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Darcy @ The Purposeful Pantry

I'm Darcy, and I'm a dehydrating fiend! I love talking about food preservation through dehydrating, and all the ways that it can be used to create a stocked pantry and wonderful meals for your family!

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What I’m Actually Cooking With My Dehydrated Food

Hi, Reader! Do you ever feel like you have made all this dehydrated food, only to put it on your shelf and leave it there because you're not sure what to do with it? I know that's a real sticking point for many. Canned food seems so easy - but dehydrated seems alien. So today, I hope that I can help you with some ideas - from breakfast to lunch to snacks to dinner to dessert - that can help spark your creativity in how to use your dehydrated foods. Watch How to Use Dehydrated Foods Now! Watch...

Hi, Reader! A first question I get from almost every beginner is, "I put my food in the dehydrator for 6 hours, like the manual said, and everything is not dry. What did I do wrong?" My anwer almost always is - trusting that timer. Learn more about why timers are good for nothing more than watching time past when it comes to dehydrating: Watch video TLDR: In this video, I show how to dehydrate cherries, and the danger of relying on that timer instead of whether a food is actually dry or not....

Hi, Reader! It is peak gardening and harvest season for everyone, and I bet you might be drowning in zucchini. So I have a new video today on how to dry it, and how to create a savory zucchini muffin that will give you a great breakfast or snack, especially for those of you who are trying to get off the sweat muffins! Click the image to watch the video! We learn about correct muffin blending, what happens when you forget an ingredient, and why your muffins might be a little tough! Watch video...

Whenever anyone asks me what tools are necessary for dehydrating, they often give a list of things they've seen online that are 'mandatory'. I always like to reassure them that excess tools are not necessary. "Your dehydrator (or oven or the sun), a knife, and a storage container are all that is necessary." The following list may contain Amazon affiliate links at no cost to you. They are bolded and linked for you. You don't need: Fancy Liners - Parchment paper will work in almost every...

Hi, Reader! As you know, I've been on a big health journey in the last year. And though I've always loved to snack on my dehydrated foods, I've been making a concerted effort to give myself healthier options to curb the craving of the salty crunchy monster or the sweet tooth late in the evening. Do you have that problem? What's your weakness when it comes to snacking? How I Give in to the Cravings I spend a lot of time making vegetable chips to help with those nagging cravings I get. Bonus is...

Hi, Reader! You might do this -- buy a food to have with a meal (or make one) and find that either you didn't get to it before it 'expires' or maybe you just couldn't eat it quickly enough and it's going to go bad in the fridge. But did you know that many of the things we make or buy can actually be dehydrated for longer-term storage? You might want to give one of these projects a try! Dehydrating Kimchi Dehydrating kimchi is a fantastic way to preserve its flavor and nutrients even when you...

Hey, Reader! If you've got leftover cabbage from your St Patrick's Day celebrations, or if you want to take advantage of the incredibly low prices of an in-season produce, now's the time to stock up on cabbage for the year! I've seen people reporting cabbage prices as low as .19/lb this week! When you can find in-season produce at rock-bottom prices, it's time to stock up and preserve it! How Stinky Is It? So this week, I'm dehydrating cabbage...and my house smells like one giant fart. Even...

Hello, Reader Welcome Day 4 of the 12 Days of Dehydrating for Christmas We talked about dehydrated marshmallows the other day. So let's piggy back off that with a rich and tasty hot cocoa mix that your family and friends will love!! And while this isn't an actual dehydrating project....it's a perfect partner to dehydrated marshmallows, so I wanted to include it in the list. Day 4: Bulk Hot Cocoa Mix This bulk hot cocoa mix is so versatile and makes a great gift in small single servings or in...

Hi, Reader Welcome to Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas! One of the nicest things you can give many folks this year is security in their pantry. Meals in a jar are meals that are perfect for Elderly folks who have a hard time standing or sitting to prepare food Families with new babies or other issues that need to spend less time in the kitchen Hikers/campers/backpackers who love easy meals on trips Folks who like to have emergency meals on the shelf (or perhaps you want to encourage them to...

Hi, Reader It's Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas! Marshmallows are a fun treat to put into the dehydrator. They are great for adding to hot chocolate mixes, using as a fun treat in rice cereal treats, in trail mixes with graham crackers and chocolate kisses, etc. While they are really fun, there's a way to take dehydrated marshmallows a step further. Day 3: Marshmallow Pops Marshmallow pops use dehydrated marshmallows to create fun treats. They can be given in bouquets for housewarming gifts...