home-made convience

Last post 06-08-2008 12:08 AM by mistycolleen. 106 replies.
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  • 04-03-2008 2:42 PM

    home-made convience

    with the economy as bad as it is, and getting worse, i love any way i can be less dependent on commercial products. i cant wait to try the cream base soup recipe, which actually is what gave me the thought to write my first post. i was wondering if anyone else had any favorite recipes that are pantry staples. i also have a dehydrator and would love to utilize that more than i do. any suggestions?

  • 04-03-2008 4:00 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    Ohhhh, great post - this should bring out a lot of ideas. For my contribution, I dehydrate everything. Since I have limited freezer space, when frozen veggies are on sale I buy a bunch and toss them in my 2 dehydrators. They are dehydrator ready and are great for making soups. Just heat up your base (ie chicken, veggie or beef broth) and toss in the veggies. You can also put them in the slow cooker in the morning and have them for dinner. The Ball canning book has a great section on dehydrating foods. As for fruits, again, I've dehydrated pretty much everything. Bananas are great for snacking on as is or I've soaked them in water until they are soft and used them in bread and cakes. Apples are great for snacking, pies, cakes, cookies, stewed and made into sauce, dice and toss into cooked cerials, granola, ect. Pineapple is awsome dried as is watermellon. With watermellon, just remember you might want to cut it a little thicker than most fruits. With blueberries, cranberries, grapes, and other smaller berries, put them in boiling water for a few seconds until the skins split. then drain and put in your dehydrator. Peaches and pears are great also. Just remember some fruits will brown if not treated but don't feel you need to.

  • 04-03-2008 5:34 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    This sounds lame but I make my own tarter sauce (for french fries)  I use my little mini chopper. I put in:

     

    bits of onion, and pickle

    mayo

    a dribble of lemon juice

    parsley flakes, dill weed, a dash of garlic powder and season salt

    Amy

  • 04-03-2008 6:07 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    OMG, not lame to me as I do the same thing!! I think it's better than storebought.

  • 04-03-2008 7:01 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    i also do not think that is lame, i too make my own tartar sauce.

     ....i love the idea of dehydrating frozen veggies, i would have never thought of that. actually they are even on sale this week! great idea!

  • 04-03-2008 7:26 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    I make quite a few things that I can have on hand.  One favorite is onion soup mix that I always have so I don't have to go and buy those Lipton envelopes for crock pot roasts, etc.

    Onion Soup Mix

    3/4 c. instant minced onion (buy an inexpensive bottle)

    4 tsp. onion powder

    1/3 cup beef-flavored boullion powder (inexpensive bottle is fine)

    1/4 tsp. celery seed (crushed fine is best)

    1/4 tsp. sugar

    Mix up and store in a jar.  When you need "one envelope of onion soup mix," use 1/4 cup of this mix. Sometimes 2 T. of mix is enough to flavor a meat dish.

  • 04-03-2008 7:37 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    Inspecl,

    how many trays do your dehydrators have. I have 10 for my Harvest Maid and use it a lot. When bananas are on sale I dry bananas and then put them up in food saver bags. They are soooo much better than commercial dried banana chips, later are so very dry and tastseless.

    I had never thoght of drying the frozen veggies, I have always canned them. Thanks for the idea. From now on I will dry them. Have quite a few canning jars I can put dried things in plus at least 20 gladd 1 gal jars. When lemons or ranges are on sale, I zest them with a very sharp veggie peeler so I don't get any white. Then juice the oranges or lemons to freeze the juice and dry the zest, it makes the house smell wonderful. I also have a bunch of dried wild chokecherries, can always hydrate them for juice to make jelly. Guess I'll have to watch and see if I can find another (this tme used) dehydrator when the all the auctions start around here.

  • 04-03-2008 8:39 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    Oh, thanks for this recipe! I've been looking for a onion soup mix recipe! May I just say that when onions are on sale, get a bunch, peel, slice about 1/4 in thick and dehydrate until crispy. Store in airtight containers. When you need them in small pieces such as for this recipe, either break them up in a baggie or wiz them for a second or two in a processor. For onion powder, wiz the dried onion until you have a nice powder. I keep a lot of dried onion as I use it for soups, stews, anything that uses onion. Thanks again for this recipe - can't wait to try it.

  • 04-03-2008 9:33 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    I make my own salad dressings.  They taste great and it can be with products you might already have on hand,  I wing it. so ingredients are not exact.  This is good on taco salad.

