Friday, September 22, 2006

The Single Cook's Lifesaver


Have you seen the infomercial for these Food Savers? I wondered for a long time how well they worked, and I finally bit when my sister told me she loved hers.

I'm cooking for 1 now, most of the time. Just myself. It is expensive, time-consuming, challenging, and nearly impossible, I find, to cook up just 1 portion of some things. Stir fry: By the time you throw a cup of everything into the wok, you've got a lot of cups of stuff for one person to eat. Spaghetti sauce: I'm going to simmer overnight for one serving?!

Nope. And I'm not going to throw away my good cooking with fresh ingredients, either. My leftover chicken soup kick's Campbell's ass any day.

And I'm with my sister, this is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. Here's a sampling of what's in my freezer:


That's chicken soup, a chicken breast, lentil soup, and Indian cilantro chicken curry. I've also saved breads, grilled meat, and herbs (basil and dill), and salsa.

The soups and curry's can be thawed out, heated in the microwave, or thrown into boiling water. I froze them in bowls first, then popped them out and Food-saved them.

No freezer burn with this thing; food lasts longer and tastes better. I know. I'm doing my own commercial! But I love this thing!

Tip #1: The mini runs about $99, BUT it's almost always on sale at Kohl's for half-price.

Tip #2: The generic wrap, at Walmart or Meijer's, costs a fraction of what the brand name stuff does, and it works just as well. $6 will get you a couple rolls of the stuff, and I've yet to go through a package of it.

If any of you great cooks find yourself throwing out your hard work, I highly recommend this gadget!