Tuesday

Have Healthy Foods Even in the Heat of Summer

One of the hardest things to do is to give your family healthy foods even when you're out & about in the heat of summer.  It doesn't matter where you are, foods like to go bad quick in the summer!

To get around this, we dehydrate many fruits & veggies so we can safely take them anywhere with no fear of them going bad while we're at the park or running errands on a hot summer day.

I could go item-by-item and tell you how to best dehydrate each food.  However, someone beat me to it!  (And for this I'm grateful!)

Dehydrate 2 Store has a wonderful website and YouTube channel dedicated exclusively to teaching you how to dehydrate.  She not only gives you instructions on how to dehydrate in general but goes through different foods telling you how to dehydrate each one.  Her site provides a wealth of information on this subject. 

Don't feel overwhelmed by her expensive dehydrator and vacuum-packaging machine.  You can get the same results with a cheaper Nesco dehydrator.  (I know; I have one.)  I do now have a Foodsaver, but it's only because I got it for $15 at a local thrift store.  Until then, I just put my foods in clean jars.  We went through the foods quickly enough that it wasn't ever a problem.

2 comments:

Mike Lieberman said...

The summer is a great time to eat fresh fruits. Mad good and hydrating.

Though I can get down with some dried turkish figs. So good.

Thoughts of THAT mom said...

I totally agree with you. We eat a TON of fresh fruits in the summer!

However, when it hits 120 here (& stays there for 2 months), it's nearly impossible to carry fresh fruits with you when running errands or going to the park. They go bad QUICK! Dehydrated fruits & veggies really help with this!

My kid's favorite is "tomato chips". I slice cherry tomatoes & dehydrate them. YUM! Even my oldest who doesn't like raw tomatoes will eat them.