Cinnamon Spiced Sweet Potato and Carrot Chips

I’m a lover of sweet potatoes!  I seriously have one almost every day….I know, don’t judge!  I’m telling you I love them!  These sweet potato chips are my new favorite.  I miss crunchy little things called chips!  Why not make sweet potato and carrots into chips to satisfy that need of a crunchy snack?  Throw in some salt and cinnamon and you have one addicting snack.  Trust me, I had to fight little hands off from eating them all.

These chips are super easy to make.  I made the carrot chips first and then the sweet potato chips.  Just a note the carrot chips will curl up into little tiny bites and the sweet potato chips will brown slightly on the edges….you want that to happen to both of them so when it happens, it’s ok.  I also recommend that you eat these up right away.  They don’t store as well and don’t have the crunch the next day.  I don’t think you’ll have any problem, these disappear quickly.

Another thing, I choose sea salt and cinnamon for a sweet snack.  But you can spice these up and change up the spices to fit what you are in the mood for.  Enjoy guys!  I hope you like them as much as my family did.


Cinnamon Spiced Sweet Potato and Carrot Chips

To Make Carrot Chips:
4 carrots
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a mandoline or a knife and thinly sliced carrots into rounds.  Lightly toss the carrots in olive oil and sea salt.  Don’t over saturate the carrots with olive oil, only a light coating.
Bake chips for 45 minutes. Set aside and allow cool on wire rack.



To Make Sweet Potato Chips:

1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Peel skin off the sweet potato and discard.  Continue to peel the sweet potato with peeler making lots of thin strips of the sweet potato.  Put the strips onto prepared baking sheet and drizzle olive oil, sea salt, and cinnamon.  Using fingers, toss the potatoes to evenly coat the strips of sweet potato.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are slightly golden and crispy.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.



Take both chips and toss together with additional sea salt and cinnamon.  Enjoy!!

Thanks for information: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/

How to Dehydrate Fruit: Basic Food Preservation

Once the flood gates of produce were opened and a round or two of fruit had been flash frozen and stowed away, we realized that unless we picked up the pace a bit, the produce was going to rot in my foyer before making it to a pie or smoothie.

Enter Duke the Dehydrator.  (Like the name?  We gave it to him last October when we made caramel apple chips for Halloween instead of candy.  They’d be excellent as a non-holiday snack too!)
Up until this point in time, my experience in dehydrating put me in the “intermediate” category.  I could proudly claim dried apples, bananas, mango, strawberries, carrots and almonds as successful attempts and winners with the family.  The 150 pounds of various fruits sitting on my kitchen counter was challenging me to a duel.

18 pounds of grapes and 15 glass pint jars later, I can now add grapes, blueberries and  peaches and to the list of successes as well.

Each type of fruit has its own peculiarities as to how they dry best.  The easiest way to explain is to simply run down the list of fruits one at a time.  So here goes!

Note:  This is a very long post with instructions included within each individual fruit.  This makes it easier if you’re looking for one in particular.

Also, since curious minds probably want to know, I have this exact dehydrator.  Affordable and it gets the job done.  It was a birthday gift last year and one of the best birthday gifts ever!

 

How to Dehydrate Grapes

Want to learn how to make raisins?  Although I learned growing up that raisins were dried grapes, I don’t think I ever put two and two together until I made them myself!  The 18 pounds of grapes from the produce bash provided an excellent, hands-on learning opportunity for everyone in the family.
We started with seedless green and seedless red grapes for experimentation.  Both varieties turned out to be excellent for dehydrating.  I imagine it’s possible to use seeded grapes as well, but you would definitely have to halve and remove the seeds first, before dehydrating.

