Buy Large, Cook Small

By Lori Powell

So I thought I would chat about buying things that can be turned into just one or two bites – not in terms of a snack, but items that you can purchase in larger quantities (cheaper) and store for cooking later.

I am always looking for a deal, but I won’t lower my standards of quality, because, as you know, you are what you eat!

Consider just for a moment purchasing one of those vacuum seal machines for food. I love them so much that I now own two.

The price has really come down on them and they have been updated in so many ways, such as storage (now stand on their side so that they take up very little space), come in stainless and with different settings so that you can seal steak/chicken, or at a lower vacuum seal, even hamburger buns or muffins without crushing them. Also we all know how hard it is to purchase small amounts of certain items at your grocery store and usually you have to pay a higher price for them.

The aha! moment is that you are now free to buy larger quantities at that discounted price and to store your perishables for a longer period of time. Of course it does take a little bit of extra time to divide up your purchases and seal.

So I say go for the good stuff at a great price and vacuum seal away!

Also let’s not forget cheese as well. I freeze the end bits of Parmesan and other hard cheeses to use in combination for mac and cheese, a pasta sauce or fondue, or I use the Parm rind to flavor my tomato sauce.

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