How and Why to Dehydrate Pasta, and an Instant Meal

If you're thinking that cooking and dehydrating pasta is a little silly, I understand.  But it's not, and there's a very good reason to do it.

You see, the dried pasta with a twenty-year shelf-life, the regular stuff sold in stores, isn't actually cooked.  It's raw.  And that's not a big deal.  It's what we've used all our lives, and most shapes take less than ten minutes to cook.  About the time it takes to get everything else on the table.

But if you wanted to make some just-add-water meals that don't actually need much cooking to conserve fuel in an emergency, or if you're backpacking or camping, then you need to use pre-cooked and dehydrated pasta.  While very fine pasta, like angel hair, doesn't need to be cooked and dehydrated first, all the thicker and larger shapes do.

If you haven't dehydrated pasta before, it's really simple.  Here's how:

• Cook pasta according to package directions.
• Drain.
• Spread it out on dehydrator trays to dry at 135 degrees.  

It usually doesn't take long, about four to six hours.  Yeah, it's that easy.  And now, for how to use it:

The emergency preparedness class I teach has a different focus each month.  And for this month I've decided to share some just-add-water meals and mixes.  So I scoured the blog looking for the recipes I'd already posted.  And I was surprised that I hadn't yet shared my good friend Renee's All-American Hot Dish.

She adapted this recipe from an old Betty Crocker cookbook when she was putting together instant meals last year before her family's trip to a major archery tournament in Las Vegas.  They and we were spending the better part of a week doing in Vegas what we do a few days each week at home, namely, watching our children shoot their arrows into the center ring of the target, and getting irritated when their equipment or aim is off (the kids, not us).  Anyway, taking the whole family to Vegas for a week is expensive, and having some just-add-water meals in the room lets them have a little privacy and quiet in an otherwise noisy place.

This meal is quick to put together and is by far my family's favorite of all the homemade just-add-water meals we've tried.

Renee's All-American Hot Dish
In a snack-size baggie, put the following ingredients:
1 tablespoon tomato powder
1 teaspoon cheese powder
1 teaspoon minced dehydrated onion
1/4 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

In a quart-size freezer bag, put the following ingredients:
1 cup cooked and dehydrated pasta
1/4 cup freeze-dried corn
1/4 cup dehydrated hamburger
seasoning packet from above

1 ½ cups water

To prepare:  Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Add the large bag of pasta, corn, and hamburger to the boiling water, cover, and boil for one minute.  Stir in the seasoning packet, replace lid, and cook on low for five minutes, or cover with towels and let sit for ten minutes to fully rehydrate and thicken.


Note.  I use dehydrated foods rather than freeze-dried in my just-add-water meals whenever possible.  Freeze-dried food is expensive, and often dehydrated foods will work well, even if they do take a little more time to rehydrate.  But such is not the case with corn.  It just doesn't rehydrate fully in this dish in the allotted time.  Freeze-dried corn works much better.

Links to related posts:
Instant Meals
Dehydrated Hamburger
How to Make Tomato Powder
Basic Food Storage--Pasta   

4.6.23

Pumpkin Pasta—Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café

It’s that pumpkin-y time of year, when we’re looking through our stored food and spy the big cans of pumpkin.  The ones that looked so adorable, like golden doodle puppies (sorry, I saw a picture of some this morning, and they were so dang cute), piled in the grocery cart at the back of the store, begging to come home with us.  Except these were really cheap and didn’t need to be potty-trained. 

So I came home with a dozen or so after the holidays last year, and I haven’t used any since.  It’s not that I don’t like pumpkin—I surely do.  We all do here.  But using a big can takes planning.  And I thought that I might not be the only one out there who is suckered by big, beautiful, cheap cans of pumpkin.  Those cans I paid a dollar for earlier this year are now almost $5. 

And I might not be the only one who needs recipes for dishes beyond pumpkin muffins and waffles, tasty as those are. 

Pumpkin Pasta comes together quickly—less than 30 minutes—and uses only food storage items, beyond the fresh sage, that is. (Even then, you can sub in the dried form.) However, sage is easily grown in the garden, so it hardly counts.

Pumpkin Pasta

12 ounces rigatoni pasta

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 cup water

½ cup Magic Mix

1 cup canned pumpkin purée

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dash nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

 

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. 

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil.  Add the garlic and sage and sauté for 1-2 minutes.  Add the water and quickly whisk in the Magic Mix, stirring until there are no lumps.  Stir in the pumpkin puree and cook for 1 minute.  Add the Parmesan and remaining seasonings.  Simmer on low heat for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.  If it becomes too thick, stir in a little of the reserved pasta water. 

Add in the drained pasta and toss well to coat every noodle.  Add a little more pasta water if necessary.  Garnish with extra Parmesan and dried sage.  Serves 4.

Family reviews: Wow, I really loved this.  It's a little bit different, all food storage, and comes together so quickly.  I could easily make a lot of this and freeze dry it.  On the other hand, because it's so fast, it's a good recipe for making fresh as needed.  Aaron wasn't feeling good, so he only had a taste, but he did say he wanted it for lunch.  And then he loved the lunch leftovers.  And when I had the leftovers for dinner the following night and he had something else (because he almost never wants leftovers too often), he looked like he was going to poach mine if I left the table to get something from the fridge.  I then went out to harvest all the sage from the garden so that I could make this until it returns in the spring.     

And I made this again today for KOTPE and Buttercup.  They each had thirds.  The Crown Princess (their daughter) requested seconds, pretty amazing for her. 

I know I'm not the only one who often has leftover pumpkin puree.  Linked below are more recipes for using with it, or you can dehydrate it to use later.   

Links to related posts:

Pumpkin Waffles 

Pumpkin Muffins 

Pumpkin Noosa Copycat 

Pumpkin Soup 

Magic Pumpkin Custard 

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin  

Pumpkin Powder 

Expanded Food Storage--Dehydrated Carrots

One of the less commonly purchased items available at the Home Storage Center, currently selling for $9.00 for 2.1 lbs in a #10 can, is dehydrated carrots.  Which is a pity, because they're pretty versatile--you can use them in breads, cakes, smoothies (well, if you've got the electricity to run your blender), soups, casseroles, and baby food.  I think they're so commonly used that we kind of forget about them.
Recipe equivalents:

Fresh                               Mashed     Shredded     Dehydrated  + Water to reconstitute
1/3 pound or 2 carrots    2/3 cup      1 cup           1/3 cup         + 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon
1/2 pound or 3 carrots    1 cup         1 1/2 cups    1/2 cup         + 7/8 cup
1 pound    or 6 carrots    2 cups        3 cups          1 cup            + 1 3/4 cups


Soups.  Just add the carrots and whatever water you would use for rehydrating to the soup and let them rehydrate as the rest of the soup cooks.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 tablespoons dehydrated carrots
2 tablespoons dehydrated celery
2 cups water
1 pint canned chicken, undrained
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1/4 cup angel hair pasta (or spaghetti), broken in 1 1/2 inch pieces

Reconstitute carrots and celery in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.  Add in chicken, bouillon, and pasta and boil 3 more minutes, or until pasta is done.

Cakes and Muffins.  Rehydrate carrots for 15-30 minutes before mixing into batter.

Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup dehydrated carrots (whirled in blender if possible to make finer pieces), reconstituted in 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup crushed pineapple with juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients until moistened.  Beat two minutes on medium speed.  Pour into two greased and lightly floured 8" pans or one 9x13" pan.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 ounces cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese together, then beat in sugar and vanilla.  Frost cooled cake.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Carrot Muffins
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs (OR 3 tablespoons powdered eggs and 1/3 cup water)
1 cup dehydrated carrots, whirled in blender for a bit to make finer carrots, if possible
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Beat first three ingredients together.  Mix in remaining ingredients, without overmixing.  Bake in muffin tins at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Optional.  Instead of mixing walnuts into batter, sprinkle them on top of the muffin batter.  This will toast the nuts, and you can leave some plain for those who'd rather not have nuts.