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly using an all natural produce wash.  Drying is optional, since they’ll dry in the dehydrator anyway.  Although working with dry fruit is easier and less messier than working with wet fruit.
2. If the grapes have seeds, halve the grapes and remove the seeds.  It is not necessary to slice whole, unseeded grapes.
3. Lay the clean fruit on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
4. Set the temperature to 135 degrees, the “fruit” setting on most dehydrators.
5. Allow to dehydrate for 24-48 hours.
6. Grapes are raisins when you squeeze them gently and there is very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
7. Yield:  2 pounds of grapes yields approximately two 16 oz glass jars of raisins, depending on the grapes used.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller fruit will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• Water and juices will be released from the grapes as they dry, causing them to have a spot on the outside where the sweet, sticky juices are trying to escape.  These juices made it a bit more important to shuffle every 8 hours if possible to prevent long-term sticking.  This was more prevalent in the red grapes than the green grapes.
• Although they were the same size starting out, dried green raisins are noticeably larger than dried red raisins.
• When handed out to some friends for taste testing, comments such as “Wow, these are so much more flavorful than regular raisins” were common.
• You can jump start the dehydrating process by raising temperature to 145 degrees for the first 12 hours.  After that, reduce it to 135 degrees to prevent burning or over-drying.
• I plan on keeping my raisins in jars and stored in the pantry for several months (so I don’t have to spend my grocery budget on dried cranberries).  Because of this, I chose to keep the grapes in the dehydrator for close to 48 hours.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.

 

How to Dehydrate Bananas

 

Banana chips are almost as much fun as homemade raisins.  If you’re looking for crunch, these are definitely the way to go.

1. Peel the banana.
2. Cut into 3/8″ rounds for thin strips, or 1/4″ for thick strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
3. Set the temperature to 135 degrees.
4. Allow to dehydrate for 8-12 hours.
5. Bananas are done when you bend them and they are not pliable.  Ideally, they should come very close to breaking when bent.   Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
6. Yield:  one banana yields approximately half a cup of dried banana chips.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller slices will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more bananas if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.
• Bananas may change colors through the dehydrating process.  If this is a concern, gently slice the bananas into a 1 part apple cider vinegar to 4 part water solution.  A very quick soak – one minute or so – is enough to cancel out the discoloration.
• Bananas can be flavored before drying by sprinkling spices into the water bath, or gently on top of the slices fruit once laid in the dehydrator.  Remember that the flavor will condense through the drying process, so a little bit goes a long way.

 

How to Dehydrate Blueberries

 

Dehydrating blueberries provides a way to incorporate the fruit into fun snacks like granola bars or trail mix.  If your blueberries are small to begin with, they will inevitably fall through larger holes in the trays.  You can use the solid trays that come with dehydrators (often used for fruit rolls) to prevent escaping berries.

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly using an all natural produce wash.  Drying is optional, since they’ll dry in the dehydrator anyway.  Although working with dry fruit is easier and less messier than working with wet fruit.
2. Remove all the stems and lay the clean fruit on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
3. Set the temperature to 115 degrees.  The low temperature ensures the fruit doesn’t burn or char.
4. Allow to dehydrate for 8-18 hours.
5. Blueberries are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
6. Yield:  a clamshell of blueberries (18oz) yields approximately one 8oz glass jars of dried blueberries.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller fruit will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.

How to Dehydrate Strawberries

Strawberries are another fun fruit to dehydrate – they’re SO easy to snack on!

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly using an all natural produce wash.  Drying is optional, since they’ll dry in the dehydrator anyway.  Although working with dry fruit is easier and less messier than working with wet fruit.
2. Remove the stems and cut the fruit in half.  Laying the strawberries on their sides, cut into 3/8″ slices for thin strips, or 1/4″ for thicker strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  End pieces should be laid with skin side down.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
3. Set the temperature to 115 degrees.  The low temperature ensures the fruit doesn’t burn or char.
4. Allow to dehydrate for 8-18 hours.
5. Strawberries are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
6. Yield:  1 pound of strawberries yields approximately one 16oz glass jars of dried strawberries.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller fruit will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.

 

How to Dehydrate Peaches

 

Slices of dehydrated peaches are so much fun to gnaw on, even as an adult!  Thick slices would be excellent for teething babies as they won’t break off easily.  Like blueberries, dried peaches would also be great in granola bars or trail mix.  Maybe some dried pineapple and coconut chunks too for a tropical variation!

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly using an all natural produce wash.  Drying is optional, since they’ll dry in the dehydrator anyway.  Although working with dry fruit is easier and less messier than working with wet fruit.
2. It is not necessary to remove the skin, you may if you’d like.
3. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.  Laying each peach with skin side up, cut into approximate 3/8″ slices for thick strips, or 1/4″ for thinner strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  End pieces should be laid with skin side down.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
4. Set the temperature to 135 degrees.
5. Allow to dehydrate for 8-12 hours.
6. Peaches are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
7. Yield:  one large peach yields approximately half of one 8oz glass jars of dried peach slices.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller slices will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more grapes if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.

