# What To Do With Extra Veggies



## mermaid_girl (Jan 9, 2014)

I've started a new practice from the extra veggies grown in my garden...harvest your extra veggies, wash, dehydrate, and store in vacuum sealed bags .

OR.....

Once dehydrated, crush and place into a food only coffee grinder, or dry mix blender. You'll end up with a powder. 

Then store, use in your fruit smoothes, your soups as a base, omelets, sauces etc. I also use mine as a spice when I combine tomatoes, hot peppers, and bell peppers. Make your powered and have a healthy, chemical free spice or base.

Mermaid_girl


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## cqp33 (Apr 2, 2012)

never thought of using them as powder once dehydrated, good idea! I am sure my wife can come up with many ways to use the powders!


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Been meaning to make a lot of powders for soup bases, but haven't gotten around to it. (just tomato skins and carrots) Hopefully we'll have a lot of extras in the garden this summer - but we have more chickens now, so maybe not.


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## CapnJack (Jul 20, 2012)

Cool idea!


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

Great idea. Can you still taste the veggie flavor?


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Love that idea. I would need to make batches of certain veggies, as for me anyway, some things do not mix well with others. The puppy and the compost pile are going to be mad at me for this though... The puppy for immediate gratification, the compost pile for next year's crop.


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## mermaid_girl (Jan 9, 2014)

Yes, I love this new direction. Gardening is hard work!! So I want to use every bit of what I grow.


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## mermaid_girl (Jan 9, 2014)

Tasting the flavor really depends on if you use a lot. When you combine several veggies you will create a wonderful flavor.

My dehydrated tomatoes are soooo popular my friends drool.


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## txcatlady (Sep 26, 2013)

I dehydrated my spinach as I didn't have enough to can. Dried down to nothing. Add few tablespoons to soups, Mac and cheese etc. purpose is adding nutrients. Don't know if flavor is there.


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

Smart idea!


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## InThought (Jan 19, 2014)

About dehydrating - is it ok to ask what type of equipment to look for or a few tips on starting out...?


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## txcatlady (Sep 26, 2013)

There was a conversation about this awhile back. I have an American harvester that I have had for 20-30 years now. I am happy with it. I have added fruit liners and that is all. It has a thermostat and fan. Some other people have better ones. Check out the page what's everybody dehydrating and the one on canning. Click the button to subscribe and that will show up on your subscriptions. I have done that with the posts I am interested in. Not into politics or vehicles and can't afford anything more than what I can grow, build and harvest for meat. Great reading on this site and some great people. I like to just sit back, browse and learn. Enjoy


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

InThought said:


> About dehydrating - is it ok to ask what type of equipment to look for or a few tips on starting out...?


General Food and Foraging section, there is a 'sticky' thread called 'What's everybody dehydrating today?' Lots of info there.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

We have an Excalibur 9 tray with a timer.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I watched a you tube video of a guy who made his own veggie boullion this way. Since then, I have dried my extra veggies and even taken some dried veggies that I bought and ran them through the coffee grinder. I haven't used any yet, but the idea of being able to add extra nutrition to soups and other foods is good. 

I have powdered some veggies, and want to have a full range of veggies in powdered form. I want to have quart jars with an oxygen absorber and powdered carrots, cabbage, onions, celery, beets, spinach, kale, potatoes, greens, beans, peas or sweet corn.

Having some of this powder in a BOB could make a nutritious hot beverage, although the flavor could greatly vary.

I think this is worth experimenting with the seasonings, what veggies work, and how much powder works with x amount of water. I think of a soup mix made with dried veggies and seasonings instead of chemicals and additives that I cannot even pronounce.

Imagine being down to only beans, rice and some veggie powder in your food storage. The beans and rice make a complete protein, but the veggie powder can add many more nutrients.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Kinda reminds me of a cookbook by Seinfeld's wife Jessica called _Deceptively Delicious _, where she hides puréed veggies in her family's food.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

weedygarden said:


> I want to have quart jars with an oxygen absorber and powdered carrots, cabbage, onions, celery, beets, spinach, kale, potatoes, greens, beans, peas or sweet corn.


I have bunches of dehydrated taters but have never thought to make them into powders. That makes good soup sense! Thanks for the idea.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

> Kinda reminds me of a cookbook by Seinfeld's wife Jessica called Deceptively Delicious , where she hides puréed veggies in her family's food.


tsrwivey, I thought the same thing. This works in many cases, but I think that occasionally this could be a problem for some.



