2011

This is our first official blog post so bear with us as we learn from all of you bloggy experts! It occured to me this week as we were carving pumpkins, ordering Halloween costumes, ordering the accessories for the Halloween costumes (since we forgot the first time), and buying that halloween candy (for the third time since it magically disappeared the first two times)…you know,THAT CANDY…the candy that kids everywhere look forward to all year long that so much of our lives and lifestyles are surrounded by food. Halloween = Candy. Thanksgiving = Turkey. Christmas = Cookies. Easter = Eggs AND Candy. You get the idea…Which brings us to…leftovers. Everyone knows that as you clean up from dinner or any meal and you store your leftovers…you contain and most likely refrigerate, right? So how important is it to make sure that if you take any leftovers, candy, eggs, etc. in your lunch the next day to keep it cold until you eat it? VERY IMPORTANT! As important as when you put it in the frig the first time! And here is the closer…This is where we can help PackIt. Keeps food cold. Keeps food cold longer. It's just that simple. So when you are packing up that Halloween candy (chocolate) or left overs…remember…It's not just what you pack; It's what you PackIt in. www.packitcool.com Happy Halloween

{ 0 comments }