I have a real aversion to waste and throwing away food for many reasons. I try as much as possible not to be part of the statistics that claim that on average, Americans waste about 209 to 253 pounds of food per person every year. I try to teach my kids, even now, that food should not be wasted! Unfortunately, during the holidays, food waste can be even higher.
How to avoid food waste
Check your refrigerator and pantry before heading to the grocery store and make a note on perishable items to prevent buying items that are already in your fridge and have a short shelf life.
Don’t overstock on perishables
One of the easiest ways to waste food is to overstock on fruits, vegetables, and other similar items that do not stay fresh for a long time.
Clean up your fridge before grocery shopping
By cleaning the fridge beforehand, you can assess better what you will need and have a clean fridge to place the groceries in as soon as you get home.
Check the expiration dates
Make sure to take into consideration the expiration dates and the sold by dates on all the items you are buying.
Tip: Grocery stores usually place the new items they are restocking at the back of the tray leaving the oldest products at the front.
Look for Bogos and promotions
Bogos (Buy One, Get One Free) and special sales are a great way to save money. Look around at the different in-store promotions when making your list…It is a good idea to stock up on items that have a long shelf life and that are frequently consumed at home.
If there is something on your list that is not on sale, but you can definitely wait to get it, then wait. Chances are the product will be on sale next week. If it doesn’t, just get the minimum you need until it goes on sale.
Do a pantry check up
Check all the items in your pantry at least once a month and if you find items that were bought on impulse but didn’t really work for you, donate the food and clear up the prime space on your pantry!
Buy in bulk
I know I just said not to, but that applies more to fruits and vegetables. Meats and food that can be frozen are ok to buy in bulk as long as you follow a few simple steps:
Know what is in the freezer
Rotate your foods and make sure to place the new food at the bottom to prevent freeze bite and prevent clutter in your freezer.
Vacuum seal all your meat and fish
A vacuum sealer like the Avalon Bay FoodSealer300S Vacuum Sealer is a great ally in your kitchen.
This easy to use, user-friendly food vacuum sealer will allow you to preserve a wide selection of food items to prolong their shelf life!
A must for moist and delicate foods, you can use the different settings like the pulse option to control when to release the vacuum pressure, you can also set the machine for low or high speed along with dry and moist for a more custom experience.
Why do I like this food vacuum sealer?
If I were to tell you that packing meats is a favorite part of my day, I’d be lying through my teeth! I want to go through this process just as quickly and easily as possible.
The Avalon Bay FoodSealer300S Vacuum Sealer comes with a convenient bag roll dispenser, along with an integrated cutter to save time and space.
If you like using canisters for food storage, you can purchase the jar attachment and the unit even has a built-in cord storage to keep all the pieces nice and tidy.
Portion control
The Portion Control feature is not just for people on a diet. It allows for vacuum sealing the correct amount of food you will need for a specific meal. This will help prevent having a lot of leftovers that might end up in the trash can!
Buy it:
Get the Avalon Bay FoodSealer300S Vacuum Sealer 50% off its retail price with discount code: IMPRESS good through 03/01/2018.
Win it:
Air and Water has kindly offered one lucky Born 2 Impress reader, the chance to win a free Avalon Bay FoodSealer300S Vacuum Sealer!
To enter this giveaway, please use the Giveaway Tools form below:
One thing I’d love to have is their NewAir AH-400 Low Watt Oil-Filled Underdesk Heater. we use space heaters but this old house has old wiring & turning on too many things will cause the breakers to flip! This one, being oil-filled, wouldn’t do that! (As for the vacuum sealer, I could use that every time I buy veggies. It seems I never need to use all at once when I cook, so I put them in the crisper but air gets to them & they go bad.)
Great tips, I have a really small fridge and I try to make sure I keep it with what I need. Where I live it is common to grocery shop every day.
Its great following you on IG.
xoxo Falasha
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NewAir Pure Spring WAT20W BPA Free Hot/Cold Water Dispenser
the portable AC unit would be great for my office at work
My favorite item is the 18 bottle thermoelectric wine cooler. That would be so awesome to have in my kitchen! I always forget to put wine in the fridge before friends come over so having a wine cooler would definitely improve my entertaining game. Fingers crossed!
I would sure love the https://www.newair.com/beverage-cooler/built-in/abr-960-96-can-beer-fridge. My husband would love it for soda/s in his office. He has such little space in there and this would be awesome.
The NewAir AC-12200E 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner would be nice for my son.
I would like to get NewAir’s AI-100S Portable Icemaker
The ice maker would be cool to try!
I really like tthe 18 bottle thermoelectric wine cooler. We could use it for all the wine we drink!
I also like the NewAir Portable Ceramic Space Heater. It doesnt look bulky and looks modern, plus heats up to 400 sq. feet, which would heat our cold downstairs basement room.
