Save Food Cut Waste: Getting the most out of your food and vacuum sealer bags

A lot of perishable food items that you purchase at the store have been vacuum sealed in their store packaging to lengthen their shelf life. And we all know that once we open up that packaged food – to use only a small amount – it is inevitable that what is left of it, is going to spoil quickly. 

A great benefit to having a vacuum sealer handy around the house is to repackage those food items after you've opened them to lengthen their shelf life as if they were never even opened. 

We're using a block of cheese in our example. We purchased a big block of cheese, and opened it up to cut up some cubes for a snack, leaving more than half the block unused. 

If you were to throw this block of cheese into a baggie and put it back in your refrigerator, you're looking at 1-2 weeks at best before the cheese starts to go bad. 

Instead, pull out your vacuum sealer and vacuum seal it before putting it back into your refrigerator. Taking the oxygen out of the bag and keeping it out will extend the life of your cheese for about 4-8 months. 

Surely 8 months is enough time to eat the rest of that cheese! 

TIP: Also get the most out of your vacuum sealer bags: Place the food item in a food vacuum bag that has plenty of unused space at the top of the bag.

Then, the next time you are ready to only use a small amount of the food, cut open the bag close to the original seal and remove the food from the bag.

After you have used what you need, place the food back into the same bag and you will have plenty of room to reseal the bag. There is no need to use another bag. Avid Armor vacuum sealer bags are reusable as long as the sealing area is clean and dry.

Like we said, we just used cheese as an example. There are lots and lots of different food items that can be repackaged to lengthen their lifespan. Have you ever opened a bag of frozen vegetables but only used half of them? Prevent the rest of them from getting bad freezer burn by throwing them in a vacuum sealer bag (while still frozen) and then reseal them. There are so many different ways of repackaging and reusing your vacuum sealer bags to help prevent waste in your home.

Do you have any tips that you use in your home? We'd love to hear about them!