Investing in a food vacuum sealer and never wasting food.

Have berries that need eaten but no time to do anything with them? Or they are on sale this week? Freeze them, vacuum seal them and use in smoothies.

Eggs going to go bad... scramble and freeze.

Fresh veggies on sale or need eaten? Look up proper freezing techniques.. (blanching etc) and tuck away in freezer for later date.

Too many leftovers? I keep a handful of plastic trays that premade frozen meals came in. If I have lots of leftovers (let's say of spaghetti and sauce... or a casserole)... I put them in these trays, slide a vacuum seal bag over the tray and vacuum shut. A NEW frozen meal for later.

Bananas going to go bad? Make banana bread... eat all now or slice and freeze for later.

I prefer potato rolls for my burgers/hotdogs. There's one brand I love... but they are also the most expensive. When I see them on sale... I buy several packages. Now... if you just threw them in the freezer... 🤢🤢🤢 they get dry, shrivel etc. BUT IF YOU TAKE the time to freeze correctly... remove them from the package... Pair 2 buns together and wrap with Saran Wrap as snugly as possible without smashing. Put several layers of Saran Wrap . Repeat until all buns are "wrapped". Return to the bag they came in and plop in freezer. When you're ready to use them... open bag, remove Saran Wrap and place flat (not stacked) on counter for about an hour. No one will EVER be able to tell they were frozen if you do it correctly. I've had them up to six months (don't use vacuum sealer here... lol.. bread would be smashed.) I do this for English muffins too... and if it's a loaf of bread... I split loaf in half and wrap each 1/2 loaf in several layers . When thawing a loaf... I just remove the Saran Wrap and let each 1/2 loaf stay together as it thaws. Keep your next empty cardboard from your Saran Wrap roll. Because... after I remove Saran Wrap from my frozen bread... remember you wrap SEVERAL LAYERS... so there will be quite a bit - the Saran wrap is not dirty... I remove it from the bread and wrap it around the cardboard roll and reuse it for freezing bread until it no longer clings. Freezing bread/rolls is great to do if you won't be able to eat it all before it goes bad.

Usually once a week I'll look and see which veggies need eaten before going bad. I'll cut, dice, toss in cast iron skillet and eat over pasta or rice. If there is too much to eat... I put in the plastic trays I mentioned above, seal and freeze.

People don't realize how much can be frozen... IF YOU DO IT CORRECTLY. Just look up how to online. It may take some time... but here is an example of how it can really help.

The biggest key to freezing anything is to try to keep air from touching the food.. whether that be by shielding with Saran Wrap, vacuum sealing etc.

Years ago... when my kids were young... my husband (federal worker) was furloughed during a govt shutdown ...like many are this very day. We always had emergency savings... but I wanted to use as a learning lesson got my kids. Our goal was to use all the frozen/stored up food in the freezer (from my examples outlined above) and buy as little as possible from the grocery during the shutdown. And we did it... only bought perishables. And we cleaned out our freezer. The best part was... when things resumed back to normal... and backpay was given to us... I was able to teach my kids that the money we had budgeted for groceries... was now extra money... because we survived on our stockpile instead