Baton Rouge mom’s Easy-Greasy available now

Baton Rouge working mother Michelle Jones Schroeder was browning ground beef to make tacos for her family one evening when it occurred to her that getting rid of the hot grease was a real pain. Her husband, Tim, constantly pointed out the damage grease caused to their kitchen plumbing, but waiting for it to cool to toss it in the garbage was an extra, messy step. The wheels began to turn, and Schroeder started sketching ideas. Two years later, she has just released a kitchen product called Easy Greasy, a heat resistant colander with a built-in container that’s designed for draining ground beef. It’s also good for capturing the liquid from cooked spinach. Schroeder had the product, which retails for $20, fabricated at Noble Plastics in Opelousas. Easy-Greasy was recently approved to be product-tested on QVC. Fans can vote for it at the end of July and in August. It’s being distributed around the U.S. and in Louisiana, and is available through Schroeder’s website easy-greasy.com.—Maggie Heyn Richardson