FoodSaver

I did not receive free product or compensation for this review. All opinions are my own.



I love my FoodSaver V2244 Vacuum Sealing System (affiliate link) vacuum sealer. This is another one of those kitchen gadgets that you totally can live without, but I wouldn't like to. After having this for over two years now, I will never go back to not having a way to vacuum seal my food! I fully believe that this is a purchase which will pay you back in food savings over time.

Let me tell you some of the different things we use our vacuum sealer for:

• We buy the big bags of cheese at our box stores (Sam's, Costco, etc.) and can reseal the bag to keep the cheese fresh. This saves me so much time and effort over repackaging the cheese in freezer ziploc bags and freezing it! It also saves me money because the larger bags are cheaper per unit price than smaller bags of cheese.

• We use the FoodSaver to reseal our bags of almond, coconut, and tapioca flour. We also reseal our chia seed bag.

• Did you know vacuum sealing spinach makes it last longer? This is a little tricky, as you must switch from "vacuum" to "seal" a little early so you don't crush the spinach leaves, but it lengthens spinach keeping time by 2+ days. This enables us to buy the bigger (read: cheaper-by-the-ounce) bags of spinach. (This is another product you can reseal in its original container if you buy the plastic bags of spinach.)

• We save money by buying meat in bulk and freezing it for later use. Chicken, pork, and steak all last longer in the freezer when they are vacuum-sealed. This is where the FoodSaver 11" Roll (affiliate link) comes into play.

• My husband bought a sous vide at Christmas last year ( I was initially upset but now I love it), which is an amazing gadget that makes it virtually impossible to serve under- or over-cooked food. The food must be vacuum-packed to cook in the sous vide, so our FoodSaver gets put to good use and is a great kitchen companion to our Anova Bluetooth Sous Vide (affiliate link). 

Do you have a vacuum sealer? What kinds of things do you use it for?

Garlic Shrimp, North Shore Style

It's always a good morning when your husband doesn't have to go into work until after noon. Even though Bug was fussy, it was great to have B home with us.

When you look at the clock and realize your husband has to leave for work in half an hour and you haven't fed him lunch, a tiny bit of panic sets in. He was in one of his "surprise me" moods, so I was at a loss for what to make, so of course I took to Pinterest for "pinspiration."

Here in Hawaii, one of my favorite foods is Garlic Shrimp. Buttery, garlicky, uber-messy shell-on shrimp that are simply divine. This recipe from The Recipe Critic promised to be a quick-cooking lunch that approximated Giovanni's (a famous Oahu North Shore food truck) garlic shrimp.

Frugallagurf modifications: I did not have any fresh garlic, so I used garlic powder. Typical conversion is 1/8 tsp of garlic powder for every fresh clove. I also did not have paprika, so I simply omitted that from this iteration. 

The verdict? Success. Not quite as excessively buttery or garlicky as shrimp on the North Shore, but it was a very good lunch. B even said it was good, and he is not the biggest fan of shrimp. The entire recipe from start (defrosting my shrimp) to finish took about 15 minutes, so I'll definitely be pulling this one out of my toolbox in the future for a fast meal. I don't have any photos because we ate so fast -- maybe next time!

The Recipe Critic recommends serving this over rice for an authentic feel, but since B and I eat low carb, I served the shrimp with some fresh pineapple and these coconut flour garlic cheese biscuits I made yesterday. Yummmm.

What are you making today?

Kroger Sales Starting 7/27/16

Yellow or zucchini squash $0.98/lb
Grapes $1.28/lb
Sweet corn 6 for $2
Gatorades $0.89/lb (this is my price point for Gatorade)

Kroger Suncare products are on sale and can be paired with a coupon on their app for $1 off a Kroger Suncare item.

What I'd buy at Kroger this week

Trying a new format out for this post! Let me know what you think.

Bakery
□ Kroger Buns -- 10 for $10

Beverages
□ Coca-Cola, Pepsi or Canada Dry  -- 4 for $11 (this is my price point for name brand soda)
□ Gatorade or G2 32 fl oz or Propel, 24 fl oz -- $0.69 each when you buy 10

□ Big K 2 Liter -- $0.69 each + ibotta

Meat & Seafood
□ Hormel Pork Tenderloin or Loin Filet -- BOGO free *
□ Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs -- 10 for $10
□ Perdue Split Chicken Breasts or Drumsticks, Thighs or Whole Fryer -- $0.99/lb **
□ Snow Crab Clusters -- $5.99/lb ***

Produce
□ Blackberries or Raspberries -- 2 for $5
□ Blueberries -- $2.99 each
□ Cucumbers or Green Bell Peppers -- 2 for $0.98
□ Kroger Vegetables 10-12 oz -- 10 for $10
□ Mangos -- $0.69 each
□ Organic Strawberries or Raspberries -- $2.99 each
□ Southern Yellow Peaches -- $0.99/lb
□ Strawberries -- 3 for $5 ****
□ Sweet Corn -- 3 for $0.99
□ Whole Seedless Watermelons -- $2.99 each
□ Yellow or Zucchini Squash $0.98/lb

* Only buy the pork deal if it gets you the loins for $1.89/lb or under. 

** If you have the time to do a little bit of work, buy these chicken breasts in bulk. Debone and de-skin them and freeze. This is the ideal price for chicken breasts. (Note: I would not pay this price for thighs.)

*** I prefer to pay $4.99/lb, but this is a decent price as well

**** this is a STEAL for strawberries

IBOTTA matchups:

-- $0.25 back on any brand of cola 2-liter. This gets you soda for $0.44 cents for a 2L. 

Kroger Ibotta deals for generic items:

-- $0.25 back for any brand of: bananas, diapers, baby food, frozen pizza, ice cream, orange juice, ginger beer, chips, granola bars, jelly, shredded cheese, laundry detergent

Other Ways I Earn: Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is another app to which you upload receipts and get rewards. This is my slowest-earning app because the reward for each receipt (payed out in "coins") is small. However, this app also accepts almost all kinds of receipts, and it does not matter what you purchased (as opposed to Find&Save and Ibotta). For this reason, I continue to use Receipt Hog.

I have earned $30 in Amazon credit from the app (you can also earn PayPal dollars) and am about to earn a second $30. I wait until I earn $30 worth because it is a better "deal". You can cash out faster if you need the money, but it takes more coins to equal a dollar if you cash out at $10 or $20 than it does if you cash out at $30 (the maximum).

Something that helps me earn faster is uploading receipts from other people. My mother-in-law saves her receipts for me, which earns me rewards much faster.

This post contains referral links.

What I'd buy at Publix this week

I'm trying a new format for this post. Let me know your opinion!

What I'd buy at Kroger this week

I was not impressed with really any meat specials this week, but summer always wins in the produce department! Ibotta (referral link) match-ups are good this week, also.

Cucumbers 2 for $0.98
Green bell peppers 2 for $0.98*
Vidalia sweet onions $0.98/lb*
Mangos $0.69 each
Zucchini or yellow squash $0.98/lb* (ideas to use zucchini here)
Broccoli crowns $1.58/lb**
Blueberries 2 for $3.00
Cantaloupes $1.99 each
Personal size watermelons $1.99 each
Sweet corn 3 for $0.99*

*Ibotta (referral link) rebates match-up:
Green bell peppers $0.25
Onions $0.25
Corn $0.25
Zucchini $0.25