    Thousand Island 

    I usually start out with 1/2 to 1 cup mayo depending on how much I need

      Add a little chili sauce we like it a little spicy, so I usually buy hot chili sauce

    sweet relish probably 1-2 tbs.

    a dash of garlic powder.  Store in frig.  Should last a couple of weeks.

     

  • 04-03-2008 9:58 PM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    Grelo, I have 2 american harvest with 10 trays each. I forgot to mention that I also dry strawberries - tons of strawberries. I love chewing on them and they are wonderful cooked with oatmeal or cream of wheat. I can veggies too but keep dehydrated ones on hand for my soups and such. I also like to take them camping. Some take a little longer to rehydrate but if you put them to soak the night before you shouldn't have any problems. If your making soups, just toss them in and let simmer.

    I love the way the house smells when dehydrating - even garlic and onions smell good. Good luck finding another dehydrator. I'd love to have another one.

  • 04-04-2008 8:49 AM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    Great thread - keep it up.  My contribution is that I make my own cocktail sauce - just ketchup and horseradish. 

    Janet

  • 04-04-2008 9:41 AM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    imspecl:
    Oh, thanks for this recipe! I've been looking for a onion soup mix recipe!

    You're welcome!  I wish I had a dehydrator,  I'll have to look for one, maybe at a sale where someone doesn't want theirs anymore?  Amazing what people buy and decide they don't want and sell it - sort of like bread machines which I see at yard sales.   Any favorite brands of dehydrators?

  • 04-04-2008 9:57 AM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

     I had a copy of More with Less, and used it to death!

    Happily, I found a copy at a used book sale for $1.

    This is one of the recipes, that I use often.

     

    French Dressing

    1 Tablespoon grated onion

    1 teaspooon salt

    2 Tablespoons sugar

    2 Tablespoons vinegar

    1/2 cup salad oil

    1.2 cup ketchup

    2 Tablespoons lemon juice

    1 teaspoon paprika

    Shake, beat, or whirl in blender.

    Note: I add the sugar and salt after tasting first, as the ketchup is often salty and sweet enough, and I don't care for overly sweet salad dressings.

     

    ViolaB 

     


    Click for Toronto Pearson, Ontario Forecast
  • 04-04-2008 10:13 AM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

     Here's another that I have used often, from the More with Less cookbook

     

    Coating Mix for Oven-Fried chicken

    2 cups dry bread crumbs

    1 1/2 teaspoons salt

    1 1/2 teaspooons paprika

    1 teaspoon celery salt

    1 teaspoon onion salt

    1/4 teaspoon pepper

    1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (optional)

    1/4 cup vegetable oil

    Mix together well. Keeps unrefrigerated in tightly covered container.

    Baking instructions:

    Put 1/2 cup coating mix in paper or plastic bag. Moisten chicken with water or milk, and shake, one piece at a time, in the bag. Add more mix as needed.  Lay chicken skin-side up on a greased pan, bake one hour at 350F, no turning needed.

    Note: I like to use this basic recipe and add different flavourings, such as chili powder, curry powder, BBQ seasoning, garlic powder, etc, some cornmeal, cornflake or bran flake crumbs from the bottom of the cereal bag, etc. I do not use onion salt or celery salt, but the powders (ground celery seed) and reduce the amount by half. I like this recipe because I can control the amount of salt that I use. The commercial mixes are extremely salty. I also keep mine in a jar in the refrigerator. It's a great way to use up those bits of bread that I just don't have another use for. I break up the bread, dry it in a low oven, then run it through the food processor, immersion blender, in a tall plastic tub, and covered, so there aren't crumbs decorating the kitchen, or the blender. I've even used the coffee grinder for small amounts.

     

    VB 


    Click for Toronto Pearson, Ontario Forecast
  • 04-04-2008 10:28 AM In reply to

    Re: home-made convience

    ViolaB:

    Here's another that I have used often, from the More with Less cookbook

     

    Coating Mix for Oven-Fried chicken

    I have used this recipe for years and years.  I got it from "The Tightwad Gazette" where it was called "Skinny Shake." It is SO much better than Shake 'n Bake because of the low sodium content and the fact that you can use just what you need.  I take the skin off the chicken pieces to reduce the fat. You and I are on the same page, ViolaB!!  Love the "More With Less" Cookbook too.

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