My Life Just Got 100% Easier

[julissa]

I wanted to share how my life just got better.

 

for my birthday my family got me an amazing food dehydrator. this has been an eye opening adventure. to date I have made all sorts of veggie chips, but the part that is giving me a more open life is I am dehydrating whole meals. there is a learning curve involved in this, but every day I am trying something new.

 

last night I rehydrated chili I made and dehydrated last week.. it was just like it was originally. yesterday I did sweet potato mashed. my plan is to make meals of most everything I am cooking anyway for use in the outside world. I am going away for Thanksgiving, and now I will be able to bring my meals easily. 

 

 

[cyclinglady]

Sounds good! Thanks for sharing!

[mamaw]

wow,  that  is  wonderful... Can you give  us  some  recipes  that  you  have  done & also  what  brand  of  dehydrator?  I always  wanted  one  but was  never sure  which  ones  were  good.... &  I never  thought  of  meals... way to go.....

[julissa]

this is so incredibly awesome I want to go outside and shout about it. 

 

so they got me the 9 tray Excalibur. expensive but so worth it, and as it is a one time investment in my ability to eat outside of my  house, really not expensive at all when you think about it that way. 

 

a few successes I've had so far:

 

I made a huge pot of chili, then dehydrated it in one serving portions. it looked like, well, I won't say, but is looked less than desirable when finished. I portioned it out in zip lock bags. I took one out yesterday and put it in a  bowl, and just poured hot water over it. left it sit a few minutes, and in all honesty, it was as good as I had just made it. I was so happy I danced in my kitchen. 

 

yesterday I made sweet potato mashed and also spread it out in one portion servings on the trays, it ended up looking really strange with the liquid sucked out of it, but not only was it good to eat like that, think fruit leather, when I added hot water, wah lah, sweet potato mashed appeared before my eyes. 

 

right now I have quinoa in there, will report back how that works out. I also have some chopped meat and thought those could be combined in one zip lock with some veggies I've yet to dry, and it would be an awesome meal out. 

 

I also have cinnamon sugar apple chips going now. 

 

I am a kid with a new toy, completely thrilled to play with new ideas. 

[Serielda]

Awesome,and happy birthday. As for that dehydrator that sounds awesome. Did you get one of those smaller round ones or the nice big square one. I want one of the bigger square ones. They had one I loved at a cabbala's of all places in a neighboring town. Kinda Jealous as I have been wanting one of those.

I wanted to share how my life just got better.

 

for my birthday my family got me an amazing food dehydrator. this has been an eye opening adventure. to date I have made all sorts of veggie chips, but the part that is giving me a more open life is I am dehydrating whole meals. there is a learning curve involved in this, but every day I am trying something new.

 

last night I rehydrated chili I made and dehydrated last week.. it was just like it was originally. yesterday I did sweet potato mashed. my plan is to make meals of most everything I am cooking anyway for use in the outside world. I am going away for Thanksgiving, and now I will be able to bring my meals easily.

[julissa]

Thanks, it's the large 9 tray square Excalibur. expensive for a one time purchase, but well well well worth it. 

[bartfull]

I'm intrigued. I thought they were for making dried fruit. I never knew you could do meals with them. So tell me, do you have to refrigerate them or freeze them or can you just stick them in the cupboard until you're ready to pull one out and eat it?

[Serielda]

Bartfull, They are quite handy indeed. For instance the larger ones like Julissa has and I want, you can make jerky's to kale chips and well fruits. I also want one to dry herbs like basil, and peppermint and such to make quick teas and such so I know they are good and safe. I have that at the top of my holiday wish list. My mil has one but I declined it as I wasn't sure of the condition and what all she had in the past used it for.

I'm intrigued. I thought they were for making dried fruit. I never knew you could do meals with them. So tell me, do you have to refrigerate them or freeze them or can you just stick them in the cupboard until you're ready to pull one out and eat it?

[julissa]

they are definitely good for dried fruit and herbs, chips and the like.

 

but that stuff doesn't get my heart pumping with excitement. you can do full meals, bag them and they don't need any refrigeration. I have them in my cupboard, and apparently will stay for quite some time. 

 

right now I am making a beef veggie stew that is cooking on stove top, then tomorrow I will portion it out and dehydrate meals. 

 

Bartfull, I always thought it was just for things like chips and fruit, but once I found out what else it could do, I realized how it would open up my life. 

[mamaw]

thanks, I was  thinking  that  that one  was  the  top of the  line.. Now to check around  for the best  pricing....you perked  up  my interest.... envy  you  right  now!!!  One  thing  I don't  own  &  want.....keep posting  to let  us know  what  you  are  making!!!

[SMRI]

Something I have not ever looked into.  I might have to.  Curious, if you dried meat or fruit and added hot water, would they come back to somewhat normal?  Being able to take some food with me on the road like that where all I would need is a microwave to warm some water would be REALLY nice!!

[julissa]

hi again. so far anything I tried in a full meal came back to its original life. you just have to have access to hot water, add the food to a bowl and add the water. let it sit and its just like what it was before you started this whole process. 

 

the chili was exceptional, just as it was. it soaked up the hot water and I enjoyed the heck out of it. I am trying my concoctions in my house, but I am really doing it to be able to take food with me when I go out and especially traveling, where an ice chest wouldn't be effective for long periods of time.

 

if I could figure out how, I could post some pics. I will work on that. 

[bartfull]

How do you know how much hot water to add?

[julissa]

I just eyeballed it to cover.  the first bowl of chili I made I just added a bit, and when I checked it it had completely soaked in so it didn't look like the original, so I added more and it left me with the sauce. it's really trial and error, you can't dry something too much, or add too much water. it will just be saucier.

