We live in a tiny one bed unit and our source for fruit and veg IS the bargain bins at stores... Yesterday Hubby purchased a very cheap cabbage 5 kilo ... today I am in the process of dehydrating the outer leaves and in a couple of days I will freeze some. The rest will be eaten fresh and if we can not finish it before it begins to fade, it too will be dehydrated. He walks past the best fruit and veg store every afternoon on the way to the tram, after work. He keeps me very busy with his finds and we get to reduce our grocery bill by so much per week that no one will believe how little we actually spend or do not spend lol

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome!

I hadn’t considered perusing the discounted veggies for dehydrating. This is going to be revolutionary!

I love to rescue mushrooms, celery and tomatoes for powder. Other stuff my family are not keen on, dehydrate and powder them and make a ‘soup’ mix.

the dehydrated veggies, I put them in everything and the kids don't even notice. I really love dehydrating the veggies this way.

I'm sorry to hear that your time was pulled away from this batch, but it happens to all of us, and it's good to see you showing that it's ok to roll with the punches.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

You have a freeze dryer!!! Infinitely better in so many ways :D

have a grocery shopping list, then my markdowns. 90% of my DH pantry is markdowns. 😋😋😋

I love all of this! I keep quart jars of dried veggies that I use when making broth. It is so convenient and very pretty on the shelf.

Hi ! I found your channel today by chance, so glad I did. So many awesome tips, ideas and demos.. I want to do them all right now ! Lol.. Found a Kenmore seal-N-save 1 and 1/2 quart canister, brand new, at goodwill for $6.97. will be using it to seal commercial glass jars with lids that I've saved. Looking forward to exploring your site. You seem so knowledgeable and practical, I like that a lot ! Thank you 🌷

I always shop for reduced first. Great video! 👍😊

I love dehydrated pomegranate in salads and also mushrooms. That's how we like them. Thanks.

Thanks to binge- watching your videos - some several times over - I'm very happy with the dehydrator I chose, and I haven't had any dehydrating fails yet (only various vegetables so far). Yesterday was the first time I tried dehydrating mushrooms. Following your magnet chart that I have on my dehydrator for temps, they came out perfectly! My adult children are excited and impressed with this new venture I'm trying. In order to make room in my freezer, I'm going to try dehydrating roasted and frozen green chiles, potatoes (frozen hash browns and fries), and broths and stocks. Thank you Darcy, for your excellent, detailed, clear and concise video. I will remember to use my blanching water on my plants, thanks to your demo today!

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you've found it all so helpful!! And way to go!

Today we have garlic, kale, cherry tomatoes, onions, celery, and jalapeno. We love garlic, onions, and mushrooms. I can't wait to try the cherry tomatoes this time. Thank you for giving me the confidence boost! I appreciate you!!!

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

You can do it!!!

Your hair is adorable.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much :D

I dehydrate all of my veg scraps, except potatoe peels and then blitz them. Reduce food waste!!

I am so happy that you recommend dehydrated frozen vegetables! Thank you and love your channel!

I so look forward to seeing your new videos. I have learned so much from you.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm glad I could help!

My very first dehydrating project was 1 bag of peas and 2 bags of corn from my freezer. They already had that protective clumping of frozen ice crystals around them. I hate waste and was mad at myself for not seeing them sooner as they worked their way down in my chest freezer. Opened each bag, dumped the hard masses into a sieve, rinsed with warm water and the ice melted. Blotted dry on kitchen hand towels and lay on the trays. Once dehydrated, moved them all to smaller jars and vacuum sealed those. Had a bit that wouldn't fit in a jar so decided to eat some for dinner. Boiling water to just rehydrate and cook and they had so much flavor I couldn't believe my luck! I have dumped some in my crock pot stew, soups, and with dinners. That saved so much space in my freezer that I am doing that from now on. Have dehydrated fresh carrots and potato cubes for hash browns too and it is so rewarding to be able to go to my huge pantry to do my 'shopping'. Frozen saves me blanching and prep time. My small local store knows I can afford to pay full price for items but often will buy the clearance stuff. Frankly, I can't really tell the difference. It just means I should do something with them asap rather than leave them in the fridge for another 3 days. I joke that I am saving the clearance foods because I feel sorry for them. LOL

@peggymcguire6042

Жыл бұрын

Ha ha! Rescued mushrooms yesterday, & made Shroom powder for my fist project. I’m now on a rescue mission lol!

