Wednesday, June 18, 2014

DIY Vegetable Powder.


Dried veggies (Left)Veggie powder (Rigjt)
 I was in the kitchen last night and trimming off some of the broccoli when it hit me.  I think I've only mentioned this once before some time back.  This time of year many of us have an abundance of vegetables.  Have you ever thought of making your own vegetable powder? It is so easy to do.   Did you know that Parmesan cheese lids will fit your small mouth jars? 

  You know those celery ends that get tossed to the chickens? (unless you saw the pinterest picture about growing the bottoms)  stuff given to the chickens, rabbits or the compost pile?  The wilted lettuce or the  cores.  Bell pepper tops, onions, squash ends, carrot skins, cucumber ends and skins, tomatoes or whatever gets cut away from your vegetables?   Well I save mine in a gallon baggie kept in the freezer till the baggie is full.  I pull it out of the freezer every time I'm making a salad or messing with fresh veggies  and just toss whatever ends and pieces I'm not going to use and stick it back in the freezer.

 Once that baggie is full I fire up my trusty dehydrator and lay it all out on trays and leave them there to dry.  You don't even have to thaw them out first.  Once they are dry I put them into something like a canning jar and vacuum seal it shut.   You are just trying to keep moisture away from it. What I've done is to store mine in canning jars and keep one jar  that I've ground up in  a coffee grinder. If you don't have a coffee grinder(they run between $10-$15)  You could also use your blender but it might be a little more coarse.

Think of it!  You can make your own Mrs Dash or try experimenting new combinations of seasonings.  I've been using some veggie powder that I mixed up a few days ago that has kosher salt, cracked pepper, onion powder, cayenne peppers and  garlic powder as a base.

 Then comes the taste test .  If it needs more of whatever I'll add it then. Use it on beef, chicken, pork, or use it as a dry rub for BBQ and its even good on fish . It's good on veggies too. Use some dried hot pepper for a bit more  heat if you like.

Some of the other things you can do with vegetable powder is to add it to soups and stews, even meatloaf, dry rubs, use it to season your salad.  It's good as a soup thickener instead of using corn starch. And probably more healthy too.

 If you have picky kids you can sprinkle the powder in things and its a good way to sneak more vegetables in their diet!

And while we are talking  about powders don't forget that you can also make tomato powder easily too.  In case you didn't know you can even save your tomato skins when canning up your summer tomatoes.  The chickens are pretty ticked off when  I do this but I do it anyway. They are used to getting some!   Anyway... I just dehydrate the skins and make tomato powder from them too.

 Another neat trick I learned was making my own tomato paste and tomato sauce and even tomato juice with the powdered tomatoes.  Just stir in a bit of water with your tomato powder until you get the thickness or thinness  you want. 

There are several ways you can make your vegetable powders.  Just use your imagination whatever will  work for you.  If you want a green vegetable powder just use green vegetables. Kale, swiss chard, spinach or anything else you want to use.   You can add it to smoothies or whatever you would want green veggie powder.

The thing I like most (other than using it)  is that it didn't cost anything other than running the dehydrator.  It's all made from vegetables and tomato skins that you aren't going to eat anyway. 

 I find myself using the Sci's Mrs Dash on tons of the stuff around here.  Mark another (or several) thing I don't have to pay to the beast.

"I am John Gault"       :-)   

Sorry I couldn't help myself!  LOL

I hope the rest of your week goes well, Come back next time and we'll talk about........... well heck who knows but I'll have cookies and coffee ready when you get here.
Sci

27 comments:

  1. That is absolutely brilliant! Although, I do agree that the chickens will be unhappy - but they get plenty. I love the dried tomato skins - I always felt like it was such a waste. No more!

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  2. Well thank you Susan! I used to wonder why am I always tossing these perfectly good 'mater skins to the chickens. Thank you and I'm so happy you like the idea.

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  3. I have been using your idea about tomato skins. I like the idea of expanding this to so many other veggies!

    Small peanut butter jar lids will also fit on small mouth canning jars. I have been saving the lids off store bought peanut butter just so I have enough to use the canning jars as storage containers. :)

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    1. Hey Cristy I had to laugh when you mentioned the peanut butter lids. I'd thought about sticking that bit of info in and the next minute I was off and running on something else! I save my peanut butter lids too. They come in handy all the time.
      I have a ton of courtesy of a couple of "real deals" The thing is that they are all quart jars. I suffer from not enough pint jars. So I use my quart jars for storage too. Like minds, yes?

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    2. You are right--like minds. think alike. I was talking to my husband today, wondering why people buy those storage lids for canning jars when peanut butter jars fit perfectly. He said most people don't know that, so I think I am going to do a post about it on my blog. :)

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    3. I've noticed that sometimes they don't hold liquids without a small leak when you shake them. The solution? Put an old (as in used) canning lid under it. Works like a charm.

