Dried Foods

First off, I apologize as I have really neglected this blog. I own another blog called Weigh Healthy and I have put a ton of energy into that one lately and this blog has suffered because of that. That being said, I wanted to talk today about dried foods and food dehydration in general. This spring and summer I have been reading anything I can get my hands on about drying food. I have a son who is quite interested in eating raw. He is already a vegetarian/vegan and he is wanting to "up" his nutritional life a notch. He and I and his younger sister have been attending raw food pot-lucks and learning a lot. I have learned from a lot of raw foodists that they dry many foods they eat. This was interesting to me, because I thought drying hurt foods. One thing I became quite interested in was the nutritional value of foods when they are dried. I have been happy to learn that they don't change that much actually. This is good news on many levels. It is good because food can store long term(ish), foods become available now year round instead of having to wait until next year, and best of all, they taste great...plus dehydration is one of the cheapest ways to store food. The chances of micororganisms affecting the food (when dried properly) is quite low too. Lots of pluses to drying food. Besides, who doesn't like dried pineapple!

Here are some fun ideas I thought I would share with you about dried foods:

If you would like healthy baby food, simply dehydrate carrots, or corn, or peaches, strawberries, plums, any food and then once dried, blend them in your Vitamix or blender until they are powder. Store in a canning jar or something glass until you are ready to feed your baby. Then simply take warm water and put a few tablespoons of your dry whole food powder and the warm water and Wham-o, you have baby food...with no chemicals or preservatives!

Another fun trick for lunches is whole food delicious "Ramen" noodles...here is who you can do it:
Take a thermos and put a variety of dried foods like peas, corn, carrots, green beans, celery, and onions. Then add one Tablespoon bulgar, a couple tablespoons of small whole wheat pasta, like small shells. Now add boiling veggie broth and shut the lid of your thermos. At lunch time your home-made Ramen will be done and you can eat it free of preservatives!

I just did a google search for fun to see how much dried mushrooms are per pound. The are out of sight expensive. They are about $15 per 2 ounces!!! That is nuts on anyone's budget. Why not dry your own (and sell them). You will know what is in them and they taste fantastic too! Once dried you can blend them to make creamed soups. Use your mushrooms to make stroganoff, or add to a nice curry.

You can also make crackers and chips in your dehydrator that are healthy and yummy. Some may ask why a person would want to do this...the answer is simple: nutrition. Chips and crackers are loaded with preservatives and chemicals. It is fun to eat hummus, dips made from healthy foods and salsa. These dips can add a lot to your nutritional life if eaten with healthy chips. Healthy chips cost a fortune if you look at their cost per pound. Making home made chips from whole foods in an amazing blessing. I will put our a great recipe in a later post of how to actually make chips.

Dried fruits make great snacks in children's lunches for school, and they also go well in trail mixes for park activities. Christmas is a fun time to share your treats with neighbors and friends.

Dried vegetables make stews, soups, and casseroles taste delicious in minutes. When you are in a hurry, throw in dried veggies in your crock-pot soup, or Spanish rice dish in the fall and come home to a gourmet meal all ready to go.

I am new to dehydrating and I will post more ideas as I learn them. Health and dehydration go hand in hand. This is new information to me. For whatever reason I was thinking canning foods would be safer. After education myself, I now see this is not the case. There is need for both types of food preservation for sure. Drying food is fast, cheap, fun, and cost effective.