So, I went to Tuesday Morning today.

Lots of Tramontina stainless stuff and a little bit of copper left. Both too pricey for me at the moment but I did get a set of Cuisinart stainless mixing bowls (still working on getting all the plastic utensils out of my house), two gourmet glass bottles with spouts for my oils, four plain ecru flour sack towels for putting over rising dough and 2 white flour sack towels for wrapping finished breads in a basket when we have company (my everyday cotton towels are looking pretty shabby and I don't like terry cloth in the kitchen), a jar of fig preserves and a jar of apricot preserves both for future to be decided baking projects.

I wanted a wok but they didn't have any and I decided against the 9.99 Cuisinart Salad Spinner (because it was plastic.)

And I broke down and bought 4 bars of chocolate: 2 Belgian Extra Dark 85% cocoa and two dark with orange from Spain. There is a ton of chocolate to be had there!

That place is such a mess! But I could spend way too much time and money in there!

And I almost bought this but didn't: They have the FoodSaver with the bonus canisters for $69! I really shoula got it.

...... yeah ....... you shoulda.

and we're going to go back and get it tomorrow. I knew I shouldn't have walked away from that.

What do you use when you run out of the material they provide? Can you use other stuff with it?

Its pricey but it works.

I don't know if anyone else has tried other stuff.

It isn't like only that stuff will fit. The foodsaver is wider than the 8" rolls we sue (never used the 12" stuff). It seals with a simple heat strip. I don't see why any other heat sealable sleeve wouldn't work as well. I just never tried any.

but thanx for answering me before you conked out. I thought I might have been too late. :hug:

I would not be without mine - I've had it about 5 years now. I used to use it for fresh meat from the market, but that was more costly than wrapping the package in foil for freezing, because we used it pretty quickly anyway. Once you have it, you will find it useful for lots of things. I hardly throw any food away anymore - freeze a meal leftovers with no freezer burn.

We have a friend who shares some of his venison, fish, etc. and it's usually stuff he froze last year, but you'd never know it because it's foodsaver bagged. I think the biggest money saver is for cheese! I haven't had a touch of fuzzy green in 5 years.

Also, this year I learned you can vacuum bag whole raw tomatoes (+ peppers, etc) totally fresh from the vine and they are just fine for cooking. It's also great for resealing ANY kind of bag - chips, noodles, etc, except you just put the bag edge on the heat sealer, and not into the well for sucking out the air.

I used a Daisy Seal-A-Meal (forefront to the Foodsaver) for years and actually still have it in storage somewhere. I have purchased replacement bags for that too, but they didn't VACUUM.

Foodsaver bags are spendy, so I did alot of checking for alternatives. The trick of the vacuum seal - is that there is one side of the bag that has a kind of waffle weave to it and the other side is flat. That makes the vacuum seal.

Ebay always has them.

Here is where I have bought mine lastly - www.alamoholly.com - item # MR-0810 - 100 quart bags are just $24.06. Shipping is a killer though. Next time I'll try and haggle that down. They ship UPS ground but seem to charge overnight shipping, LOL.

I noted in Cabella's catalog they also sell generic foodsaver bags for less, but I haven't tried them, but their shipping is cheaper. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat570002&navAction=jump&navCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat602009&parentType=category&parentId=cat602009

Alamo Holly bags work and they have lots of sizes.

You have the hassle of having to seal both ends, but you can make them as long or as short as needed. I can freeze a pork chop and a whole side of salmon in the same product and have minimal waste. I get my rolls when I see them on sale. A pack of three 8"x22' rolls cost me $34 at (I think it was) Kohl's a few months back. That will last me about a year. That's not so bad.

You can seal any snack bag with these? I didn't know that.

A pack of three 8"x22' rolls cost me $34. A year's worth - not bad! I noticed I bought my last 100 quart-size bags almost a year ago and it was $41 with shipping. I never have anything bigger to bag than that. I only shop on-line so shipping is always a factor for me.

About sealing other bags w/out vacuuming. Yes, this seals just about any bag. I haven't found one yet that won't heat-seal. Just either make sure you have a sharp edge to butt up against the heat seal's back edge, or ---- just fold the bag over to get a straight edge. Double thickness is no problem. Just don't have a cut edge sticking into the well part or you can imagine the result, LOL!

We all learn tricks as we go through life and it's fun to share.

:hi:

I do appreciate the time it took to type all of that but I have decided against it. I really can't justify it in light of the environmental impact it would have. Not to mention that I'm trying to get as much of the plastic involvement in our meals to a minimum. It would really be against everything I think is important.

I wasn't thinking about anything but the convenience and the really great price yesterday; sleeping on it gave me time to consider the consequences. I can be so schizophrenic about these things sometimes until I settle down and think calmly about it.

:hi:

Freezing, canning, drying are well established ways to preserve food/nutrients.

Hippywife, you are "well" ahead of the curve in utilizing these methods. You and your family will be A-OKay when/if (soon?) an economic sh*tstorm hits.

I'm not going to buy it. I'm glad I slept on it because it gave me time to realize that I really don't want it. It would be a wonderful convenience, but sadly it comes with the trade-off of more unnecessary plastic in the landfill.

I have this real dichotomy sometimes when it comes to cooking and my kitchen; part of me wants to shoot for gourmet and damn the consequences and the other part wants to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Not saying that the two can't be accomplished together, because they can and do, but there are some areas where they definitely do not and this is one of them.

I thought about that when I was awake earlier this morning. Sometimes I just need that time and quiet in the wee small hours to come to decisions. I do my best thinking then, I wish I did as well during the day. LOL

Thanx for bolstering my decision on this. Much appreciated. :hi:

ETA: But there was that mandoline for only $37, too. Hmmm. :rofl:

Really. They look like the old striped flour sacking towels I remember seeing at my grandmother's house when I was a kid. It was a pack of 5 in various colors and patterns and it was a STEAL. I'd use them in a bread basket in a heartbeat, they're so attractive.

Plastic is a great material for a salad spinner. Mine has got to be 20 years old and it works like new. It's light and easy to rinse clean. I just chopped and cleaned leeks for tomorrow's potage Parmentier (fancy potato soup), so it's useful for something besides salad greens.

You'll love the oil dispenser.

However, if you want a wok, find an Asian grocery. Even if it's a long drive, it's worth it. Get the hammered steel kind, the Chinatown special, and skip the one with the wooden handles. Make sure you get a top that fits. They even make them with slightly flattened bottoms for people who use electric stoves. The all steel models are a breeze to season and work better than fancy woks.

it isn't a great material for the spinner, it's just trying to eliminate the plastic that comes in contact with our food as much as possible. It isn't totally possible so I try not to make myself too crazy about it (emphasis on the word "try" here.)

I really do love the cotton towels, too. Glad you found some you loved. If someone had told me years ago that I would be that excited over some flour-sack towels, I'd have been incredulous! LOL

The oil dispenser bottles are all decorated and had some very pretty designs. Thinking back on it, I should have gotten two of the ones that were for sale sans packaging. The ones in the packages are identical to one another. Would have been nice to have a couple of different ones so I won't accidentally pick up one when I wanted the other.

Thanx for the wok advice. I will definitely put it to good use. :hi: