How I'm Using my food saver

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    I have a new toy in my kitchen!  Many of you may have already had one for years, but I recently purchased a Food Saver after waffling about getting one for a long time!  I have been having so much fun with this thing! 
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   There are a couple of things that pushed me over the top of the waffle (?) into getting one.  

1. Anita got a freeze dryer.  Now I want one.  But, in the meantime, she has done some freeze drying for me.  I have also been dehydrating more things.  Using the Food Saver, I have been able to store these things away from any moisture compromising them until I need them.  Most of my freeze dried or dehydrated things go into jars.  Even jars from pickles or spaghetti sauce work if you don't want to use up your good canning jars.  You can also seal them in bags, but I usually save the bags for the things I freeze. 

      2.  That brings me to the second thing I have been using my new Food Saver for.  I've been freezing                 my excess garden produce.  I've frozen blanched carrots and blanched potato slices.  It was                           really easy and the vacuum sealed foods will last much longer at a better quality than those not
             vacuum sealed.  If your produce is super juicy, I've learned from my DIL to freeze the produce                     first and then put it into the bags and seal it.  I just did about 15 pounds of potato slices and that               method worked out great!  (This was my second method of preserving the 50 lbs. of potatoes I 
             was able to get.)

      3.  I have been freeze drying shelf stable meals! These are great for gifts and for quick meals to have
            on hand on your own shelf!  I am going to teach a class about this to our women's group soon, so 
            I will putting together a recipe collection that I will be sure to share with you here on the blog. 
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     My desire to do all of those things are what made me finally become a Food Saver owner.  The funny thing is that I was checking them out online when Anita messaged me and showed me this one that Costco was selling a really  great price.  That sale is over and I think that Amazon has it for a little cheaper now.  Also, it is compatible with the jar sealing attachment.  You have to watch for that because not all of the Food Savers work with the jar sealers that must be ordered separately. 

      I have many more projects using my Food Saver that I want to try now.  Anita tells me that I should seal my raisins and Craisins and things like that to keep them moist.  Frozen meals, sealed with the Food Saver are a great idea.  I can form my own burger patties and seal them until the next barbeque.  The list goes on and on. 
       So, all of you veteran Food Saver owners out there, tell me what you love to seal in yours and give me other ideas about how to use it and add to my food storage in the comments.  I can't wait to try new things!