 

How to Dehydrate Persimmon

 

Fuyu persimmon are a bright orange fruit, naturally sweet and have the texture of a firm peach, or a soft apple.  Avoid the Asian persimmon, as those are bitter and should be roasted first.

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly using an all natural produce wash.  Drying is optional, since they’ll dry in the dehydrator anyway.  Although working with dry fruit is easier and less messier than working with wet fruit.
2. It is not necessary to remove the skin.
3. Cut the persimmon in half and lay each half on its side.  Cut into approximate 3/8″ slices for thin strips, or 1/4″ for thicker strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
4. Set the temperature to 135 degrees.
5. Allow to dehydrate for 8-12 hours.
6. Persimmons are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
7. Yield:  one large persimmon yields approximately half of one 8oz glass jars of dried persimmon slices.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller slices will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.

 

How to Dehydrate Pineapple

 

Pineapples are naturally sweet and when dehydrated, the sweet becomes richer and deeper, making an absolutely delicious snack!

1. Cut the tops and bottom off a fresh pineapple.  Stand the pineapple on its end and carefully cut the outer skin off, leaving just the yellow flesh.
2. Cut the pineapple into quarters from top to bottom.  Remove 1/2″ of core from each quarter.
3. Laying each quarter on its side, slice the pineapple into 3/8″ slices for thin strips, or 1/4″ for thicker strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
4. Set the temperature to 135 degrees.
5. Allow to dehydrate for 12-18 hours.
6. Pineapples are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
7. Yield:  one large pineapple yields approximately two of 8oz glass jars of dried pineapple slices.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller slices will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.

 

How to Dehydrate Mango

 

Mangos tied with peaches for which fruit was the most fun to chew on – my son chose mangos and my daughter chose peaches!  The mangos are in the far left of the above picture.  (Strawberries are in the middle and apples on the right.  We kept those jars on the kitchen table for easy snacking and it was PERFECT.)

1. Hold the mango so that the oblong shape is vertical (points at the top and bottom).  Cut off one side of the mango approximately 1/2″ from the center.  Repeat with the other side.
2. Cut each half into thirds, for one long strip and two boat-shaped end pieces.  Lay the fruit skin side down and using a sharp, non-serrated knife, carefully filet the flesh from the skin.  Cut off any smaller remaining pieces of flesh from the skin and reserve for smoothies or snacks.
3. Slice the flesh of the skin into 3/8″ slices for thin strips, or 1/4″ for thick strips.  Lay the slices on the dehydrator trays in a single layer.  End pieces should be laid with skin side down.  It’s okay if some of the fruit touches.
4. Set the temperature to 135 degrees.
5. Allow to dehydrate for 8-12 hours.
6. Mangoes are done when you squeeze them and very little “squish” left.  Taste as you go since this may be a learned test of doneness.
7. Yield:  one large mango yields approximately half of one 8oz glass jars of dried mango slices.

Tips:

• Periodically check on the fruit to see the speed at which they’re drying (every 6-8 hours).  Smaller slices will dry faster than larger fruit.  They will also shrink in size as they dry, so you can combine trays and add in more fruit if you’d like.
• If you have a hard time testing whether or not the fruit is “done,” turn off the dehydrator and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to cool before tasting.
• If you want chunks instead of slices, dehydrate thicker slices of fruit and chop up with a sharp knife after the dehydrating process.

 

How do you dehydrate fruit?  Share your tips and ideas in the comment section!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links. By making a purchase through those links, I will earn commission that helps to keep the lights on in the Crumbs house – with no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crumbs in this way. Thanks for information : http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/08/how-to-dehydrate-fruit-basic-food-preservation/

Dried Apricots from Hollywood Homestead

We are lucky enough to have a mature Apricot tree in the back yard, and now with the addition of our dog Lucy to the family the squirrels no longer bother them.  This year we have a bumper crop of apricots, so we can’t eat them as fast as they drop…so we make our own organic dried apricots!  They are great for snacks on the go, if you can keep the kids from eating them as you’re making them!

