Slick Tricks Department - Recycling Used Zip Bags

Recycled Freezer Bags

If you’re like me, you tend to put your dehydrated foods into zip freezer bags until you’re ready to vacuum seal them into one meal vacuum bags.

 

I found if I washed my bags, there was always a little moisture left in them. I would try propping them open on long handled pots or silverware sticking upright in the dish drain but invariably, whenever the sides of the bag touched, moisture would still be there.  It seemed to take forever to get those bags dry enough that I felt secure about putting more dehydrated foods in them.

Potato Chips? Of Course!

Dehydrated Potato Chips 

Here is the third installment on my fifty-pound box of bargain potatoes.  If you missed the other two posts, you will want to be sure and look them over. Taters ‘n Taters ‘n Taters, Oh My! and Hash Browns…WOW! 

I’m trying to find as many ways as possible to use dehydrated potatoes. While I was playing around with the potatoes, I remembered that once or twice as a child, my mom fixed home-made potato chips.  She deemed them too much trouble. But I decided to give it a try. 

Bountiful Basket

Saturday Morning at V.F.W. Hall

 Linda’s Note: 

I first posted this back in January, but it’s well worth reprinting,

especially with all the new folks into dehydrating.

 

Have you heard about Bountiful Baskets?  Mike and I recently got our first order. It’s been operating in Dubois for about three months now, but it’s a nationwide program. 

Home-Made Fruit Leather Trays

 Here is a way to get really economical fruit leather trays.

Dehydrating Frozen Veggies

Dehydrated frozen green peas

An excellent way to save money is to buy plain frozen veggies on sale. Sometimes you can find them as Loss Leaders to get you into the store.  Take advantage of these.

This is super-easy! 

• No need to thaw them.
• Simply open your bag of veggies and crumble them so there are no clumps.
• Spread them out and turn dehydrator on low heat  105° to 110°.
• Let them dry overnight. They should be crisp and hard.

Dehydrated whole kernel corn

 What to do with your dehydrated frozen veggies:

• Toss ¼ cup in soups and stews
• Use in moist casseroles
• Add a teaspoon to instant cup-o-soup
• You are limited only by your imagination!

Foragers Find - The Best Book of All!

Yesterday we were Down Below (Lander and Riverton, two towns 80 miles east of us and some 2,000 feet lower in elevation than where we live) and stopped at Meadowlark Bookstore. They deal in used books. I bought three books. Two on mushrooms and one called Western Edible Wild Plants by H.D. Harrington.

 Didn’t realize it at the time, but this has turned out to be one of the best books I’ve found so far!

Dehydrating Canned Green Beans

One way you can save money, time, and space is to dehydrate your canned green beans.  In fact, any vegetable or fruit that does not have all sorts of additives or high fructose corn syrup in it will dehydrate well.

• For an economic edge always buy canned goods on sale. Most stores have loss leaders. These are special sale items that are marked down significantly low. Their purpose is to draw customers into the store.
• When you find a loss leader on plain canned veggies, not seasoned or with sauces and such; buy as many as you can afford! Don’t buy the ones that are in some sort of sauce, just plain beans.
•  Mike and I purchased three cases of beans… green beans, black beans, and kidney beans for 49¢ per can!  Pretty good by today’s prices.
• You don’t need to make a big production of it, but when you have a few extra empty racks on your dehydrator, open a few cans of beans to top off the machine. It’ doesn’t cost any more to run a full machine than an empty machine.

Drain your beans. 

Tomato Skins - Don't Toss 'Em !

Whenever you dehydrate tomatoes, here is a way to get extra bang for your buck! There is a tremendous amount of nutrition in the skins of just about every fruit and veggie in the world. Don’t toss those peelings and skins.

If you’re not sure how to peel tomatoes, I have a good little video on it. Check it out.

Here are the skins from 30 pounds of plum tomatoes I recently dehydrated. Spread them out on your racks and dehydrate as usual.  I started out at about 95 degrees, but turned it up to 110 because they seemed so wet.

Why Dehydrate Your Own Food?

(Prepared by University of Utah Cooperative Extension Service)

Drying of Food at Home

Preserving food by drying is the oldest method of food preservation. Sun drying of fruits

and vegetables was practiced before biblical times by Chinese, Hindus, Persians, Greeks

and Egyptians.

Tomatoes on sale

Dried foods have the advantages of taking up very little space, not requiring refrigeration and providing variety to the diet. They are good for backpacking, lunches, camping, and snacks in general.

Linda's Note: Plus, you can save a ton of money on groceries if you watch the sales and buy in bulk!  You can dehydrate all that extra food and store it long before it will spoil.

Canned Foods

I had a hard time finding this particular item because it is listed as a page rather than a post. 

Apparently, you can list key words for posts, but not pages.

So I am redirecting the information in a post.  Now it has key words to send you to the page called "Canned Foods"

Simply look on the right side of this page and click on Canned Foods.  All kinds of detailed information is available regarding dehydrating commercially canned fruits and vegetables.

What's it all about?

Applesauce plops

OK, so why on earth would anyone want to dehydrate food?  I mean, after all, how much jerky does one need in one's life, right?

Folks, jerky isn't even the tip of the iceberg!  I've been dehydrating for the better part of 15 years, but actually do very little jerky.

I make casseroles, one-dish meals, backpacking and camping food, and travel food.

I take leftover rice and dehydrate it for instant soups.

There are many reasons why folks get into dehydrating. Choose any or all of the following:

• economical
• use those leftovers!
• nutritional
• saves space
• no need to pay for storage (electricity for runnig refrigerator)
• easier than any other form of food storage
• perfect for people with specific dietary needs
• lots of fun
• perfect for preppers.