Become Self Sustainable: The Dehydrator

 

Become Self Sustainable:

(for Beginners)

The Dehydrator

By Jordan Marie

Somehow I have started to truly enjoy the small steps towards self-sustainable living. My days are not less busy, the demands of others have not changed, yet I find great solace, energy and time to do things in-house, instead of buying ready-to-serve, preservative full, chemically filled options from the grocery store.

Trust me, I am a person of convenience wherever possible and have been since I can remember, but I have turned towards learning how to create within my own home with what is available to me, as a source of growth, alone time and hobby. It helps me recenter myself and allow myself to fail and succeed, just for myself. 

So, I bought a dehydrator, to see what I could create. I have had it for just over a month so far and have found it handy for way more things than I expected. The amount of fruit, vegetables and herbs that I have managed to salvage before they went bad and were tossed out, is within the $100’s of dollars already….and that's not even 2 months in of using it!

From fresh to frozen food that was going to be otherwise thrown out, I have managed to find a new use or way of preserving it.  

Becoming Self-sustainable in small ways has been fun. The first thing I tried with the dehydrator was apple chips. I used a sharp Henkel knife and sliced the apples nice and thin, and to top them off at the end, I added a dash of cinnamon sprinkled on top and the kids devoured them and asked for more!

From there, I took a bundle of  plums that my mum was not going to get through before they went bad, and tried making prunes and they are delicious!

I also had an abundance of yellow tomatoes and there was no way we could get through all of them, so I dehydrated them and stored some in oil and put it in the fridge, and the rest I ground up in a coffee grinder and have stored in a jar to use in lieu of tomato paste! I wont be needing to buy canned tomato paste at all this year and that feels fantastic!

After that, I tried my hand at other fruits and vegetables in becoming self-sustainable even more! I have tried Lemons, oranges, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, sage, oregano, ginger, lavender etc… I am thinking of trying to make fruit leather next and then once I feel I have the hang of it, jerky of different kinds!

For ideas on what I use all these various dried produce for, please refer to my recipe blog on dehydrated food uses.

Here is the process I take in prepping and processing my produce as I dive further into becoming Self Sustainable:

1. Wash produce with vinegar and baking soda
2. Take a sharp knife (or a slicer) and thinly slice produce (2-3mm in thickness)
   
   
   
3. Place on rack (depending on the food, sometimes I put down parchment paper)
   
   
   
4. Turn Dehydrator on
   
   
   
   
5. Set to the appropriate temperature and time
6. Leave it until done
7. Store in a jar or eat on the spot!

Here are some ideas for what I use my dehydrated food for:

• cooking
• sauces
• candles
• snacks
• decoration
• gifts
• tea

Happy Dehydrating! I hope you have as much fun as I have so far....my next challenge for myself will be making fruit leather. Wish me luck!