Baby food
2 tablespoons dehydrated carrots
1/3 cup boiling water

In a small bowl, reconstitute carrots in boiling water.  Let stand, covered, for thirty minutes.  Mash thoroughly with fork.

Links to related posts:
Home Storage Centers   
Vitamin A deficiency    


For further information:
http://www.abstractsonline.com/viewer/viewAbstract.asp?CKey=%7BE3C1913F-6EF4-42E2-91D7-8585A3F2531B%7D&MKey=%7B50521FFC-4C00-4561-AEBA-632C1175F44C%7D&AKey=%7B8616C01D-DC03-41AD-9244-6706B0A8C9BD%7D&SKey=%7B06F1EA6A-92A3-4343-8975-958C976AE77A%7D (research on storage of dehydrated carrots)
http://ndfs.byu.edu/portals/7/docs/research/long/Lynn%20M%20Arrington%20Park.pdf (thesis on storage and shelf life of dehydrated foods)
http://www.gettystewart.com/how-to-dehydrate-carrots-and-how-to-use-them/ (how to dehydrate carrots)

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 

Instant Soups for Emergency Kits

Over the years of building and reworking our emergency kits to serve us better, we've made numerous changes to suit a growing family, reducing waste, and making more room in the kits.  And one of the changes has been getting away from commercial products and their mystery ingredients.  We just feel better when we know what we are eating.

Today we have some recipes for making your own instant soups.  I highly recommend making these up and trying them at home before using them in an emergency.  You might decide one flavor just doesn't work for you, or that you need more or less salt, or something similar.

All of these recipes work really well in zippered bags.  Soups and meals in bags are really popular with backpackers, and you'll find no shortage of recipes all over the web for all kinds of foods.  There's no space wasted in your kit with excess packaging, and the bag serves as your cook container and disposable bowl.

However, what is very often ignored is the fact that freezer bags are not designed to be cooked in.  They shouldn't be used as boiling bags for making eggs while out camping, and they shouldn't have boiling water added to them to cook or heat the contents.  While the bags usually do withstand the heat, they may release chemicals at elevated temperatures, chemicals that we don't necessarily want in our bodies.  Ziploc manufactures a line of bags that may be cooked in; their Zip 'n Steam line comes in medium and large size bags.

However, even these are not supposed to be used for boiling, according to the people at Ziploc.  If they're telling us not to use them for that purpose, and thus losing out on potential sales, there's probably a good reason for it.  So what's the real risk to using regular freezer bags?

I don't know.  The bag manufacturers are going to err on the side of caution, and in a litigious society such as ours, I think they have to.  Here's what we do here, and what we will do in case of a true disaster.

The soups and instant meals all get packaged in regular freezer bags.  They're easy to date, rotate, and re-use.  When we rotate them at home, the soups are just added to mugs or bowls and boiling water is poured on top, so there's no heating the plastic.  Later, the bags get refilled with the same soup mix and re-dated.  If and when there is a need to cook the soups in a disaster, we'll still transfer them to our stainless steel mugs for cooking and heating.  If things are so bad that we have to cook in and eat from the bags, we figure the level of toxic chemical we're being exposed to would be low and not an issue if not done often.  If at all possible, children and those of child-bearing age would not have their food cooked in the bags.  In no case would a pregnant woman have her food cooked in a bag.  But for older people beyond child-bearing age, we wouldn't be so concerned.

Do what works best for your situation.  Yes, heated plastics can be toxic and have long-term effects.  Just as cranky and hungry stressed-out people can have toxic effects on family relationships.

Before making a bunch of these for your family's kits, make just one of each for taste-testing.  The bieggest variable is the chicken bouillon.  Some are heavier on the salt than others, and having too much or too little really affects the flavor.  If you have comments or suggestions for improvement, leave them below so that we can all learn from your experience.

