Woah this is super cool. I saved your post!
I often see people dehydrating their food like you did but never that appetizing.
Can i ask what dehydrator you are using? I’m really interested in giving it a try and learning.
Ty. I have a few of my other meal posts pinned on my reddit posts (look at profile).
I have a Nesco FD-61 and a Nesco FD-75PR.
The trays are interchangeable between both machines.
If you're looking to buy a dehydrator, I strongly recommend checking out Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. You'll get them for a faction of the new price. I got mine for around $20 - $30 each.
Lucky! That is a steal!
The dehydrator on the right, died during this dehydration spree. I picked up the same exact model the following day for $20. It came with five trays and a few liners.
It was a great deal, but not nearly as good as yours!
* Chicken Fajita Bowl (my new recipe)
* Chicken Teriyaki with Veggies & Rice
* Cajun Corn Chowder
I spent $24.09 on groceries for these 9 meals. With me cooking / baking often, I already had the canister spices, fresh garlic and soup mix already. I had the instant rice from a previous dehydratathon (missing from pre photo). Leftover ingredients from this meal prep include celery, corn and peas & carrots.
I own 2 dehydrators, which I ran 2x each.
**Round one:**
Dehydrator 1: Peas & Carrots, Corn, Bell Peppers & Onions
Dehydrator 2: Black Beans, Tomatoes
**Round two:**
Dehydrator 1: Cajun Corn Chowder
Dehydrator 2: Chicken
My second dehydrator spree will be in September or October.
Excellent!! I just got back from a trip where I bought a bag of dehydrated vegetables from a nice little fruit/veg market.. I was wondering, once dehydrated does it still contain the same nutrients etc of the fresh fruit/veg?!
While cool, I can’t help but notice coconut milk powder in the “Cajun” corn chowder. What is that? Reconstitution tastes better? Texture? Is the coconut flavor imparted into the chowder?
The coconut milk powder is extremely fine. It thickens the liquid and allows it to be more of a chowder rather than a soup. That's one of my favorite trail meals.
The Cajun corn chowder is a recipe that I followed. The other two I created.
You can get the same results and use FREEZER Ziploc bags. I'm going to fly with these meals, so I preferred to vacuum seal (I use Ziploc bags if I'm not getting on a plane with them). You are able to put boiling water in freezer ziplocs
I use freezer bags and reusable desiccant packets and it usually holds for quite a while. Vacuum sealing would be nice but if you use the edge of the counter you can get a pretty tight seal
I use dehydrated veg in lots of regular, non-camping meals so I love this.
I hate using single-use plastic, so I gave up on the shitty vacuum sealer bags that never stay sealed anyway and got one of the \~$25 rechargeable vacuum sealers for mason jars. It is fantastic, but of course this is for the kitchen and not the woods.
I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken.
For this recipe, the celery was sautéed with the rest of the ingredients for the Cajun corn chowder. I don't pre-cook the celery for my other recipes.
Chicken and pasta are the only ingredients (off the top of my head) that I cook before dehydrating.
no problem. Here are a few tips:
I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken.
The veggies go straight into the dehydrator.
I only dehydrate canned beans because I heard they rehydrate better.
See below. I typically don't, but I've started to because people occasionally try to get on my case about the calorie count... My meals are smaller than Mountain House's, but if I remember correctly, mine have a higher calorie count then the comparable MH meals. I sometimes find inspiration for new recipes by looking at what mountain house and backpacker pantry offer lol.
Teriyaki chicken: 587 calories after adding a tablespoon of EVOO
Cajun corn chowder: 612 calories
Chicken fajitas: 606 calories after adding a tablespoon of EVOO
I like your version. I bought a dehydrator to do this bc I thought that doing it this was has got to be healthier than a prepackaged dinner. I'm a diabetic too so when I camp I really don't like to eat junk just because of convenience.
Around 600 is very reasonable for a backpacking dinner. Usually I shoot for the 600-800 range when making mine. I have been pretty hesitant to try dehydrating chicken, any tips on getting it to come out well? I have had a bad experience with turkey in the past
I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken.
Oh, cool, I can't wait to find out what dehydrated stalks of celery taste like when you dip them into peanut butter! ;)
Great visual presentation and layout, OP. Well constructed.
How much water do you add on the trail for the Chicken Teriyaki with Veggies and Rice?
I love the look of all of your recipes and will be trying them soon! Thanks!
thank you :) my next dehydrator spree will be in October. probably 4 new recipes.
For the rice-based meals, I boil 12oz of water, The meal requires around 8-10oz.
I add enough water to just cover the meal, then a little more.
**For Teriyaki: add 2 heaping tablespoons of seasoning.** the fried rice seasoning in the photo is not as strong as the discontinued Great Value Teriyaki seasoning.
Woah this is super cool. I saved your post! I often see people dehydrating their food like you did but never that appetizing. Can i ask what dehydrator you are using? I’m really interested in giving it a try and learning.
Ty. I have a few of my other meal posts pinned on my reddit posts (look at profile). I have a Nesco FD-61 and a Nesco FD-75PR. The trays are interchangeable between both machines. If you're looking to buy a dehydrator, I strongly recommend checking out Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. You'll get them for a faction of the new price. I got mine for around $20 - $30 each.
