I mentioned last week that I’m having an online Tupperware party to benefit Catholic mom Jen Minson, and I alluded to my all-time favorite Tupperware product, what we call “straw cups.” In this week’s Quick Takes, I thought I’d share my favorite Tupperware products. Whether you’re able to order before my party closes next Friday or if it will be a while, these are the Tupperware gems I’ve discovered (mostly since having children).

Straw Cups (Impressions Tumblers with Drip-Less Lids)

These aren’t cheap, I know. And somehow, they tend to evaporate (perhaps because I’m in the habit of using them SO MUCH) and disappear around our house. I don’t hold that against them. They’re the right size (12 oz.) and the lids really are drip-less, which helps keep the mess level lower. My two-year-old especially seemed to outgrow sippy cups way sooner than I was ready to let her run around with a non-lidded cups, and these straw cups were the perfect solution. We’ve taken them on trips, too, and they travel well. They’re high on my “gifts for new moms” list too: they are one of the handy-dandy things I never would have thought of if I didn’t have a friend with a bunch of kids who totally sold me on them by showing me them in use every time we were there.

Canister Set

I never really wanted canisters until I saw how my sister-in-law used these. For one thing, I lack counter space. For another, I didn’t see the point: my stuff was fine in the containers I had and there was no need to coordinate.

And then we had an incident that inspired me to reorganize and seal-proof everything in my kitchen. It was around this time that I found myself at my sister-in-law’s for a few weeks, and I saw how she kept these canisters in her cupboard. They’re air-tight, and they have a little peekaboo window that lets you know, at a glance, when it’s time to get worried about the sugar or flour or corn meal or pasta or whatever. They would look fine on a counter, but I keep mine tucked away just like she did. And I love them.

Ice Cream Scoop

This was one of the first products I purchased, perhaps before I was even married. We use it at least once a day and I still love it. My only gripe is that it’s gotten pitted over the years…I didn’t realize that you’re supposed to rinse/wash and wipe it right away, not let it air dry or sit in water. There is no ice cream, no matter how rock hard, that this scoop can’t dig through, even with my wimpy lack of strength.

Grape Containers (Fridge Smart Series)

I think that, when I first contacted Jen a few years ago when I found her through another website, I was looking for a good container to keep grapes in my fridge. I use my big Fridge Smart container primarily for grapes, but the little air holes on the side can adjust and then you can use them for husked corn-on-the-cob, apples, tomatoes, and pretty much anything else that’s a fruit or vegetable. There are ridges on the bottom that help keep the fruits/veggies from sitting in liquid, and I’ve been really happy with mine. I’d call this a great newlywed gift as well.

The Best Ever “Nuke It” Bowl (Soup Mug)

A friend, years ago, didn’t know what to get me for Christmas, so she gave me one of these. It spent years going back and forth in my lunch bags when I was working in offices, and now I use it for my kids. The handle on the side makes it great for little ones. The lid with the pop-top makes it great for reheating (you keep the lid on, pop that little doo-hickey, and no boiling over!). The size makes it great for lunches or snacks or any number of other things. I don’t know what inspired that friend to think of this, and I don’t know if I’ve ever told her that I am thankful for her every single time I use it (which is multiple times a week).

Snack Cups

My addiction to snack cups started after I placed that order for my grape container. Jen, ever a thoughtful Tupperware consultant, sent me some snack cups as a free gift. I had a toddler at the time, and all of a sudden, I had the PERFECT container for, well, ALMOST EVERYTHING! Like the straw cups, we use these little bad boys so much that I replace them (or place orders to score free ones) on what feels like a too-regular basis. Unlike the similarly sized containers sold in the grocery stores, these are heavy duty and stand up to tough wear and tear (the sort you get when you have Jack Russells in and about). They also come clean, which might seem like a silly thing to note, but I’ve used these to stash the last of the spaghetti sauce (the amount that’s only enough for the toddler’s lunch the next day) or a bit of salad dressing or some dip for fruit…and I’m able to get the vestiges of all those things OUT, even though I have no fancy-schmancy dishwasher.

The “Proof’s in the Cupboard” Organizing Stuff (Modular Mates)

It’s my sister-in-law’s fault, again, that I have a purchasing plan for getting enough of these Modular Mates for my kitchen/pantry cupboards. She lived in New Orleans for seven years, and she learned, the hard way, that keeping any dry goods in anything non-airtight was a recipe for throwing it away and buying new. Oh, and then there are the bugs. (She never mentioned bugs. I just sort of…guessed.) We don’t have the same problems in Ohio, at least not in the same quantity, but she also did something else that appealed to the Organized Psycho who is a large part of who I am: she used a label maker and marked each container. They sit and stack so WELL in the cupboards that you could just open her cupboard and find what you wanted!

They are also CLEAR. You can tell the state of the items inside with a glance (and if you don’t have a sister-in-law with a label maker that you can borrow, you can probably skip that step). So these are one of the things I’m purchasing this time around.

Sippy Cup Set

You know what I love MOST about these sippy cups? (I don’t have them yet, by the way. But I’m going to need new sippy cups for this baby, and I have my heart set on these.) I love that the lids fit on other Tupperware cups. Last year, when my five-year-old was starting to want to drink without a lid (even if it was a straw cup lid), I realized I needed plastic cups. My husband and I prefer to drink out of glasses — real glass — but with little kids, that’s just not always advisable. We did not, however, have any plastic cups, and there was some sort of sale or special and I ordered some from Tupperware. I realized, again at that Tupperware-loving sister-in-law’s house, that the sippy cup lids fit on a lot of the other plastic cups. I LOVE THAT! Consider me sold!

With that, I point you to Jen at Conversion Diary, where you’ll find plenty of other Quick Takes. And if you want to get in on my Tupperware party (free products I get will make great giveaways here and/or at CatholicMom.com in the coming months), place your order by Friday, September 24.