Save Time AND Money? Yes please!

Yesterday, Patricia asked me about how I use my Food Saver  (affiliate link) and I thought "hmm, I do rave about it a lot but I don't know if I've shown how it works and what we use it for!"  So thanks for a post idea!  I heard a lot of people say they either have one and don't use it or would never use it.  Well, I'm here to show you why it's a dang good investment and can save you hundreds o' bucks depending on your habits but more importantly how it can save you TIME!

Here's my black beauty. (affiliate link) 

Now if you get a starter kit, you might get some pre-cut bags but rolls are the way to go because you can customize the size to the amount of stuff you want to freeze.

Inside they have instructions telling you how to make a bag from the roll and how to seal it.

First, you pull the bottom of the roll to the foam, click the lid closed and push seal.

Voila...sealed bottom!

Then decide how big of a bag you'll need then slide the cutter across.  There is a basic model  (affiliate link) that doesn't have the cutter but believe me when I tell you to get the model with one.  Much easier.  Then you're set to roll!

I've got that $12 turkey I cooked up that needs to hang out in the freezer.

Fill the bag either halfway or by weight.  I do by weight so our portion size is already determined and future me doesn't have to bother.  Yay for pre-planning!  

To vacuum seal, line up the top of the bag with the catch drain thingy because if you have any moisture in something that isn't already frozen, then even if you push the "moist" setting, you can still get some moisture sucked out.  Then you pop it out and wash it off so it doesn't gunk up your machine.

Hit the Vac/Seal button and watch the fun begin!

Boom!  Sealed from the nasty air and this here bird...6 months if you wrap it and do the freezer bag thing but 2-3 YEARS in a Food Saver.  Before you scoff...yes, I've had year old turkey and it was as delicious as the day I made it!  (It's never made it to 2 years but I know a few people who wouldn't touch stuff in their freezer for 2-3 years so maybe I'll see if they'll let me throw a bag in there!)

Then I label mine with a Sharpie.

I label what it is, how much it weighs so I know our portions with one look so I can enter it when meal planning and what day it was frozen.

That $12 turkey got us 5 meals...that's $1.20 per person.  When was the last time you paid $1.20 for a serving of turkey at a restaurant?  Ask your grandma because that's about how far back you're going to have to go.

So what else do I use it for?  We're only two people but sometimes I want lasagna but I don't want it all week.  Food Save it!

Same when I batch cook.  I can make my homemade baked beans and then freeze them.  So how do I do that without squishing both of them all to hell?

For the lasagna, I separate the pieces onto a silicone mat  (affiliate link) lined cookie sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and freeze it overnight.  The next morning...Food Save them in bags of two so I can pull them out when I'm feeling lazy!

For the baked beans, I portion them into servings I know will fit into our calories, freeze them in the bowl overnight and the next morning run a little hot water to loosen it from the bowl and freeze them in the bags.  No squishing!

The Mr absolutely loves it because when we go back to his hometown once or twice a year, he gets a pizza from his favorite pizza place and even frosted cream sticks from his favorite pastry shop!   That's right...you can freeze cream filled donuts in it!!

Just apply the same principle by freezing them overnight and the next morning, vacuum those babies and the Mr will attest that the donuts taste as fresh as the day he got them!  The only thing is the icing might be a little crinkled looking but nothing a knife spread session won't fix.  We'll usually put a sheet of wax paper over the top to protect the frosting (doesn't look like he did with this batch) then if he decides he wants them on a high cal day, he'll pull out a 2 pack, cut the package open and pull them out to thaw and an hour later they're ready.

We also do it when we road trip.  There's a donut shop coming back from Toronto that has amazing chocolate donuts so we just freeze them and then stick them way in the back so we're not tempted when grabbing the quinoa.

If you've followed for any length of time, you know we basically Food Saved our trip to Virginia last year and because of it barely gained any weight.

We had everything from chili and cornbread to chocolate chip pancakes to banana bread to meatloaf to a full turkey dinner completely frozen and Food Saved  (affiliate link) (a verb you will use once you use it frequently).  Then we put it all in a cooler we brought with us!  It helped tremendously so we knew what we were eating and still not feeling like we were missing out since the town we were staying in had limited dining options.  So I can't rave about this thing enough.  My first one lasted 10 years...TEN.

I just replaced it right before our trip to Vermont for Christmas.  We used it to have every single thing we enjoy every year...

From Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner to frozen cookie dough for Snickerdoodles after sledding and cut outs for Santa!  Yes, that means you can FREEZE your cookie dough in October and not have to pull your hair out in December whipping up 3-10 different batches of dough in one exhausting weekend!

Finally, it is also used to make sure my grandma and her husband get healthy meals on occasion and not just fast food.  A few meals are prepared, frozen and kept in the freezer.  Just a reminder to pull it into the fridge the night before and they're able to microwave it and enjoy a home cooked meal without having to cook it themselves.  So this can be a real God send for people who are caregivers that want to make sure there are always good, healthy meals available for the people they love!

I hope that helps those of you who already have one and may not use it much or for those who have been on the fence about buying one.  It's perfect if you bulk shop at Costco or Sam's Club.  You can marinate steaks, then freeze them and having them ready to go.  You can pre-cook meals and freeze them to pull out the day before and have them ready to go for lunch and no rushing around in the morning.  If you're saying "I have no room to store it" well, I live in a shoebox so I really have nowhere to store it.  But it fits nicely on top of the fridge in a bin so it's always readily available.  You store that thing anywhere other than the kitchen then no, it won't likely get used because you won't want to schlep down to the basement to get it.  If I haven't convinced you yet, I likely won't.  It's okay, time and money aren't incentives for everyone!  ;-)

Do you have a Food Saver  (affiliate link) and if so, do you use it or does it collect dust?

(This post contains affiliate links.  Should you choose to buy through them, I may receive a small commission.  Thanks for helping keep the blog lights on!)

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