If you're a parent going on a week-long vacation in the future and you don't want the kids ordering pizza every night, you might have to prepare some dinners in advance. Luckily, vacuum sealing food for the week will put a home-cooked meal right within your son's or daughter's reach and ensure that it's as fresh as the day you made it. Here are some tips for sealing meals a week in advance and serving them. 

Go for Convenience
It's hard enough to get the kids to do their chores, let alone prepare dinner every night. That's why you may want to consider convenience first. Step one, when you're using your FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer, you might want to vacuum seal by meal instead of by item. For example, seal your meat, veggies and side dishes in the same bag or container and freeze the whole thing.

The individual meal can be tossed in the microwave to heat up in just a few minutes. It's the convenience of a store-bought microwave meal without the low nutritional value or high price.

Go from Sealing to Slow Cooking
An equally convenient option if you don't want to prepare individual meals, you can make one big item that can be thrown into the slow cooker at any time. Stew, jambalaya, macaroni and cheese - it can all be prepped well in advance and vacuum sealed for slow cooking and easy eating. 

If you're really in a bind, don't forget to check out some tasty, cheap and convenient Crock-Pot Cuisine meals.

Give Meals a Subtle and Flavorful Twist
Whether you're cooking for next week or next month, preparing all those meals can be a big job. For extra convenience and cash savings, find multiple recipes that use the same base ingredients or give the same dinner one little twist so you don't get bored with the meal.

Some peppers or sun-dried tomatoes can change the flavor of mac and cheese dramatically.

For example, if you suspect that macaroni and cheese could lose its zip after eating it two nights in a row, try adding peas and sausage to the mix for some extra oomph. You can do the same thing with meats simply by switching marinades. Look for easy ways to turn one meal option into a two- or three-night dish simply by changing one little thing about it.