 

and just to emphasize I am still playing and experimenting and will report back as I get more meals done

[mamaw]

I started to research  & find  that  most  only  have  the  screens  & the  solid  mats  are  extra.. Do you have  both? I  guess  I'm  wondering  how  you  did  your  chili  or  items  that  have  a good  bit  of liquid?  You have  peaked my interest  so much  .......so I  don't  know  whether  to  hug  you or not! My interest  is  peaked  that  I want  one  now  but  my wallet  is  saying no no no....but  this  would  make  a nice  present!!!! My hubby  loves  wild  game  jerky  so  I'm fairly sure  I get  get him on  board  to  make  his own  instead  of paying  someone  else....

[julissa]

I use parchment paper I got in the dollar store for the liquidy items. and on that note, not sure if I already posted, I actually put almond milk on a parchment paper sheet with folded up edges to make it available to take out to use in iced coffee. it turned it into a powder!!!!!   little things I am figuring out just by puttering around with it. 

 

jerky is something I haven't tried yet, but I have lots of ideas for it. 

 

the person who gave me this idea was hugged much by me, I completely understand.   

[kareng]

From my son and Hub's limited experience with re- hydrating the purchased freeze dried meals - things like soups, stews, and noodle dishes like pasta are the tastiest. Not sure steak and baked potato would be good.

If you lived somewhere that the power goes off or go camping a lot, these would be really worth it. Maybe traveling to a mission project, too. Or a kid at a summer camp. Not sure they are worth it for my lazy a$$.

Please, Keep posting about what works and what doesn't. This could be a very helpful thread to a lot of people in the years to come.

Do you think people would find it better if we moved this to the cooking section?

[w8in4dave]

I have dehydrated for years!!! You can dehydrate just about everything! I dehydrate sauces, fruit, meat, and vegetables! Alot of things are better than others. We make alot of jerky. My husband buys a season mix he uses. I don't eat that. I kinda wing it with salt pepper and seasonings. What I really like to do is make my own spaghetti sauce, dehydrate it and powder it. It is good to put in another sauce for extra richness, or used on baked potatoes or as a spice. I dehydrate my own spices, Garlic , Onion , dill , what ever I can get my hands on. I don't have a fancy dehydrator but I use the heck out of mine! In fact it's my second one. My next one will be a fancy one. I got mine from Cabelas it's their brand. You don't have to get special trays you can use parchment paper. But I do like their sturdy trays. 

[BlessedMommy]

This is an interesting topic. I own an Excalibur dehydrator so I'll be watching this thread.

[julissa]

you can move the thread if it's best.

 

if it was for use at home I wouldn't do it.   I have had a huge problem when I had to travel, and we are going up north for Thanksgiving. I was already stressing about it. it's a plane ride, and I felt a cooler chest just wouldn't cut it. that is the main reason I am beyond thrilled now. we also have a wedding in May, and was already stressing about that weekend away. 

 

I just finished bagging and sealing up a bunch of meals, it is so great.  

 

w8in4dave, any jerky tricks you can pass along??? 

[w8in4dave]

I get nice lean beef roast. I usually have my husband cut it because he cuts so uniformly , Cut it across the grain so it will not be as tough. We Dehydrate, Chicken breast  Beef, Venison , turkey breast , if you cannot find a gluten-free mix just try and find a recipe one online and use your own seasonings. We usually let ours set in the seasonings over night. And dehydrate in the Am. It takes a while depending on how much you do depends on how long. There might be some answers for that , that came with your dehydrator. I mean really the hardest part id cutting it if you ask me. Here is one recipe I want to try. It has honey But I won't use Flank steak , If you want to use a steak thats fine They are easier to cut. I am going to use this recipe next 

 

 

•  1 steak, 1 1/2 to 2 pound
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp cracked black pepper

Trim and slice  steak. Warm the honey in a small saucepan, to make it more free-flowing. Add the remaining ingredients to the honey, stir together and let cool. Add prepared flank steak to the marinade. Refrigerate marinating flank steak for 24 hours. Drain flank steak, lay out on trays of food dehydrator and dry thoroughly, 4-6 hours.

 

I usually use a dry mix so this will be different. This is only for   1 1/2 to 2 lb steak we usually get a 5 or 6 lb roast. But for starters thats ok. I may do two of these one with the honey one without. 

[w8in4dave]

My other suggestion would be to get a Vacuum sealer especially for traveling, They really do keep food longer. Remember you can dehydrate tomatoes and everything! Nuts! It's so easy to dehydrate tomatoes and vacuum seal them and take them along! I also smoke my own meat I smoke my own cheese also. Talk about them most yummiest! 

[bartfull]

Something I have not ever looked into.  I might have to.  Curious, if you dried meat or fruit and added hot water, would they come back to somewhat normal?  Being able to take some food with me on the road like that where all I would need is a microwave to warm some water would be REALLY nice!!

From what you have said, there might not even be a microwave at some of the places they send you. But you could get one of those small electric teapots that you just plug in to heat water. That way you'd never be left high and dry.

[julissa]

w8in4dave, I have a vacuum sealer and it's awesome for this. 

 

I love the idea of a small teapot! 

[SMRI]

From what you have said, there might not even be a microwave at some of the places they send you. But you could get one of those small electric teapots that you just plug in to heat water. That way you'd never be left high and dry.

 

I have a travel coffee pot that would work if there isn't a microwave.  Just run the water through without any coffee grounds .

 

 

Could have used this for lunch today--at a hotel, go to the hotel restaurant---I can get a salad or a salad.  They have one dressing that is gluten-free.  I'm on someone else's dime so I had to eat here or pay for my own. Good thing it's only one night.  I have some food with me too but I was sick of my "travel" food.