Category: Dehydrating

The obvious answers are that I love the lifestyle. I love the fresh veggies. I love the fresh meat and knowing where my food comes from. I love the sweat and tears. I love the animals. I love the time that I spend with my family while we are working on different projects. But one answer that I give more…

Dehydrating Foods [sdm_download id=”4455″ fancy=”0″ new_window=”1″] Every gardening season, we have an over-abundance of vegetables in the garden. We can and dehydrate everything that we don’t eat fresh.  Some of the favorites in our household are “sun-dried” tomatoes, zucchini chips, watermelon chips, fruit roll-ups and jerky. We also use our dehydrator for rising bread and for making yogurt. (This only works…

Every year I have a zucchini post. I absolutely LOVE zucchini… as long as it isn’t “mushy”, I am good with it. We have made everything from breads, cakes, cookies, veggie stir fries, fried, baked and even pizzas with zucchini. Yes, this time of year is a crazy time… monsoon weather comes up and yes, zucchinis start growing and growing…

I am asked all of the time… “How much do you spend on groceries a month?” $600 (ok, pick your jaw up off of the ground) Yes, for our family of 10, I only spend $600 a month. Do you know why? Because that is all that is in the budget anyhow! So I make do!!! My kids do not…

When we can pick up veggies for a super-great price, we jump all over that… I can some things, freeze some and even dehydrate some… after we get our fill on fresh. This last week, I picked up 40 pounds of broccoli for $26. My kids love grilled broccoli served with feta cheese. I did dehydrate about 15 pounds of…

Yes, this time of year is a crazy time… monsoon weather comes up and yes, zucchinis start growing and growing and GROWING!!!  I remember the year that I moved to Arizona, about 25 years ago, someone left a bag of zucchini in my mom’s car at the grocery store… The zucchini wars of 1991 in Chino Valley, AZ. There are…

It’s that time of year again…. SPRING and strawberries are in full bloom at home and available at the grocery store (or as my grandma used to say, “the market.” Every year, I manage to pick up a TON of strawberries and dehydrate them. What do you use those for you might ask… HELLO? EATING! No really…. We have strawberries…

I refuse to buy processed kids snacks, especially during the summer. I tend to buy in bulk and case quantity. last week we picked up 2 cases of pineapple, A FAVORITE in our household. They were FINALLY ripe I used my slicer and then I have even thickness and no skins on them. I can easily cut them into smaller,…

Summertime is such a great time to not only grow your own gardens with vegetables but also herbs to use in your kitchen! I have a pretty large herb selection in my garden as well. I store all of my bulk herb that I dehydrated in quart sized mason jars. I have them each labeled with chalkboard labels so that…

Having an organized pantry is important in your kitchen. It allows for less time during meal preparation and a much better feel in your kitchen. I know that I feel a whole lot better when I walk into my kitchen and know exactly what I have in my pantry. We do dehydrate a TON of veggies and herbs from our…

We have been recovering from upper respiratory infections and stomach flu… ARGH! It’s the pits when all 8 in our house get sick!! I have missed posting on my blog and other sites and am trying to get caught up finally!!!   There are a few things in my kitchen that I can not go without (at least now that…