Tips for saving time…for ME Do jobs at once, such as cleaning ALL the light fixtures at once instead of getting products and supplies out several times. To save money, Always use coupons and use a shopping “base” such as Ebates. Shop for specific meals each week instead of a whole haul and then waste food that sits too long. Turn lights off when you leave the room…make it a habit. Make one trip and cover several errands in one day instead of revving up the car every day and wasting gas.
I like the NewAir Portable Ceramic Space Heater. I actually do not have any tips.
The New Air Portable Red Ice Maker 50 lbs this would be great to bring ice when we are out working everyday. My wife shops with coupons and online she uses Ebates when she shops so she does a good job stretching the budget
I would love to have the NewAir AB-1200
126 Can Beverage Cooler. It would definitely save room in my fridge.
I think that I would love to have a Newair AI-215R Portable Ice Maker. Here is SoCal it gets so hot, and I live on iced coffee year round! I like the red color too.
I would love the NewAir AH-470 Flat Panel Micathermic Space Heater. I don’t want to heat the whole house during the day when I spend 90% of my time in the home office. This would be perfect to heat just that room. I try to think ahead and plan stuff so that I can make one trip and get many things done on that trip.
We could really use a propane patio heater for chilly nights outside.
We live in Kissimmee, but the temperature can dip down quite a bit.We live in Kissimmee, but the temperature can dip down quite a bit.
the portable AC unit would be awesome for when we travel or go camping.
I would definately love the Nutrichef PKAIRFR54 Digital Air Fryer With Pre Programed. This looks like a good quality product that works & I also love the size. This would certainly come in handy!
I would like to try the Climadiff DV265MGN2U Diva 265 Bottle Multi-Temperature Glass Door Wine Cabinet. The thing looks awesome. My best tip to save money is shop at Aldi.
I would also love to try the NewAir AW-321ED collector’s 32 bottle dual zone wine cooler. This would be perfect in my basement bar area. I’ll have to put this on my Christmas wish list!
ewAir Small Black Stainless Steel Beverage Cooler – 96-Can Perfect Chill with Easy-to-Clean Surface dont throw excess fruit or veggies out seal the up and keep them for later you can freeze bread and it doesnt mess the taste up
I would love to have one of the Avalon Bay Air Fryers. I think we could really cut down on the fat. We found a retailer to buy the whole deli hams and turkeys. We bought a slicer and share with everyone in the family.
I would love to have a pressure cooker. My savings tip would be to go through the adds and check your coupons before going out shopping.
i really,really wouls love a…
4.6
11 reviews
Avalon Bay AB-ICE26R
Portable Ice Maker
thanks
I really like the Ener-G+ HEA-21538R 1500 Watt Infrared Gazebo Heater with Lights. It’s attractive for what it is and has good reviews.
I like the Mirro 6-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker and my money saving tip is this….there hasn’t been a charge card in or house for 19 years. It was hard at first, but you get used to “if you don’t have the money on you, you don’t get it’ lifestyle. That’s the way we grew up, but fell for the charge card lifestyle too. I take X amount of money to the store and can’t spend more than that. Like i said, it’s hard at first, but it’s worth it in the end!
I’d love to try the Air Fryer, it would make things a lot easier for me! I save a lot of money buying things at the Dollar stores, you can always find great deals!
I would like to get NewAir’s AI-100S Portable Icemaker
I visited the site. Another product I would like to try is the Elite Platinum EPC-813 8 Quart Pressure Cooker. One way I save time in the kitchen is by chopping onions in a big batch and freezing them for future use.
I would love the NewAir AB-850 84-Can Beverage Refrigerator to put all of our beverages in as they take up so much space in my refrigerator.
I also like the SC-1626 26 Cup Rice Cooker by Sunpentown.
I buy in bulk and freeze in portions because I have a large family.
I would like the Dyna-Glo DGSS962CBO-D Charcoal Smoker and Grill. I would love to smoke some meat and fish. I also love to BBQ!
Ooh, I like their “Pleasant Hearth 248-44-34M Costello Merlot Media Fireplace”. So pretty! Thanks and God Bless!
I would love to have the Germ Guardian AC4100 Tabletop Air Purifier.
I like to save money by clipping coupons and checking the weekly ads. There is a site called Coupon Mom which helps to match up deals, online coupons, newspaper coupons, and rebates through Ibotta to help maximize savings.
I like the single zone wine cooler
The portable AC Unit would be something we’re interested in. We bounce around a lot so it would be great to be able to move it wherever we go.
I like their portable ice makers! My best tip is to make a to-do list 🙂
I love the ice makers! I extreme coupon and sale shop to save money!
Such great products. I would love to try the air fryer, I have been wanting one of those for a couple of years now.
I would really like a pirtable air conditioner from New Air. It is winter here right now but I want on to start off the summer. I like the NewAir AC-14100E Portable Air Conditioner, 14,000 BTU and with 30 % off right now the price is just right.