One more time:  Bouillon varies substantially in salt content from one manufacturer to the next.  You may wish to omit any added salt the first time you make these to be sure you don't oversalt.

Cream of Tomato Soup
1/3 cup dry milk
1/4 cup tomato powder
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Pinch black pepper

Put all ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Shake to combine.

To prepare:  Boil 1 3/4 cups water.  Add water to soup bag and stir well to combine.  Seal bag, cover to insulate it, and let soak for 10 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup
1/2 cup fine noodles, like angel hair, broken in small pieces
1/4 cup chopped freeze dried chicken
2 tablespoons freeze-dried vegetables, or 1 tablespoon dehydrated vegetables (carrots, celery, peas)
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon dehydrated onions
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning
pinch black pepper

Put all ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Shake to combine.

To prepare:  Boil 1 3/4 cups water.  Add water to the soup bag and stir well to combine.  Seal the bag, cover to insulate it, and let soak for 10 minutes.

Minestrone
1/3 cup dehydrated pasta*
1/3 cup mixed freeze-dried vegetables
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
2 teaspoons tomato powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian herbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper


Put all ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Shake to combine.

To prepare:  Boil 1 3/4 cups water.  Add water to the soup bag and stir well to combine.  Seal the bag, cover to insulate it, and let soak for 10 minutes.

*To prepare dehydrated pasta, cook pasta according to package directions, rinse, and dehydrate.  This pasta will rehydrate quickly in soups.  Most raw pasta will not cook and soften sufficiently in instant soups.

Bacon-Potato Soup
1/3 cup instant potato flakes
1/4 cup dry milk
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon freeze-dried chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Pinch black pepper

In a separate package:
2 tablespoons bacon bits

Put all ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Shake to combine.

To prepare:  Boil 1 3/4 cups water.  Add water to the soup bag and stir well to combine.  Seal the bag, cover to insulate it, and let soak for 10 minutes.

Links to related posts:
Emergency Kits
Instant Meals

For further reading:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/ziploc-omlets-in-bag-504142
https://www.theyummylife.com/Instant_Dry_Soup_Mixes

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

Tomato Powder Is Forever

Well, maybe not quite.  "Diamonds Are Forever" in James Bond's world, and "A Diamond Is Forever" according to the people at DeBeers.  In our pantries, pasta is almost forever.  Unfortunately, the canned tomatoes for making spaghetti sauce to go with the pasta do not last forever.  They don't even come close.  The darn acid in the tomatoes eats through the cans.
The commercially-produced marinara sauce doesn't last that long, either.  Neither does ketchup, unfortunately.  Or barbecue sauce.

And yet, I want to be able to have all these things and more when the trucks stop rolling and the juice stops flowing.  I need to be able to make these tomato-based products from scratch.  And not only that, I need to be able to make them in smaller quantities than we normally purchase for times when we lack reliable refrigeration.

I've made tomato powder in the past, just to be sure I could really do it and that it would work as well as the commercially-prepared stuff.  But this past year was different.  Even though the tomato harvest wasn't as good as usual due to an exceptionally early freeze, I still had about 30 gallons of tomatoes.  And because I started dehydrating more and freezing less, I used the pint and half-pint jars for the dehydrated foods, as well as medicinal herbs and tinctures that I've been making and preserving more of.  We're already short on space here.  I didn't want to buy more canning jars.

The only solution was to turn all those tomatoes into tomato powder.  In the past, I simply dehydrated tomato slices or chunks and then powdered them in the blender.  But this process doesn't produce a very fine powder, at least not in my blender. A fine powder will reconstitute more quickly and thoroughly and much more smoothly.  And that's what I wanted.  An added bonus is that tomato powder takes far less space than canned sauce.

To make your own tomato powder from your garden tomatoes:

• Wash and core the tomatoes.
• Slice tomatoes about 1/4-1/2" thick.
• Place slices in a freezer bag or Tupperware and freeze.
• When you have a big batch of tomatoes ready to run through your juicer, thaw the tomatoes completely.  
• Pour off all the liquid and discard or boil it down for vegetable stock.
• Process the tomatoes in your juicer.
• Bring the resulting sauce to a boil over medium heat for two minutes.
• Cool the sauce and then spread it on dehydrator sheets, about 1/8" thick.
• Dehydrate at 115-125 degrees for about 10 hours, until completely dry.
• Process the dehydrated tomato sauce in a blender or food processor until it is a fine powder.
• If necessary, run it through a fine-mesh strainer to isolate the larger particles.  
• Let cool completely and package for long term storage in canning jars or Mylar bags.

Use your tomato powder to make tomato sauce, tomato paste, or ketchup.  It's perfect for creating your own instant soups or meals.  It can also be used to make Spanish rice or enchilada sauce.  The possibilities are endless. 

And if you don't have a garden or you happen upon a great deal at the store, you can apply this process to commercially canned sauce.  Just open the can, pour the sauce on the tray, and dehydrate as usual.

Links to related posts:
Dehydrating Tomatoes  
Tomato Sauce  
Tomato Paste
Ketchup
Tomato Soup  

DIY Beef Bouillon and Onion Soup Mix

One of my ongoing projects in preparedness is putting together quick and tasty emergency meals.  Some of the new recipes I want to test call for powdered beef bouillon, and I only have the refrigerated paste-type stuff.  Unfortunately, I can't just run to the store and buy some.  The budget is super-tight since my husband lost his job (mining company he worked for got sold to a Canadian company), and while he received a very generous severance package, it's tough to be looking for a job when you're over fifty, and even worse for people in IT.  So, I've got to DIY the beef bouillon.
The DIY chicken bouillon I posted about a few months ago works very well.  I figured I could just substitute chicken bouillon for the beef bouillon, and it would probably taste just fine in most recipes.  But I want to be able to make onion soup mix as well, and in there I think the chicken flavor won't work so well.  So for this, I really have to make my own beef bouillon granules.  And the DIY bouillon needs to use ingredients I already store.

So the first thing to do is dehydrate some cooked hamburger.  I posted instructions for that last year.  After the hamburger is fully dehydrated, run it through the blender.  It becomes a nice powder fairly quickly.  Then use it to make the beef bouillon mix below. 

Beef Bouillon Mix
1/2 cup dehydrated, powdered, cooked hamburger
2 tablespoons dehydrated, powdered mushrooms
1 tablespoon dehydrated, minced onions
1 teaspoon each garlic powder, oregano, thyme, paprika, and salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Combine well.  Store this in a canning jar for up to six months.


After you've got the beef bouillon made, you can then use it to make onion soup mix.  

Onion Soup Mix
1/4 cup dehydrated minced onion
2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Combine all ingredients well.  Substitutes for one package of onion soup mix.

Links to related posts:
Dehydrating Hamburger  
DIY Chicken Bouillon
Meals in a Jar
Just-Add-Water Soups
Instant Meals  
Preparedness  survival  emergency  bugging out in bug pack survivalist prepper freeze dried dehydrated food storage gamma lid bucket #10 can medicine supplies supply emergencies disaster natural civil war political unrest hyperinflation inflation canning jar Mylar oxygen absorber disease
© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com
injury pneumothorax family children antibiotics alternative refrigeration solar communications salmonella pneumonia CPR medic mask gloves beans wheat rice oats corn oil coconut water purification filtration iodine pasta sugar salt iodized dry powdered milk mountain house essentials bread education home school vitamins skills chickens goats rabbits homestead redoubt American fuel wood ticks mosquitoes repellent disinfect sterilize ArmageddoPreparedness  survival  emergency  bugging out in bug pack survivalist prepper freeze dried dehydrated food storage gamma lid bucket #10 can medicine supplies supply emergencies disaster natural civil war political unrest hyperinflation inflation canning jar Mylar oxygen absorber disease
injury pneumothorax family children antibiotics alternative refrigeration solar communications salmonella pneumonia CPR medic mask gloves beans wheat rice oats corn oil coconut water purification filtration iodine pasta sugar salt iodized dry powdered milk mountain house essentials bread education home school vitamins skills chickens goats rabbits homestead redoubt American fuel wood ticks mosquitoes repellent disinfect sterilize ArmageddoPreparedness  survival  emergency  bugging out in bug pack survivalist prepper freeze dried dehydrated food storage gamma lid bucket #10 can medicine supplies supply emergencies disaster natural civil war political unrest hyperinflation inflation canning jar Mylar oxygen absorber disease
injury pneumothorax family children antibiotics alternative refrigeration solar communications salmonella pneumonia CPR medic mask gloves beans wheat rice oats corn oil coconut water purification filtration iodine pasta sugar salt iodized dry powdered milk mountain house essentials bread education home school vitamins skills chickens goats rabbits homestead redoubt American fuel wood ticks mosquitoes repellent disinfect sterilize Armageddo

