In addition to dehydrating mangoes, I also dehydrated strawberries last week, and they were so delicious and easy.

And interesting fact I read in The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes – that locally grown, fresh-picked strawberries will actually dry out faster than varieties that are grown for a longer shelf life! I had no idea, but I’ll have to remember that when I pick up flats of berries from my local berry farm this summer!

My only complaint so far is they get eaten so quickly. I’d love to put them in a jar and admire them all afternoon, but my kids (and husband) devour them within a day. At least they’re getting healthy foods and it sure is fun to see them enjoy it so much.

I’m not an expert at this by any means. I referenced these two books especially, which I’m guessing you can find at your local library (or Amazon):

• The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes
• The Complete Guide to Drying Foods at Home: Everything You Need to Know about Preparing, Storing, and Consuming Dried Foods (Back to Basics)

As for the type of dehydrator that you need – I think all of them are pretty great. First you can check your local thrift shops, because they are big appliances I think people get tired of storing them and donate them a lot.

Amazon has this Nesco FD-80A Square-Shaped Dehydrator Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging on sale for $55. This is the best price it’s ever been on Amazon. Regular price is $98 and it has nearly 5 out of 5 star reviews.

I personally have the Excalibur 3900B 9 Tray Deluxe Dehydrator, Black – but it’s certainly a dehydrator on steroids – probably much more than the average person needs. The only reason I splurged is because I found a crazy good deal that included a lightning deal and a gift card I had. But I have to say that I do love it and I’m super impressed.

I’d love to hear from you – what do you dehydrate? How do you use your dehydrator? Have you dehydrated strawberries before?

With strawberries coming into season here in the Northwest this is an inexpensive, easy-to-make, relatively healthy dessert – Grilled strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Served with homemade whip cream – it’s divine!

Recipe adapted from Grilled Strawberries Ala Mode recipe 

What is your favorite fruit to grill? 

I’ve been talking all week about peaches. Besides peeling the peaches, freezing them for smoothies and make ahead pie filling, I made this delightful Gingered peach and blueberry crisp. This crisp recipe is incredibly easy and it’s a delicious way to combine peaches and blueberries, both ripe about the same time!

What kind of fruits do you like to use in your desserts?

One of the ways we save on our meals is we don’t have meat at every meal. My meat-lovin’ mother gasps at the idea – how can you live without meat at every meal? But we seem to be surviving. ?One of my favorite vegetarian recipes is Eggplant Parmesan – anything coated in bread crumbs and smothered with cheese is good right? Especially as the weather starts to get a little chillier and you’re craving those comfort foods!

This recipe is adapted from the Weight Watcher’s recipe – so I think it’s a healthier version of your typical eggplant parmesan recipe. Most eggplant parmesan recipes have you pan fry the eggplant before it’s baked – but this recipe bakes them. Disclaimer: This particular time we made it – my hubby added extra cheese, so the version pictured above is not quite as healthy as the recipe listed below – but you’ll be surprised how a little cheese can go a long way with this recipe.

I’d love to hear what you think! What are your favorite eggplant recipes?

Recipe credit: Weight Watchers

This is Quinoa Southwest Salad is probably my favorite, favorite quinoa salad. I could eat the whole bowl. I really could. The southwestern dressing and a bowl full of good stuff – I hope you like it too.

What is your favorite quinoa recipe? 

We made Homemade Corn Dogs last night! This is yet another food item that is loved by children and hit-or-miss with the adult folk.

Let me just say – these were easier than I thought they would be. You mix up a batter, stick the hot dogs in batter, drop hot dogs in a vat of boiling oil. And you’re done! It was admittedly my first time “frying” on the stove top and I survived.

This recipe is modified from one found in The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook: A Faster, Smarter Way to Cook Everything from America’s Most Trusted Test Kitchen. A great bargain at $13.98, it has some great tips and recipes in it! 

Have you made homemade corn dogs before?

I like to freeze fruit. It’s so easy and if you freeze it while it’s in season you can put it up for those winter months when you’re craving some fruit but the stores expect you pay an arm and a leg for it. Freezing peaches is really easy.

There you have it! These should keep for at least a few months in the freezer. You can pull out a handful of peaches for smoothies, desserts or  even eat them frozen!

And here’s another idea – make ahead pie filling! Freeze in pie tins, once frozen, remove and store in freezer bag until you’re ready to make a pie!

Do you freeze fruit? 

I LOVE this tip that I got from Jennifer after I asked for ideas on what I should do with 25 pounds of peaches! She not only gave me a great peach pie filling recipe, but recommended freezing in pie plates so it could easily be popped into a pie plate and baked when needed!

(source: Midwest Living)

Like Jennifer, I’m not a fan of pie crust, so we’ll probably use this to make a crisp. You can skip the pie crust all together and use this is Jennifer’s crisp topping recipe:

What a time saving tip and a great way to have fresh peach pie in the middle of winter! 

Have you done this before?  What’s your favorite make ahead pie filling recipe?

 

What to do when you have a box of 25 pounds of peaches? The possibilities are endless (baking, canning, freezing) – but most start with peeling the peaches. And although I had heard that peeling peaches was an easy process, I’d never done it before – so I kept putting it off. I finally got around to it this weekend and let me just say, I was silly to procrastinate. Peeling peaches with this method was insanely easy!

Your peaches should be ripe – but not mushy before you start this process.

Wasn’t that easy? I set up a little assembly line and seriously got 25 pounds of peaches peeled in less than 30 minutes.

They are so pretty when they are all peeled and ready to go. . .now what should we make with them? I have some ideas that I’ll be sharing throughout the week. . . .

Have you used this method to peel peaches before? What’s your favorite thing to make with peaches?

Sugar pumpkins are so plentiful (and affordable) during the fall and they make the BEST pumpkin puree!

Canned pumpkin can be spendy – usually $1.50 – $2 on sale for a 15 oz can. But making it homemade is so much more afforable! I was able to get 3.5 cups (or 28 oz) of fresh pumpkin puree from my smallish sugar pumpkin. So nearly twice the pumpkin puree  for the same price.

Is it worth the extra hassle? That’s up to you. I did like the “roasted” flavor and also knowing that it’s fresh and free of extra preservatives.

I hear you can also roast the entire pumpkin in the oven – that you don’t even have to bother cutting the top off, cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds until AFTER it’s roasted. I will give that a try next time, but I was worried about having seeds and goop mixed in with the soft, cooked pumpkin.

The whole process took me about two hours – 10 minute prep to start, 1.5 hours in oven and 20 minutes to peel, puree and pop in the freezer. I’m not sure I’ll do this every time I need pumpkin puree but I think it’s certainly a good option and it will save you about 50% off.

Here’s the perfect recipe for your pumpkin puree – it’s Slow Cooker Turkey Pumpkin Chili and it’s delicious!

So tell me – have you done this before? What should I make with my pumpkin puree?