Dehydrated Apples - Preserving

Covid 19 is here and with it a lot of programs are set up in the area to make sure kids are being fed while they are out of school. It’s a huge blessing in these days of cut hours or flat out job loss that it doesn’t matter if the kids are public school, homeschool, or private school kids. These programs are for every kid. My kids, like many, aren’t huge fresh fruit eaters so when they get apples and oranges in their meal bags they tend to pile up. I hate waste, so instead of having them go bad I’m turning them into one of their favorite snacks, dehydrated apples. Now that my blood pressure isn’t too high and my sugars are a bit more stable I’ve got the energy today to tackle the job. I still have a few to get done and that is a blessing I don’t take for granted. All you really need is apples, water, and something acidic like vinegar or lemon/lime juice and something to put the apples on and a way to slice them. I used a mandolin I got a few years ago as a gift from my MIL to slice them evenly and used the huge baking trays I got from my mother not long ago to use in the oven. *warm fuzzies*

In the above photo I’m using a NESCO dehydrator I purchased second hand. It’s not in perfect condition but the price was right and I trust the NESCO brand. Beat up and this bad boy was it’s served me well for about 2 years now. For fruits you set it to 135° F or 85°C. Depending on how thickly you slice the fruit will determine how long it’s in for. Mine is never the same twice and with today being somewhat humid I’m looking at a little longer time. I’ve had as low as 8 hours and as many as 18. It also depends on if you like them leathery or more of a crispy, chip like texture.

In the above photo I’m using my Emeril Power AirFryer 360. This is the first time I’ve used it as a dehydrator so we will see how well it does. I used the crisper tray on shelf position 2, turned the knob to dehydrate on 120°F or 49°C. It says on the onion recipe to set for 10 hours. I set it for 8 and will be watching it. (For the record this thing fries up some bombing onion rings and is great to bake small batches of cookies.) 

Here I’m using my oven and the awesome baking sheets my mom gave me to dehydrate them in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°F or 93°C. Again it will take a bit hours to get done depending on how thick they are and how you like them. Start checking about 1 1/2 hours. I turn mine when I use the flat sheets like this too.

Now there is a way to dehydrate them using good old fashioned sunshine but I’ve not done this yet and yes, I really want to give this a go. 

Dehydrated Apples

Water

Lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar

Apples

Slice apples. Put apple slices is water mixed with a few tbsps of lemon juice. When ready spread them out on sheets. Follow the directions on your dehydrator. If using an oven 200°F or 93°C for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turning once. 

(2 hours later) I forgot to check the apples in the oven. Use parchment paper or don’t forget to keep checking and turning them or you’ll end up with this.  🤦‍♀️

BTW warm fuzzies in reference to a book my mom used to read to me as a kid, The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale by Claude Steiner. I highly recommend it for young kiddos. 

Chorizo Mushroom Cap Pizza - Low Carb

Sorry, this post is so late. I got sucked into trying to keep up with all the latest numbers from all the various sources and made myself miserable. I'm so over the blame game and politics going on. I'm putting it in God's care and just doing what I can where I can. Ya'll stay safe out there and remember God's got this, especially when we aren't feeling it. This recipe was done before the social distancing thing but if you are blessed enough to get some real Mexican chorizo, enjoy.

These little babies turned out amazing! I hit up my local Mexican market not long ago and scored some fresh chorizo for the first time. (If you have one near you I suggest visiting one. They are great for finding new ingredients and products to play with.)


Chorizo Mushroom Cap Pizza
(serves 4)

4 Portabello mushroom caps, cleaned and gills removed
Olive oil
Vegetable oil
1 link or about 4 oz. of fresh chorizo
Beef chorizo (1 Cacique brand)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomato (any brand)
1 block mozzarella cheese, grated


Preheat the oven to 400°. After you've cleaned and removed the gills from the mushrooms brush the insides with olive oil and set them aside. In a hot cast-iron skillet take the casing off of the fresh chorizo if there is any and fry it until it's crumbly and looks similar in texture to ground beef. (It will have more red in it due to the amount of chili.) When that's done split open the Cacique beef chorizo package and squeeze it out into the skillet. This will melt much more than the fresh chorizo and have more of a sauce-like consistency. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and cook until heated through.
Spoon this mixture (it should be pretty thick, resembling sloppy joes) onto the mushroom caps and top with cheese. Bake them in the oven for just until cheese has melted and gotten a pretty bubbly golden brown.