Introduction to Dehydrating

As perhaps the oldest form of food preservation, people have been dehydrating food for thousands of years.  It is the easiest form of food preservation both in the sense of learning and in doing it. And it is the most compact, which is especially important when storage space is an issue.

It is also the most inexpensive way to preserve food.  While a food dehydrator makes it easier, it’s definitely not essential.  Individuals on a limited budget can even dehydrate food in a car or in the oven.  No special equipment is necessary.  There is no need for canning jars or lids, though they can indeed be quite helpful.  In dry climates, food saver or freezer bags will work for packaging.  If dehydrated foods are being stored in canning jars, canning lids can be re-used. 

Handy individuals can build a dehydrator, but it is often less expensive to acquire used ones at thrift stores or garage sales.  When I first began dehydrating many years ago, I often picked up the Nesco brand dehydrators for $2-3.  They normally come with four trays, but you can stack on additional trays, up to twelve.  There isn’t a thermostat control, and the trays have to be rotated to facilitate even drying.  Excalibur dehydrators are more expensive and harder to find second-hand.  They have the advantages of temperature control and flat trays so that making fruit rolls is easier.  Trays can also be removed so that the dehydrator can be used for raising bread or culturing yogurt. 

So what foods can be dehydrated?  Honestly, just about everything.  Fruits and vegetables are the most popular items, but jerky is also high on the list.  Eggs and milk can also be successfully preserved in this manner.  Cooked rice and pasta can be dehydrated for faster meal preparation in the future.

And finally, why exactly do people dehydrate food?  Some do it to make just-add-water instant meals.  This is especially popular among backpackers and campers, but these meals are also great for emergencies.  Everything is already prepared.  In a crisis, thinking is sometimes difficult.  Having the food ready to go makes a difficult situation easier. 

Another reason is to be able to store a lot of food very compactly.  A bushel of peppers when dehydrated can fit into a quart jar.  The same goes for nine bunches of celery.  That’s a lot of food in a small space. 

A third advantage is that the food is already prepared the way it’s needed.  It just needs a little time to rehydrate.  Zucchini can be sliced thin for soups, thick for making deep-fried zucchini, shredded for cakes and breads, or powdered and substituted for some of the flour in baking to increase nutrition.  Pineapple can be prepared in strips, chunks, or fruit rolls. 

Other fruits can be dried and powdered for adding to yogurt or smoothies.  Tomato powder can be used to thicken soups or make a little bit of ketchup.  Tomato or spinach powder can be added to the flour when making tortillas to color them.  The possibilities are really endless. 

Links to related posts:

Dehydrating pineapple

Pina colada fruit rolls and crackers

Tortillas for wraps

Deep-fried zucchini

Zucchini cupcakes

DIY Minute Rice

Instant Meals

Instant Soups

DIY Tomato Powder

Pumpkin Powder

Quick and Dirty Dehydrating

 27 january 2024