 

What you need:

• Apricots
• A dehydrator 

I take the kids out with me and have them help me pick the fruit, they love getting their hands dirty!  The ripe fruit literally falls into the picker, if it doesn’t want to fall, don’t force it.

Wash and split the apricots in half.

Now all you have to do is lay them out on your dehydrator trays and turn on your machine!  I set mine at 140° for 16 hours.  I ended up taking everything out at around 14 hours.  I put them in a bag, and then two hours later they were completely gone.  Next time, I’m hiding them!

Thanks a lot: http://www.hollywoodhomestead.com/

Dehydrated celery reviews

Dehydrated celery is something that I never thought I’d have to have in my house. But, do you know how convenient it is to have a jar full when one of your kids gets sick and asks for soup? I almost always keep a whole chicken in the freezer for this purpose as well. And well, I always have onions and garlic in the house because I can’t cook anything with out them. Really. Celery though, that isn’t always in the house.
When I get a good price on celery, I buy a lot. Buying it right off the farm during the end of the season is awesome though. I know it’s locally grown and ripened in the field!

Drying celery is easy. Chop off the bottom of the stalks and give them a good soak in the sink. Celery likes to hid dirt in the bottom of the stalk.

Then you want to cut them into small pieces. This is a bit tedious but it really doesn’t take that long. You want to try and get them to be about the same size so they all dry at the same time.
The next step is to line the pieces on the screen of your dehydrator. You don’t want to over lap them because it will making drying time longer.

Make the job easy on yourself and find a toddler to do this part. They love to help, line things up and boring and tedious doesn’t seem to bother them. Just make sure they don’t take a bite and then put it on the screen. (Laugh, I’m sure your toddler has never done that!!)

After that, just set the dehydrator to about 125 degrees. I like to let mine go over night. And the timing just depends on how thick you cut you pieces of celery.

I have found about five good sized bunches of celery make about a pint jar full of celery.

So, this turns into…..

 

This!

 

It always amazes me how small they get!

And now, with a jar full of dried celery, you can throw them into soups, stews and roasts!

Dehydrated Spicy Green Beans

While fermentation is my favorite preservation method as far as taste goes, I do love dehydrating as well.   I love my pickles but I only have so much room in my fridge.  I have 1 fridge for regular food, one giant fridge for ferments and produce and I’m on the look out for a third fridge to hold my milk.  Keeping 4 growing boys (and me and hubs) full of fresh milk, yogurt, kefir and cheese takes a lot of milk.  A lot of milk.

Dehydrating takes less energy than freezing and ferments (unless you have a root cellar that stays at 45-55F), retains much more nutrients than canning, and in my opinion it’s much easier than canning as well and takes up less room.  I’ve had my trusty Excalibur running all week preserving squash and green beans.  Once the harvest starts to come it, my baby runs most days out of the week.

While most of my dehydrated foods are intended to be used in recipes either rehydrated or not, these beans are great as they are as a tasty snack.  I’m hoping to make up a bunch more of these to keep as a snack for car rides.

Dehydrated Spicy Green Beans

• 1 lb of green beans
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp spicy salt mix (I use Slap Ya Mama)

Bring a saucepan full of water to a boil.  Add green beans and blanch for about 3 mins.
Remove from stove and plunge beans into cold water to stop them from cooking.
Dry beans off and toss together with olive oil and spicy salt.
Place beans on the drying trays in one layer and set dehydrator to it’s recommended temp.  I dehydrated mine at 125F.  The lower the temp, the more nutrients and enzymes are preserved.
Store in an airtight jar or baggies.  I love using my food saver with mason jar attachment to keep these fresh through the year.

  Thanks for recipe: http://www.picklemetoo.com/

Dehydrator Recipes: Onion Crisps

Excalibur Dehydrators shared this amazing looking dehydrator recipe for Onion Crisps with us recently and I had to share it with you! Allergy friendly, gluten-free, vegan, Plant-Based and yeah, this would be amazing tossed with hot pasta, or sprinkled on a wrap!

The recipe is written for their dehydrator, you can use parchment paper lined trays on other dehydrators. Just make sure you keep the temperature low as they recommend!

Recipe of Dehydrate Tomatoes

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.

Thanks for information: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/

Recipe of Dehydrate Apples With A Food Dehydrator

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.

Thanks for information: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/