A food storage and preparation bag comprising at least one sheet of flexible sheet material assembled to form a semi-enclosed container having an opening defined by a periphery and a closure means for sealing said opening to convert said semi-enclosed container to a closed container, said opening defining an opening plane, wherein said sheet material includes a first region and a second region being comprised of the same material composition, said first region undergoing a substantially molecular-level deformation and said second region initially undergoing a substantially geometric deformation when said sheet material is subjected to an applied elongation along at least one axis, wherein said first region and said second region are visually distinct from one another, wherein said second region includes a plurality of raised rib-like elements and said first region is substantially free of said rib-like elements.