I do this every time I go shopping.

Your haircut looks very nice. Thank you for all these tips.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Kathie!!

Thanks for the reminder to save the veggies. I have a produce drawer full that I can save. This is what happens when you get sick and don’t cook for a few days in a row.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Hope you feel better soon!!! Here's how I handled it when I had a fridge full and needed to do it all at once: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ipOCuc18gMjAaLw.html

@suburbanhillbilly2999

Жыл бұрын

@@ThePurposefulPantry Thank you!

I 💕 your hair! And great reminders as always

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!! It's been a big change, but we're learning to live together peacefully at this point LOL

Lucky you, finding vegetables on sale! Our local store leaves them on the shelf until they are black & slimy. And they still don't put them on sale. I'm so glad I can grow so much for my rabbits & chckens myself. My dogs love it when I drop any kind of dehydrated veggies--they get a bonus crunchy treat! I'm growing several kinds of cherry tomatoes this year so I can dehydrate them. Thanks for keeping us inspired! God Bless!

I am hooked. It all look so easy, and I am really going to try. Thanks for all the tips. U are great. Just worried about how to seal the jars without that seelmasjien.

I don't know if you said this in your video, but here is a tip: Check out if your area offers Flashfood. It is a way of deeply discounting grocery store food that is near its expiration. Since I dehydrate, I don't mind if it is close to its expiration. It saves me money, no food waste, the store makes a sale, my pantry gets fuller, win win win win.

❤since 2 month you are my best friend❤

just had to share my joy. Marked down sliced mushrooms. Bought every 8 oz pkg and 2 pigs whole button mushrooms. When I got home, I found the sliced 8 oz pkgs were organic and for $1.10 each. Filled my 10-tray dehydrator 😉😋😋.

Recently purchased a dehydration machine I get food regularly from a good bank that most of the food are in this state and I never get to use it all I'm going to be stocking up my pantry soon 😅 going to be using your videos to learn as my family never did this

Yes ma'am. I do this all the time period sometimes I may have all 3 of my dehydrators going but we do what we must do. Lol thanks Darcy

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Yes we do! All 3 available burners processing #45 of ground beef right now (the ones I went to pick up when I got that haul ;) )

I like that you're fast, efficient & frugal 😊

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! 😊

I tend to let my Excalibur run for a couple of days at a time, too.

I always learn a few tricks from ur videos.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear that!

having alot of trouble knowing which veggies to blanch. i really want to cash in on this idea but don’t want to have my preps go bad. thanks for the cosori recommendation. this is so much better than the excaliber.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Here's your list: www.thepurposefulpantry.com/how-to-blanch-vegetables-for-dehydrating/

Thank you.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

This is cool! I have an ancient dehydrator from decades ago. I can do this!!

Well, I'll be watching for sales more closely, that's for sure!

I love the soup mix idea !

Thanks. I was worried about the seeling but now I know. Much appreciated.

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Glad you found your answer ;)

Hey Darcy, maybe another way to stuff more into the machine would be to lay some baking paper over the top, slide it in, then once it's slid in under the shelf above, pull the baking paper out?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Sure

I have the most awesome food bank locally...and preserve soooo much rescued foods -free!!! I love the dehydrated greens added to ramen noodle bowls!

Wow never thought of this. Will definitely be doing this

TY!🤗

THANK YOU MAM!! THIS IS HOW I STARTED

Thank you

I learned so much! Thank you!

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Excellent video

Great tips, thanks Darcy!

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Any time!

I have to say this is the best channel ever. I love you and how informative you are. I am very new at this and probably not doing everything exactly right. But I keep coming back to your KZread videos and try again. Thanks so much for all your help and information. Glori.

@ThePurposefulPantry

11 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you!