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  4. Wow, The things you can learn from fellow bloggers. If you feed this to the chickens does this mean they are already seasoned??? Bahahahaha

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    1. LOL Rob!! It saves time when you're trying to come up with a meal. :-)

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  5. SCI,

    This is a fabulous idea John Gault, lol
    I freeze my veggie ends and pieces to make vegetable broth. Now I have another idea on how to use them thanks to you :-)

    Sending hugs to you and Mars.
    Sandy

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    1. Sandy,
      I'm glad SOMEONE got the Gault thing. heheheh Now your problem will be finding enough ends and pieces to do both. At your service my friend!
      Sci

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  6. I already have tomato powder that I learned how to make from you but silly me didn't apply that knowledge to other vegies as well. Duh! Love the John Gault reference .... thanks, we are not alone.

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    1. DFW,
      I hadn't really put it all together until the other day. I mean I've been doing both for awhile but never even thought about sharing the ideas.
      Glad you got the Gault. reference. My hope is that there are more than just a handful out there.
      Sci

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  7. I don't think I ever heard of vegetable powder before. We buy spices and store them, but where do you buy vegetable powder? I don't think we would be very good at making it but I'd like to try some.

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    1. Harry,
      I'm not real sure about where you can find it. I've seen it at a couple of Asian Markets. It's really easy to make though. All it is are left over veggies!

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  8. That's a good idea. I don't have kids to be picky, but a bf could detect basil no matter how I hid it. I love basil and he hated it with a passion. I would just have to give the hens a bit of the tomato skins and other vegetables. We could share.

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    1. Hey Linda,
      I'm not a huge fan of basil myself but I do like it in small doses. I'm not sharing with the chicken anymore though. They'll have to find their tomato skins somewhere else!
      Have a Good Day!

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  9. I've just done a blog post on solar drying, and crushing tomato skins to make tomato powder, but never thought of making mixed vegetable powder - I'm obviously not thinking laterally :) Thanks :)

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    1. Hey Dani!
      I just popped over and read your tomato powder post. I love the different suggestions you have. You said you could add it to stuffed eggs. Is that like Deviled Eggs?? Oh and speaking of eggs wouldn't tomato powder make a pretty AND tasty scrambled egg!! Yummmm

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  10. You are not only a GENIUS, but a comedian as well, John. This post was more than fascinating, I actually have a bunch of ideas flowing around my head and they all involve veggie broths made with your invention.............stolen from Mrs.Dash............ Genius/comedian/thief? Naw. BRILLIANT!!! (Mrs. Dash has been reading YOUR blog)

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    1. LJ could you hand me ny sunshades? My brilliance is blinding me! *snork* And you with all those visions? Look out Florida.... she's "Smokin!"
      Now if only the real Mrs Dash please stand. Actually I'm not sure I'd like to go heads up with her. Geesh she was around a long time before I came out of diapers. But honestly? I'm no Mrs Dash. Besides ... How the heck would I be able to be the same ol' stuff for the past 40 years? I'd rather die!
      Thanks for the giggles,
      Sci

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  11. This is awesome! I would have never thought to do this... never heard of it ever till now...... thanks for the tip!

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    1. To be honest I heard about this in one of my Facebook Dehydrating groups and knew I had to try it. Of course there were other things going on at the time so I just sorta filed it in the back of my mind. Until I grabbed my trusty veggie baggie out of the freezer and tossed some cucumber ends and some wilted lettuce.
      It suddenly hit me! I have something to blog about!!!! I'm sure everyone of us who blogs (well maybe not all but...) has this little alarm that goes off now and again in the strangest places. HEY! THAT WOULD MAKE A GREAT POST!! That's what I tell myself anyway. Glad to be of assistance!
      Sci

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    2. Hahaha. I have that little alarm in my brain, too. I guess great minds really DO think alike.

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  12. Just signed up to your blog...I can and garden and blah blah blah...work like a dog all summer long. lol
    The last couple of years I have saved all the tomato skins and such, run them through my Vitamix and canned sauce from them. It worked really well and I can't remember whose blog I read that idea on, but it was awesome. Erin from Northwest Edibles or something or other, I think. lol I do dry tomatoes every year, and then use the ones that haven't been used in a timely manner to grind up like this. I think I'll start inventing some other mixtures tho--love the idea. Thanks !!

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    1. Hello Akannie,
      lol@ work like a dog all summer! Ain't that the truth. At least it's doing something tangible come winter time. It seems like there are all sorts of folks getting into juicing these days. I don't own a juicer. Shoot my food processor just took a dump recently. The very first thing I thought was how much time having one saved me last year. Looks like I'm back to chopping and dicing with a knife and my sweat energy.
      Hey! Now that's a great idea about using last years dried to do tomato powder too!

      Thanks for hitting the "follow" button. There's coffee on the stove and cookies in the jar on the counter .Just make yourself at home.
      Sci

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