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