One of the best ways to save money on your grocery budget is to stock up on meat, when it is on sale, and either can it (that’s for another post) or store in your freezer. Yes, I just said FREEZER. We are giving you permission to have fresh and frozen meals and food as part of your short-term food storage. A 90-day supply or short-term food storage is mostly for those life emergencies that interrupt your life today…while you still have electricity. If you don’t have electricity for extended periods of time, then your long-term supply will step in and help. We’re big believers that you should plan for the possible big earth-encompassing emergencies but that you should also plan for the emergencies that can happen today at 5 o’clock when dinner needs to be on the table. So for that reason, yes, we give you concrete permission to count fresh and frozen food as part of your 90-day supply.
Now, if you’re going to store food in your freezer, the best option is to vacuum seal it. While Debbie and I both love our Food Saver Vacuum Sealer and all of the things you can seal in it (chocolate chips being our favorite ;), what about if you don’t have one? Obviously, Ziploc Freezer Bags are a great option but what about all that air that gets stuck in there? It’s the air that will cause the freezer burn that makes food go bad… Ah HAH! That is where these handy tricks from America’s Test Kitchen (as shown on the Rachel Ray show…who doesn’t love her?!) including only a sink or large bowl of water, ziploc bag, and food comes in that we found…
Isn’t that a great tip? Of course, you can also use the easy tip of sucking the air out with a straw to remove the air. No matter how you slice it, there are ways to extend the life of the food in your freezer easily! We love it, now anyone can benefit from vacuum sealing food for your food storage!