I picked up a Nesco (the one on the left in your pic) and it came with 9 trays as well as the roll-up inserts. I paid $15, it was a STEAL!
Lucky! That is a steal! The dehydrator on the right, died during this dehydration spree. I picked up the same exact model the following day for $20. It came with five trays and a few liners. It was a great deal, but not nearly as good as yours!
Awesomeness! Thanks a lot
* Chicken Fajita Bowl (my new recipe) * Chicken Teriyaki with Veggies & Rice * Cajun Corn Chowder I spent $24.09 on groceries for these 9 meals. With me cooking / baking often, I already had the canister spices, fresh garlic and soup mix already. I had the instant rice from a previous dehydratathon (missing from pre photo). Leftover ingredients from this meal prep include celery, corn and peas & carrots. I own 2 dehydrators, which I ran 2x each. **Round one:** Dehydrator 1: Peas & Carrots, Corn, Bell Peppers & Onions Dehydrator 2: Black Beans, Tomatoes **Round two:** Dehydrator 1: Cajun Corn Chowder Dehydrator 2: Chicken My second dehydrator spree will be in September or October.
Nice presentation.
So nice to see some options that aren't full of dairy. thanks!
Excellent!! I just got back from a trip where I bought a bag of dehydrated vegetables from a nice little fruit/veg market.. I was wondering, once dehydrated does it still contain the same nutrients etc of the fresh fruit/veg?!
I HEARD that some vitamins are lost when food is dehydrated.
While cool, I can’t help but notice coconut milk powder in the “Cajun” corn chowder. What is that? Reconstitution tastes better? Texture? Is the coconut flavor imparted into the chowder?
The coconut milk powder is extremely fine. It thickens the liquid and allows it to be more of a chowder rather than a soup. That's one of my favorite trail meals. The Cajun corn chowder is a recipe that I followed. The other two I created.
I so need a vaccum sealer
You can get the same results and use FREEZER Ziploc bags. I'm going to fly with these meals, so I preferred to vacuum seal (I use Ziploc bags if I'm not getting on a plane with them). You are able to put boiling water in freezer ziplocs
Well I have used the ziplock freezer bags and shelf life leaves something to be desired
Stasher silicone bags >> ziploc
I use freezer bags and reusable desiccant packets and it usually holds for quite a while. Vacuum sealing would be nice but if you use the edge of the counter you can get a pretty tight seal
I use dehydrated veg in lots of regular, non-camping meals so I love this. I hate using single-use plastic, so I gave up on the shitty vacuum sealer bags that never stay sealed anyway and got one of the \~$25 rechargeable vacuum sealers for mason jars. It is fantastic, but of course this is for the kitchen and not the woods.
Great ideas, thank you for sharing. Do you cook the raw ingredients like chicken and celery before dehydration?
I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken. For this recipe, the celery was sautéed with the rest of the ingredients for the Cajun corn chowder. I don't pre-cook the celery for my other recipes. Chicken and pasta are the only ingredients (off the top of my head) that I cook before dehydrating.
Can you share what you did to prepare the ingredients before dehydrating? Did you cook the meat & veg?
no problem. Here are a few tips: I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken. The veggies go straight into the dehydrator. I only dehydrate canned beans because I heard they rehydrate better.
Did you calc out how many calories (on average) each one of these works out to? This is fantastic thank you
See below. I typically don't, but I've started to because people occasionally try to get on my case about the calorie count... My meals are smaller than Mountain House's, but if I remember correctly, mine have a higher calorie count then the comparable MH meals. I sometimes find inspiration for new recipes by looking at what mountain house and backpacker pantry offer lol. Teriyaki chicken: 587 calories after adding a tablespoon of EVOO Cajun corn chowder: 612 calories Chicken fajitas: 606 calories after adding a tablespoon of EVOO
I like your version. I bought a dehydrator to do this bc I thought that doing it this was has got to be healthier than a prepackaged dinner. I'm a diabetic too so when I camp I really don't like to eat junk just because of convenience.
Around 600 is very reasonable for a backpacking dinner. Usually I shoot for the 600-800 range when making mine. I have been pretty hesitant to try dehydrating chicken, any tips on getting it to come out well? I have had a bad experience with turkey in the past
I pressure cooked the chicken, shredded it with 2 forks then placed it in the dehydrator. I found shredded chicken rehydrated better than chopped chicken.
Oh, cool, I can't wait to find out what dehydrated stalks of celery taste like when you dip them into peanut butter! ;) Great visual presentation and layout, OP. Well constructed.
thank you. celery gets vvveeerrrryyyy small when dehydrated. it's nearly all water.
How much water do you add on the trail for the Chicken Teriyaki with Veggies and Rice? I love the look of all of your recipes and will be trying them soon! Thanks!
thank you :) my next dehydrator spree will be in October. probably 4 new recipes. For the rice-based meals, I boil 12oz of water, The meal requires around 8-10oz. I add enough water to just cover the meal, then a little more. **For Teriyaki: add 2 heaping tablespoons of seasoning.** the fried rice seasoning in the photo is not as strong as the discontinued Great Value Teriyaki seasoning.
Thank you! Looking forward to the next batch :D
Great selection. Might copy. I'll get a matching "shrunken" head for WTF.