In the Kitchen - Preparing Fruits and Vegetables

Part of my day today was spent preparing fruits and vegetables for dehydrating.  Why dehydrate them?  Here is the reason...
Shopping is a little more complex now that I insist on buying some of my fruits and vegetables organically.  Since they are a bit higher priced, and I don't want my food budget to go any higher than it currently is, but still want quality in my food, I look for good prices when I go to the supermarket.

Day before yesterday I found myself at Whole Foods again, where there is usually a great supply of diverse organics.  They are usually priced much higher per pound than non-organic.  I have a list of the "Dirty Dozen" that I will share with you in another post that I carry to shop from.  When I find an organic staple like carrots or celery that is reasonably priced (and I consider $1.00 per pound for these to be a reasonably inexpensive cost) I buy some of it.  Now we are not usually able to eat the produce all when it is fresh so when I get it home I usually look for a time to serve some of it fresh and then dehydrate the remainder of it.  Dehydrating the food means to dry it out in a low temperature until the moisture is gone BUT THE NUTRIENTS are intact.  Dehydrated food keeps for a very long time just on the counter and even longer in the refrigerator.

There is nothing more frustrating than to make a soup or stew and want some carrots or celery to add to it and have none in the crisper.  Those moments force me to run to the grocery store (wasting gas, energy and time) and buy them at whatever price they are at that time.  So when I run into something inexpensive that I can safely preserve for a "rainy day", I buy it.  My recent purchase was 2 pounds of organic carrots for $1.99 and a small stalk of organic celery.  So I started up the dehydrator again today with those cut into small pieces and a pineapple (non-organic for $2.88).  We love to munch on the dried pineapple as a snack or in trailmix.

DEHYDRATING:  Pictures of the food placed in the dehydrator:

 Pieces should be cut to a uniform general size so they dehydrate evenly but I am usually rescuing some of the smaller items from the dehydrator before the larger pieces no matter how uniformly I try to cut the pieces.  Just make sure and let them cool to room temp before placing them in an airtight container.

Once they are dry and rubbery, they will be stored until needed.  If cooking them in a stew or soup, they rehydrate nicely in the cooking process.  If I need to soften the pineapple to be added to a cookie or smoothie, I can soak them for a few minutes in purified water to rehydrate them again to a softer consistency.

PREPARING:  It is important to prepare your fruits and vegetables properly for storage and/or immediate consumption.  No matter whether you buy organic or not, there is always a bit of dirt on produce.  When I bring home the produce, I throw it all in a bowl of cold purified water with a bit of vinegar to cut to soak it for about 10 minutes.  Then I scrub it a bit and dry it before placing it in the refrigerator or place it on the counter for consumption.  This ensures any waxes, dirt, or surface pesticide contamination is removed.

SCRUBBING: There are many veggies and some fruits that I like to scrub as opposed to peel.  I used to use a peeler on potatoes and carrots, as they are grown under-ground and always appeared dirty.  Now I know that many of the most concentrated nutrients are under and in the skin so I don't peel them anymore.  I use a Norwex Vegetable and Fruit Scrub Cloth to clean them.  This scrub cloth has an antibacterial effect.. one side is "scratchy" which really takes the bare surface of the skin off with the dirt.  The other side of the cloth has a cleaning/polishing surface, which I use to clean the smooth skin produce like zucchini, apples, etc.

Knowing that I have one effective cloth dedicated to my food cleaning that also has antibacterial properties gives me piece of mind.  It can be hung to dry and re-used several times before needing laundering.  Knowing that I launder without chemicals or detergents now gives me additional piece of mind!

I have come to love all the Norwex kitchen and cleaning products for the reason that they provide superior cleaning without the use of any chemicals.  If you want more information about these products, send me an email (email address located to the right of the blog in the About Me section).  I am excited to share them with others and can guide you in saving money (another passion of mine) while dramatically reducing the amount of chemicals used in home and personal cleaning.