Can you feel the freshness? Today’s post is all about freshness, I’m sharing with you a cool new product, the OXO GreenSaver Produce Keeper, a salad recipe, and a recap of the Hood River Farm Tour with OXO and Travel Oregon I got to experience a few weeks ago when I attended the #IndulgeConPDX (a food blogging conference that I went to in Portland).

First I’ll tell you all about the Hood River Farm Tour-it was a true highlight of the conference and my time in Portland. It took place on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and was the last event we drove from Portland up along the beautiful Columbia River Gorge and then into the Cascade Mountain Range where we drove through the Hood River Country Fruit Loop – a gorgeous 35 mile drive which takes you through beautiful Hood River Valley past hundreds of acres of orchards, vineyards, forests and farms.

The tour left from the ultra gorgeous hotel we were staying at for the conference, Hotel Monaco

We drove from Portland along the Columbia River (photo on the left) where our first stop at the highest waterfall in the state of Oregon, Multnomah Falls (photo on the right).

I stood in awe at the waterfall, it just went up and up and up. One could hear the sound of the water hitting at the bottom even from the parking lot! I was looking around ‘ooohing’ and ‘aaaahhhing’ over everything, that I’m pretty certain my best friend Lynn and I were the last ones to make to be wrangled onto to the bus before it left for our next stop!

Next we drove through downtown Hood River and then drove along the Hood River County Fruit Loop (a gorgeous 35-mile drive which takes you through the verdant Hood River Valley and past acres of orchards, vineyards, forests and farms) and then we stopped at the Draper Girls’ Country Farm.

The farm had stunning views, delicious fruit, and the most adorable goats!

Then we drove on to The Gorge White House, a working farm situated in a beautiful 1908 Dutch Colonial home in the heart of the Hood River Valley, we toured their farm and got to see blueberries ripening on the vine (my beautiful bestie Lynn modeling them).

Our last stop was at Sakura Ridge, we got to see their orchards (pear tree in the picture below) and the breathtaking views from their lodge. It was so prestine and peaceful. If I’m ever in the area again, I will need to stay at least a few days at the gorgeous lodge!

Then we headed back to Portland. Throughout the tour we had someone from Travel Oregon with us who was telling us all about the gorgeous state. Besides having so much amazing information for planning a trip to Oregon, TravelOregon.com does something truly cool. If you hashtag your travel photos with #traveloregon they go through and select some people to send patches to. Yes, patches like that one used to sew onto a backpack or pair of jeans (if one was really cool) back in the day. Throughout the trip I was tagging them in photos (using the #sweetphijourneys hashtag on Instagram like so), and then the evening we got back from the farm tour, I got a message from them that I had been chosen to get the patches! I was beyond excited and still am thinking of a cool thing to do with them…any ideas? Here is a pic of the patches I got:

The farm tour was hosted by both Travel Oregon and OXO-whose latest product release, the GreenSaver Produce Keeper is truly cool (and useful for someone like me who maybe overbuys produce – see a picture of the products in use in my fridge).

The Produce Keeper does exactly what its name suggests-it keeps produce (aka, keeps it longer from turning funky), here’s how/why it works:

• Fruits and vegetables give off ethylene gas. Exposing produce to ethylene gas speeds up the ripening process, causing it to overripen and go bad.
• When produce rests against the walls of containers, bags or crispers, moisture can build up and cause rotting.
• Fruits and vegetables require the perfect balance of humidity to keep them crisp and prevent wilting. To make things more difficult, different kinds of produce require different humidity levels to stay crisp.
• The Product Keeper uses activated carbon filters that trap and absorb ethylene gas, slowing down the aging process and keeping produce fresh longer. The filters are made from coconut husks, making them safe, all-natural and non-toxic.
• The elevated basket lifts produce up and away from the container walls to promote airflow and help prevent rotting. It can also be removed and used as a colander (I’ve totally used this feature and it works great for salad!
• The adjustable vent on top of each Produce Keeper slides open and closed to maintain optimum humidity levels for different types of produce, keeping them crisp and fresh.
• As if that wasn’t enough, there also a Produce Keeper Crisper Insert -the Crisper Insert uses the same activated carbon filters used in the Produce Keepers to extend the life of produce being kept in your crisper
• The Crisper Insert sticks to the wall of your crisper drawer and utilizes an open-vent technology for maximum ethylene absorption.

See that cucumber in there? That’s been in there for like a week! This thing really does work. So of course I had to use the produce that was stored in the Produce Keeper to make a delicious salad. It’s a super easy salad to make, and one my husband and I love. It’s a simple salad yogurt-cucumber-dill salad dressing (very similar to a tzatziki sauce) and then spring greens with cucumber slices and some chicken.

Yield: 2 salads

OXO GreenSaver Produce Keeper, a Salad Recipe, and Hood River Farm Tour Recap

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Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups spring mix lettuce
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked before hand and sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• For the dressing:
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 Tbs milk (or buttermilk)
• 1/4 cucumber, shredded, water drained)
• 1/2 tsp dill
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

To make the dressing start by shredding the cucumber (you can remove the skin or keep it on). When you're done shredding it into a bowl press the cucumber shreds down with a paper towel and drain the water. In the bowl mix the yogurt, milk, dill, garlic clove and salt and stir well to combine (if it's too thick for your liking add a little more milk until desired consistency is reached).

To assemble the salad place the salad in a bowl and pour dressing over it and then toss it, then add on sliced cucumbers and sliced chicken breasts. Divide into 2 bowls, serve and enjoy!