iggy
12-17-2017, 10:42 PM
In cleaning out my guest room closet to make room to put the air conditioner away for the winter, sitting in a box is my American Harvest Dehydrator. I thought it had gotten lost in my last move. I brought it out to the kitchen, oh dear, it had gotten packed up back in 2004 without being cleaned up from my last bout of dehydrating. Sweet green peppers and string beans. No the trays weren't full of food, just that they hadn't been cleaned.
Cleaned them up, then cleaned and chopped some "Ugly" Green Peppers. Green peppers that weren't in the first blush of ripeness, but ones that the store marked down a bunch because they needed to be used in a day or two. In the past 1999-2004 I bought "Ugly" vegetables and mushrooms at greatly discounted prices, took home and immediately dehydrated. Back to the green peppers in the dehydrator. Got 4 of them for $0.25 each. The next day I did mushrooms. 8 oz container of sliced for $1.00. Did two containers.
Now, canned tomatoes. I have two dozen cans of diced canned tomatoes. They are about 3 years old. Has anyone ever dehydrated canned tomatoes? I suppose I could drain them, then put the diced pieces on a Clean-A-Screen then dehydrated them. According to the manual/recipe book I just downloaded, it says how to make tomato paste using fresh tomatoes, cooking them up, straining them and then cooking down to a paste thickness, then spreading on fruit leather sheets.
Do the same with canned tomatoes? Only, I don't think I want to strain out the tomato bits.
I cleaned out my freezer. Took bags of frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed them in hot water, whirled them in my salad spinner, then placed them on the clean-a-screens and dehydrated them. Four 12 oz bags reduced to fit in a sandwich bag. Did the same with a 4 pound bag of California Blend vegetables. That easily fit into a quart bag. When the once frozen blueberries, blackberries and cubed, grilled chicken are done - I will vacuum seal them for LONG TERM storage. Oh, also have a 3 pound bag of once frozen corn and there is yet another 4 pound bag of Oriental Style Stir Fry thawing out on the fridge section.
The only canned corn I buy anymore is creamed - because that is what hubby likes. I hate it. I only like frozen corn. BUT I do like re-hydrated once frozen corn.
Cleaned them up, then cleaned and chopped some "Ugly" Green Peppers. Green peppers that weren't in the first blush of ripeness, but ones that the store marked down a bunch because they needed to be used in a day or two. In the past 1999-2004 I bought "Ugly" vegetables and mushrooms at greatly discounted prices, took home and immediately dehydrated. Back to the green peppers in the dehydrator. Got 4 of them for $0.25 each. The next day I did mushrooms. 8 oz container of sliced for $1.00. Did two containers.
Now, canned tomatoes. I have two dozen cans of diced canned tomatoes. They are about 3 years old. Has anyone ever dehydrated canned tomatoes? I suppose I could drain them, then put the diced pieces on a Clean-A-Screen then dehydrated them. According to the manual/recipe book I just downloaded, it says how to make tomato paste using fresh tomatoes, cooking them up, straining them and then cooking down to a paste thickness, then spreading on fruit leather sheets.
Do the same with canned tomatoes? Only, I don't think I want to strain out the tomato bits.
I cleaned out my freezer. Took bags of frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed them in hot water, whirled them in my salad spinner, then placed them on the clean-a-screens and dehydrated them. Four 12 oz bags reduced to fit in a sandwich bag. Did the same with a 4 pound bag of California Blend vegetables. That easily fit into a quart bag. When the once frozen blueberries, blackberries and cubed, grilled chicken are done - I will vacuum seal them for LONG TERM storage. Oh, also have a 3 pound bag of once frozen corn and there is yet another 4 pound bag of Oriental Style Stir Fry thawing out on the fridge section.
The only canned corn I buy anymore is creamed - because that is what hubby likes. I hate it. I only like frozen corn. BUT I do like re-hydrated once frozen corn.