Your intro was hysterical. ❤

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you got it :D :D :D

I need to go buy your books

Yes I have done that still do that unfortunately when it's such a good sale and I can get a lot of it boy do I put the work on myself for the next couple days! But glad you confirmed what I was thinking thought I was the only one!

Great video thanks going to the store now

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Good luck!

Thanks to your suggestion I just scored 2 lbs of baby kale on clearance today 😄

r chased an Excalibur dehydrator and I can't get enough of your videos! Thank you so much for sharing! 😊

@ThePurposefulPantry

5 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

I love your videos! They are extremely helpful! I just received my dehydrator and have been afraid to use it. I am binge watching your video and they have giving me the confidence I lacked. Thank you! 🙏🏼 19:02

My husband has a texture issue also.

Hello Darcy and thank you so much for this video. It inspires me to save some veg. Specially when the electricity prices are low. Could you please explain us about electricity cost 🔌 and the use of the dehydrator? Have a great day ❤❤

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/X2aBpM2eksi-p7A.html

Ohhh how do you know if mushrooms are still good enough to dry. I would have thrown those away!

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

They are fine! Portabella are always a little darker than regular button mushrooms, and as long as they don't smell, aren't at all slimy (not even a little), and firm, they 're good!

I made the balsamic caramelized onions and i cant quit snacking on them.❤ Do you think i could do the same thing but add liquid smoke instead?

@ThePurposefulPantry

10 ай бұрын

I would be very cautious with how much you add - it can concentrate and overpower everything.

Im looking for ways to preserve longer than 2 years. What can I dehydrate longer than 2 years?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

It's optimally good for two years - you may get longer for some foods, not for others.

🙏. ♥️. 🙏. What do you mean by conditioning the vegetables ?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

I explained the small basics of it, but here's a video explaining it further. kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZoCHzNl9eM_de6g.html

I'm wondering if you could make a pesto rosso with those tomatoes?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

With a little alteration, yes.

What did you mean by "condition" after you dehydrated? I'm sure it's simple and I'm not thinking straight lol

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

I explained it a bit - but here's a better video explaining it all: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZoCHzNl9eM_de6g.html

👍

My dehydrator never totally 100% dehydrates. It still leaves certain veggies like squash and onions "rubbery"-no matter how long they're in the dryer. So I'm wondering, can I finish the dehydrating in the oven in order to make the veggies completely dried and breakable so they "snap"?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

Yes - you can. But unless your dehydrator is running so low it's not producing much heat, it will dry your food - you just have to be patient and let it go. Have you ever tested it to make sure it's heating up properly? What's the wattage of it? Lower wattage machines (450 and under) will take considerably longer than other machines.

can you use dehydrated soup mix (homemade) in the instant pot (which I use a lot for soups and strews using fresh ingredients) how would you program that - or is the slow cooker a better way to go

@Niamh07421

3 ай бұрын

one more question- sorry about this but we are learning about dehydration with an actual dehydration unit) and we love your channel - so helpful- I have dried our tomatoes in our oven (there is a setting on it)-then vacuum sealand froze them- they come out pretty good- have you ever frozen your dehydrated foods- would appreciate your feedback

@ThePurposefulPantry

3 ай бұрын

Yes - just do it like you'd already do making your soup - it shouldn't be any different as long as you give it time.

@ThePurposefulPantry

3 ай бұрын

I don't bother freezing anything other than proteins that are dry - there's no need. The whole point of dehydrating is to keep things shelf stable and leave the freezer space for those things that need it.

What do you mean when you say "condition it"?

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZoCHzNl9eM_de6g.html

checked amazon and your shop- which are the plastic sheets- see many silicone thanks

@ThePurposefulPantry

3 ай бұрын

The solid mesh sheets are plastic. amzn.to/49Thi9P

@Niamh07421

3 ай бұрын

thanks@@ThePurposefulPantry

No volume

@ThePurposefulPantry

Жыл бұрын

There is volume - there are sections where it speeds up and no volume is needed because nothing is going on that I need to speak about.

Haha,I do it all the time with those homeless veggies...