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Dehydrated Foods I'm still somewhat new to the dehydrated food scene, so my knowledge of them isn't as great as I hope it will one day become. Still, there are a few things I can share that may help beginners make sense of them. To start with most dehydrated foods are usually only available through mail-order or online. I have purchased from the following dealers and find them reliable, honest and easy to work with.
There are lots of other places out there too. I mention these because they have given me good service. So, if dehydrated foods are hard to buy, then why are they worth buying? I couldn't answer this question for myself for several years. Now though, I've figured out. Dehydrated foods take up much less storage space than canned goods, and they taste better too. I find them more convenient in some applications because I'm able to use as much or as little of a dehydrated fruit or vegetable as I need without being obligated to use up an entire can. Canned goods are better if your cash is really limited. They're better if you have limited amounts of fuel or difficult access to clean water. Dehydrated foods on the other hand, are perfect for apartment dwellers, or anyone with limited storage space. Besides TVP, which is discussed in another article (not yet published), the dehyrated foods I find the most useful are fruits and vegetables. I buy standard dry fruits like apricots, prunes, dates, raisins and cranberries from my local market and warehouse store. Since they're so widely available there's no need to mail-order them. Dehydrated vegetables on the other hand are a wonderful fairy land of possibilities. Lets take broccoli for example. I like it and so do my kids. It's not available in canned form, or if it is then I've never seen it. If I want to include broccoli in my food storage system then the dry form is my only choice. Dehydrated broccoli rehydrates easily by simmering it in water to cover for about 10 minutes. When it's cooked it tastes better than frozen, almost as good as fresh broccoli from your own garden. It can be served plain, buttered, with an easy cheese sauce, added to soups like minestrone and of course broccoli cheese soup. It's custom made for broccoli rice casserole or make your own broccoli-rice mix. By soaking it in water to cover for about 30 minutes, instead of simmering it, rehydrated broccoli makes a fantastic salad when mixed with onions and cranberries. Which brings me to another point. Dehydrated vegetables can be combined with other dry foods like dehydrated beans, quick barley, pasta, TVP, and seasonings to create your own quick-cooking mixes. Soups, beans and rice, dals, skillet meals and all sorts of meals can be made by combing the dry ingredients ahead of time. Plastic zipper bags or clean empty jars make excellent containers. Label and seal your mixes and store them on your pantry shelf. They keep for several months ready and available whenever you need a fast, nutritious home cooked meal. Besides vegetables I find dehydrated beans, peas and lentils to be especially handy. These aren't the same as dried beans, which must soak overnight and then boil for 1 to 3 hours or until perfectly tender. Dehydrated beans cook quickly, in 10 to 15 minutes. Regular dry beans are soaked, cooked and then dehydrated just like vegetables. The finished product tastes just like home cooked beans, with only 10 minutes of simmering! Unlike canned beans, dehydrated beans do not contain any added salt, pork or sugar. I was worried that the cost would be high when compared to canned beans, but they turn out to cost about the same per ounce (or pound) of canned beans. Granted this is 3 to 4 times more than dried beans, but like all things, we pay for convenience. In our house we use dehydrated beans mostly for homemade mixes. When we cook from scratch dried beans are more economical and equally versatile.
[Home] [GFCF Recipe Index] [Frugal Food Storage] [Biblical Womanhood] [Archived Recipe Index] [Links] [New Blog] [Old Fashioned Education] [Prairie Homemaker] [My Mother's Blog] GFCF = Gluten Free & Casein Free
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