Have you ever thought about buying a food dehydrator? In the 1970s I remember my Grandmother buying her first food dehydrator and subsequently buying one for my Aunt and Mom for Christmas. This was during a time when Californians were just starting to plan ahead for potential earthquake and other possible world disasters. And also, came during a time when healthy eating became a priority.
So we dehydrated everything (fruit, raw meat, vegetables, etc.) and found that not only was it a great way to make and save nutritious food, but it was a lot of fun too. You don t need a separate meat dehydrator, fruit dehydrator or dog food dehydrator. All these foods may be made from the same machine, whether a household brand or commercial dehydrator. And maintaining flavor and freshness is easy since most dehydrated foods can last for years if properly stored.
Even though we had books with food dehydrator recipes, we found it very easy to come up with our own recipes for dehydrating raw food or cooked food leathers. My favorites by far were the fruit leathers we made by blending various ingredients (such as pineapple, coconut, apples, bananas, apricots, pears, etc.) with a little spice (maybe nutmeg or cinnamon), and simply pouring squares onto non-toxic plastic cling wrap, placing it on the food dehydrator rack and dehydrating for 10-20 hours (depending on the moisture content of the food). We d then just peel them off the plastic and pack them up for school snacks. Although many times the dehydrated food never lasted that long because it seemed we could eat them just about as fast as we could dehydrate them for great tasting finger foods.
Think about it though. In the unfortunate event of an earthquake or other natural disaster that may make obtaining food a challenge, wouldn t it be great to know that you had homemade beef jerky, dried apples, banana chips, and even dehydrated granola on the ready? Foods reduce to about ΒΌ their original size, but maintain almost all of their nutrition (still sweet with NO added sugar!!!). And they don t need refrigeration, just storage in a glass jar or plastic bag in a dark cool cupboard. Wouldn t that help put your mind at ease?