I miss Trader Joe's. We used to shop there every week before moving to Yakima Valley. Now the nearest store is more than two hours away. A few times a year, I'll have the chance to indulge in the opportunity to stock up on some of our favorites, and I quickly discovered that buying some items in bulk and storing them resulted in things going stale, hard or rancid.
Not being the type to simply resign myself to either only indulging in Everything Crackers and maple cookies twice a year or paying triple to have things shipped - often arriving broken and stale - I sought out a solution. Turns out, it was already in my kitchen.
I have a couple of types of vacuum sealers for jars. One is an attachment for the usual sort of Foodsaver vacuum; you can find it on Amazon here.
The other is a battery-operated, rechargeable model that is far more portable, that my husband prefers because it is quiet. Also from Amazon, here.
My daughter came to visit this weekend, and offered to make a TJ stop for me on the way, which is definitely speaking one of my love languages.
Today, everything in a box or bag was moved into jars and vacuum-sealed.
I also moved some candies and cookies into jars.
These will stay remarkably stable and fresh for months, because there's no air; moisture can't get in or out, and they'll be stored down in the cellar, away from light and heat.
Note: This does NOT replace water bath canning or pressure canning for wet foods. It only works for things that are already shelf-stable. I also vacuum seal my home-dried fruit, but anything with a moisture content higher than 10% goes in the freezer, because vacuum sealing does not kill bacteria, and they will rot.
It does, however, keep crackers and cookies crunchy, and gummies chewy!
I also vacuum-seal my cheeses. They can be sealed in a jar or a bag, but generally I use a jar for smaller wedges. I re-seal them each time I get into them, and they last for months in the fridge.
Here we have, left to right, Everything Cheddar (scrumptious), hatch pepper cheddar (tasty and spicy, but a little harsh), and 1000-day Gouda (one of my all-time favorites).
That, folks, is one way I combine the flavors of the city with the tastes of home.
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