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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Frugal Living – How to Dehydrate Tomatoes

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In our latest box of reclaimed produce {I’ll post the pictures tomorrow} there were a ton of free tomatoes that needed to be dealt with right away.  The quickest thing I could think to with them was to make a batch of dehydrated tomatoes.

If you have never dehydrated tomatoes before it’s super easy.

  • Wash, dry and quarter tomatoes
  • Season with olive oil and Italian seasonings
  • Lay on dehydrator trays and turn on the dehydrator
  • Tomatoes should be ready in 6- 10 hours depending on thickness

After the tomatoes have finished drying, store them in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.  In years past I have also placed dehydrated tomatoes in glass canning jars and placed them in the freezer for up to a year.

Note- We like our dehydrated tomatoes a little on the chewy side.  This means all the juice is not removed and therefore the dried tomatoes cannot be stored as long.  If you want to keep them longer than a year, simply dehydrate them until all the moisture is gone and they’ll last you a lot longer.

Have YOU ever dehydrated or tried sun dried tomatoes before?  What is your favorite way to use them?  I like to chop them up and add them to pasta salads.

Do you have a food dehydrator but don’t know where to start?  Check out the book The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes By Jennifer MacKenzie.  With over 400 recipes, your sure to find something everyone in your family will like.

~ Looking for a dehydrator?  Go HERE.  Amazon has a ton of them in stock right now.

 

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How to Dehydrate Swiss Chard

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Last week while I was swimming in a sea of Swiss Chard, someone suggested I dehydrate it.  At first I thought it was a weird idea.  But after thinking about it for a few days it totally made sense.

I could dehydrate the chard, store it, and then use it this winter as an extra nutritional boost in soups and stews.  Freakin’ genius!

If you have never dehydrated Swiss chard before it is ridiculously easy.

  • Pick chard
  • Wash chard
  • Dry chard
  • Cut chard into 4 inch pieces
  • Lay chard flat on trays
  • Turn dehydrator on {it took 3 hours at 135 degrees for me}
  • Cool chard
  • Store chard in a dark pantry until ready to use

See, how easy was that?  Piece of cake!

So tell me, what’s the strangest thing you have ever dehydrated?

 

If you are looking for a deal on a dehydrator, Amazon has my favorite Nesco American Harvest Food Dehydrator on sale for $35.99 shipped if you need one.

 

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

How To Dehydrate Apples With A Food Dehydrator

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When life gives you free apples, make apple chips I say.  Not only are apple chips incredibly delicious, they are good for you too.  The Girl and I made several batches of dehydrated apples over the weekend, and now they are all gone.  The only problem of course, is keeping them in the pantry.

Yesterday, as Monkey Boy was packing his lunch for school, I noticed he had stuffed an entire quart sized bag of apple chips in his lunch sack.  I stood there staring at him for a good 10 seconds trying to decide whether I should say anything or not.  In case you don’t know, a quart sized bag holds about 6  dehydrated apples.  Holy apple crack!  When is a kid ever going to eat 6 apples in one sitting?

I ended up not saying anything.  Because hey, if my kid wants to eat 6 apples… I think I must be doing something right.

Not only are apple chips the best snack on the planet, they are super easy to make.

Ingredients

6-8 large apples {I like to use Fuji or Braeburn}
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 cups water


Directions

Peel, core and slice apples about 1/4 inch thick.  Soak in a solution of lemon juice and water to help prevent browning.  Remove apples from liquid and place on trays.  Dehydrate according to the manufactures directions on your food dehydrator {it takes about 6 hours at 135 degrees in my food dehydrator}.  When apples are finished dehydrating, let them set out out for about 30 minutes before bagging them up.

Have you made dehydrated apples before?  How long does a batch last in your house?

Here are a few links if you are interested in dehydrating:

Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook $12.71 {Amazon.com}
Apple And Potato Peeler, Corer, and Slicer $12.99  {Amazon.com}
Nesco American Harvest 400 Watt Food Dehydrator $34.09 shipped {Amazon.com}

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

How to Dehydrate Mushrooms

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Much to my surprise, I ended up with a large amount of free mushrooms this weekend.  Thinking ahead to winter, I decided to go ahead and dehydrate them to use in soups later on.

If you have never dehydrated mushrooms before, let me tell you.  It was a piece of cake.  Seriously, a trained monkey could do it.

All you need to do is rinse off the mushrooms, pat them dry, and slice about 1/4″ thick.

Then pull out your dehydrator, place the sliced mushrooms on trays, and turn the food dehydrator on to 125 degrees.  Come back 6 hours later, remove the dehydrator lid and let the mushrooms cool down for about 15- 20 minutes.

Pack in canning jars and store in a dark pantry until you are ready to use them.

Now how easy was that?  See, I told you a trained monkey could do it.

If you are looking for a good food dehydrator, Amazon currently has the Nesco American Harvest Food Dehydrator on sale for $35.99 shipped.

*Amazon prices are subject to change at anytime. 

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy