Craving Heat-And-Serve Convenience (NAPSA)—It’s Wednesday night and the kids are running late to soccer practice, or Saturday evening and friends are dropping by for a quick dinner. In either instance, time is short, but the desire for a fast dinnertime selection is great. New food-packaging options designed for the microwave can makeall the difference in a cooking experience that is simple, fast and convenient, and requires minimal preparation and cleanup time. Packagingbenefits for refrigerated heat-and-serve entres are growing to include convenient features such as stay-cool side handles for safe and easy removal from the microwave, and easyopen tabs for quick serving. With microwavable meals and convenience packaging growing in popularity, today’s dinner options are expanding to include brand name beef tips, chicken breasts, pork, pot roast and turkey. Gourmet versions with marinades, sauces and seasoningsalso are available. Due to new packaging concepts such as Sealed Air Corporation’s Cryovac Simple Steps”, entres can be cooked and served in the original packaging, without the need to puncture ventilation holes or remove film before cooking. This innovative technology enables the film to tent up in the microwaveand self-vent, allowing steam to escape and resulting in reduced risk of burns or messy spills as the tray is removed. New packaging makesit easy to prepare dinner entrees with heat-and-serve convenience. Expanding entre options have led consumers to turn to the microwave for dinner. In fact, according to a recent article in Packaged Foods, Americans rank the microwave as the number one convenience in their lives. Thanks to packaging innovations and a rapidly increasing array of tasty heat-and-serve offerings, consumers no longer have to spend hours at the stove to prepare meals. Entres that once took 20 to 30 minutes to heat, now can go from the microwaveto the table in eight minutesorless. Entres currently available in Simple Steps” packages include slow-cooked beef pot roast and gravy, pulled pork in barbeque sauce and oven roasted turkey with fruit glaze. These entres can be found in the heat-andserve or fresh meat sections of the grocery store. For more information, call 1-800-845-3456 or visit www.cryovac.com.