> I have bunches of dehydrated taters but have never thought to make them into powders. That makes good soup sense! Thanks for the idea.


goshengirl, yes! I don't eat many potatoes although I love them, but with a gluten allergy in my family, I have considered them as a thickener also. There are recipes for instant potato soup using instant potatoes. Why not add more. Again, I think some experimenting is in order. We could come up with some veggies combinations that work well together. And many spices and seasonings have nutritional value and could be used in these mixes.

I think of having little fuel and cooking powdered vegetables versus larger pieces. In many instances, just adding boiling water could cook a cup of soup.

Also, have you noticed that beets are sometimes used as a food coloring?


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## InThought (Jan 19, 2014)

appreciate the tips - thanks


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> Kinda reminds me of a cookbook by Seinfeld's wife Jessica called _Deceptively Delicious _, where she hides puréed veggies in her family's food.


I love that book! E and Bub aren't big on lots of veggies and this book has made us healthier.

Sent from my MB886 using Survival Forum mobile app


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

weedygarden said:


> goshengirl, yes! I don't eat many potatoes although I love them, but with a gluten allergy in my family, I have considered them as a thickener also.


Whenever I make a pot-roast or beef stew, I always cut up some taters when I first start to simmer the meat. I also add some carrots, onion and celery, they will ALL dissolve by the time the meat is tender. After two or three hours the taters are gone and as long as you do not add too much water, they are enough to thicken it up nicely without arrow root or corn starch or flour. When the meat is about ready and you add your other veggies, just add enough water to cover them and leave the pot uncovered. By the time the new vegies are tender, enough water has boiled off to leave you with a nice, thick stew.

Dehydrating and powdering taters and adding the powder instead of fresh cut, I bet you could add them in later and achieve the same thickening event.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I found the story about the guy who makes his own soup cubes. In this web page he has a couple different types soup cubes that he makes. One is made from wild edibles and other stuff. Another one is made with chicken broth that is reduced and mixed with spices. He also has directions on things like salting fish, preserving foods, making vinegar.

http://www.urbanoutdoorskills.com/wildfoodsoupcubes.html



> Looking for some tasty food during some of my wilderness trips, a couple of years ago I came up with the idea of making dehydrated soup cubes. It's a neat way to preserve food and doesn't take much room in your backpack. Being able drink some tasty and organic soup after a long day exploring the outdoor induces a wonderful comforting feeling. I use a lot of wild edibles when making my soup but the explanations on how to make the soup cubes below are applicable to any kind of traditional soups. It's really easy to make and truly a nice addition to a pantry. I preserve my soup cubes in a closed jar and they last a long time (after a year, still tasted great).


If you follow the link, he has 18 photos of the process.

http://www.urbanoutdoorskills.com/bouillon-cubes.html



> Making Your Own Organic Wild Food and Chicken Bouillon Cubes.
> I love chicken soup. I've already made wild food soup cubes in the past (Vegetarian) but wanted to go a bit further and be able to add chicken, beef, etc... to my soup cubes. In essence, making my own bouillon cubes.As soon as you add some animal products, in order to have a good shelf live you're looking at 2 methods of preservation in this case: Dehydrating and Salting. The vegetarian soup cubes I have made in the past were simply dehydrated and contained just wild edibles and vegetables.
> Doing some research on what you buy at the regular store, I was really horrified to find out about the actual content of your regular bouillon cubes, there is barely anything natural left in it. We're talking flavoring, colorants, MSG, etc...
> A basic recipe for what you buy at the supermarket is:
> ...


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

weedy, that is so stinkin' cool! Thank you for those links! I see soup cubes in my future. :2thumb: 

I love how he goes through step by step with the photos. I could also see making soup leathers instead of cubes, just to speed up the dehydration process (especially if using an outdoor/solar dehydrator).


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

goshengirl said:


> weedy, that is so stinkin' cool! Thank you for those links! I see soup cubes in my future. :2thumb:
> 
> I love how he goes through step by step with the photos. I could also see making soup leathers instead of cubes, just to speed up the dehydration process (especially if using an outdoor/solar dehydrator).


Soup leathers! Now you're talking!

I really think there is some great potential here. I think about the days before premade everything, and people must have had to create their own, or a version of it.

When he talks about bouillon containing so much no good junk, I think that there is a healthy version of bouillon to be made and marketed. I have avoided bouillon because of the msg most of it contains. It is migraine material for me. I have broken down and have several bottles of bouillon in my food storage, but I just do not use it for cooking because of the msg. But, last summer, after reading this, I started running some of my dried veggies through my coffee grinder to make powders. I do have some work to do though to get this in a working form for me.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Not to mention it is an excellent way to get 'veggie skeptics' to eat more of them. The powder is excellent in soups, and I have used it in homemade pasta (it makes interesting colored pasta) for some of the flour to ramp up the nutrition.


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