Vacuum-Sealed Solution to an Overflowing Fridge


Product Reviewed
Waring Pro Pistol Vac Professional Vacuum Sealer System


If you were to take a look in our overflowing pantry, and fridge and freezer doors that barely shut, you would probably assume we are a healthy family of four, maybe even five. I hide behind the excuse that, because I am a food blogger and consultant, we need enough food in our house to feed a large family for weeks. In reality, there are only two of us. Since scaling back on the copious amounts of ingredients I purchase isn’t likely to occur anytime soon, I need to get creative with my food storage options.

Enter the Waring Pro Food Saver, a simple machine that helps prevent food waste and cut down on the endless freezer-burned bags of sauces, chutneys and vegetables. While I’ve never used a food saver before, I was surprised at the user-friendliness of this machine. Ready to go out of the box, simply place the food into the bag, line up the machine with the bag circle, press down and ta-da! A vacuum-sealed bag is ready to be labeled and stored for later use.

Besides the ease of use, my favorite part about this system is how little space the bags take up! As mentioned earlier, my freezer is an organizational nightmare with too many half-empty vegetable bags and Tupperware containers to adequately fit in the small space. After I transferred everything over to the food saver system, I doubled my freezer space! Fancy that, we actually have room for ice cube trays now.

There are so many uses for a food saver — a gadget I now recommend for every budget minded chef and bulk-shopper. Besides extending the life of our leftovers, I like to use it as an assist in bulk cooking. Sunday afternoons are my cooking days; I like to do as much meal prep during the weekend so my weekday evenings are free for family time and last-minute recipe testing. The food saver is great here. Last week I planned on having lentil tacos on Monday, fajitas on Tuesday, and vegetarian Bolognese on Wednesday. Since the food saver prolongs the freshness of produce (even sliced produce), I knew I could get away with prepping all of my vegetables on Sunday to use during the week. I was using lentils in both Monday’s and Wednesday’s meals so I halved the amount, used the food saver, and placed the lentils in the fridge for later use. I also sliced onions, peppers and mushrooms for stir-fry. With very little prep, all meals came together in less than 15 minutes. When we finished eating the meals throughout the week, any leftovers went back in the food saver bags and into the freezer.

Whether you are looking to purchase a food saver to cut down on your food waste or to help in preserving large amounts of food, I highly recommend it! The Waring Food Prep was easy to use and highly portable. I didn’t have to lug out yet another heavy appliance in order to get the job done. Using the food saver was just as easy (and more efficient) as throwing leftovers into Tupperware.

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Alexandra Caspero
Alexandra Caspero, MA, RD, CLT, is a registered dietitian and nutrition expert with a passion for health and wellness. Alex is a nationally recognized nutritionist and appears regularly on TV, print and social media. She was most recently featured in Runner's World, Men's Health, Fitness, Shape Magazine & Vogue. As the campus dietitian, director of wellness and adjunct instructor at University of the Pacific, Alex teaches what she preaches. Through innovative programs and services, Alex inspires students to become their healthiest selves. Her blog, DelishKnowledge, focuses on making whole-food eating deliciously simple. Alex also dishes out delicious tips to her thousands of social media followers.