Vacuum Seal Those Meal-in-a-Jars + a GIVEAWAY

One of the common methods of storing food is to put raw ingredients together into actual meals and re-package them into jason jars or bags. This enables you to make sure you have all the ingredients for your favorite meals, and makes dinner-time really quick because you just add water and cook the meal. Today we are going to cover how you can get recipes to make your meals, and how to best preserve them for longer term storage. We also have an AWESOME giveaway going on so make sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for details!

How to find recipes

There are a lot of recipe books and websites out there that can help you come up with meal ideas. You can also create your own jar recipes. We’ve shared a few that we have created ourselves that you can check out below.

How to preserve your meals

Jodi has been a big fan of her FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealing System for over five years now. She is constantly using it to keep her foods fresh for longer which is obviously awesome for food storage. The jar sealer attachment has been critical for making her meal-in-a-jars increase their shelf life. Depending on which model you have there will either be a built in hose that you attach the jar sealer too, or you can get a hose that attaches to an accessory port. Either way works fine!

The method we have found that works best is to place two jar lids on top of the jar (they don’t need to be new but they shouldn’t be warped or visibly damaged). Place the jar sealer attachment over the top and press “seal”. You will hear a release when it is finished. Pull the attachment off, and pull off the top jar lid. The bottom lid should be securely attached to the jar and all of the oxygen has now been removed! I like to then place a canning ring over top and store it in my pantry. Storing in a cool dark location is ideal.

I LOVE having a bunch of these awesome meals on hand for quick dinners or for a powerless emergency where I just have to boil water on a butane stove and have an easy meal ready to go.

Updated to add: I recently did a showing review of a few different jar lid sealers. Check it out if you’d like to learn more!

PRODUCT REVIEW

We were recently contacted by the awesome people at FoodSaver® about reviewing the FoodSaver® FM2000 Vacuum Sealer and doing a giveaway to one of our lucky readers. Since Julie didn’t have a Foodsaver yet she gladly accepted the challenge to try out this model. Here is a comparison of how our two models stack up.

FoodSaver® FM2000 Vacuum Sealer
$79.99 + free shipping

FoodSaver® The New FM2000 Vacuum Sealer by Foodsaver

Julie’s Review: This is a perfect little unit for doing meal-in-a-jars. It also has the capability to seal bags so if you want to package large meals it will work just fine. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles like the ability to seal gently or seal moist items, but it can do the basics. It is small and fits easily in your kitchen cupboards. The $79.99 price with free shipping is really quite good for all that it can do and it also includes a few bags and the accessory hose. I’ve enjoyed sealing up my cheese blocks, meats for freezer-storage, and of course doing tons of meal-in-jars!
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

FoodSaver® V3880 Vacuum Sealer
Master Chef Kit $139.99 (40% off)

Jodi’s Review: I love love love my FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealing System. It sits on my kitchen counter and is used almost every day. This unit is quite large so you’d need space in your kitchen for it. It is heavy duty and high quality. I can vacuum seal hamburger buns using the gentle cycle, and meat using the moist cycle and have no problems at all. I love having the built in accessory hose so that I can easily attach my jar sealer or marinading container. I also love that I can store my bags right in the unit so they are at hand whenever I need them. The Master Chef Kit comes with a ton of accessories and bags and is a steal at $139.99
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

FREE GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER PAMELA SCOTTON

We are so excited to be able to offer one of the FoodSaver® FM2000 Vacuum Sealers to one of our readers. To enter the giveaway it’s VERY SIMPLE!

1. Follow us on Facebook and/or Pinterest
2. Leave a comment on THIS BLOG POST letting us know that you are a follower (either new or that you already follow us)
3. Cross your fingers that you are a big WINNER!

Winner will be announced the evening of Friday, November 7th and contacted via the email left on the post comment.