#dried strawberry

[eato]

Sesame peanut candy

[hoardingrecipes]

5-Ingredient Vegan Magical Fudgesicles

[fuckingrecipes]

If you grow herbs or like dried fruit, you should invest in a dehydrator.

Fresh herbs are the bomb-diggity, but when autumn arrives and cold weather follows, those many herbs die out and you’re left with whatever dried herbs you managed to put together.

The classic way to dry herbs - tying in a bundle and leaving somewhere - works just fine, but there’s always the risk of mold or pests, or the humidity in the house is too high, or it gets dusty, or someone bumps it and all your half-dried leaves go sadly fluttering to the ground... I once found my dried bundles covered in spiderwebs. D= 

Enter: The Dehydrator. 

A dehydrator works by blowing hot air over the food until all the water evaporates. It’s that natural drying process, sped up. 

The one I use is on the cheap end - $40, mostly made of plastic, but it gets the job done fast and easy. There’s not even an ‘On’ button - it turns on when you plug it in.

My cheap dehydrator can fully crispy-dry three bundles of herbs in just under 2 hours. Mint, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme - doesn’t matter, it’s dry now. 

So far I’ve also dried chopped strawberries, bananas, mangoes, and even turned meat into Jerky. (though I recommend a 15-minute roast in the oven for Jerky after it’s dried, to make sure it reached a safe temperature to kill all germs) 

I’ve been adding dried strawberries to my cereal, and gnawing happily on dried mango as super-tasty snacks. 

If I’m being honest, buying fruit to turn into dried fruit, or meat into jerky, doesn’t actually save me much money. It’s pretty much breaking even, compared to store-bought stuff. 

However! THE FLAVOR!

The freshly-dried herbs are WAY more fragrant and flavorful compared to store-bought dried herbs. Like, my freshly dried thyme is SUPER sweet. The Oregano just punches you in the face with flavor. It’s like the herbs got CONCENTRATED instead of reduced by drying. 

Freshly dried fruit is LEAGUES ahead of store-bought stuff in terms of flavor. My banana slivers actually taste like ripe bananas instead of vaguely-banana-like chips. The dried strawberries EXPLODE with sweet and sour flavor.

Plus, it fills my whole house with the rich scent of baking fruit or herbs. 

Tonight I’m going to see if I can’t dry some onions and garlic into flakes. I want to try making a savory seasoning blend to take with me camping. 

[thefoodpornplatypus]

[hoardingrecipes]

White Chocolate Rocky Road

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Chocolate Caramel Matzo with Strawberry and Coconut

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Banana Split Hot Cross Buns

[pickingupspacetrash]