There’s that magical time after school and before dinner when kids turn into starving little monsters with bottomless stomachs. Actually that sounds like most of us right around 3:00 p.m., so feel free to commandeer a few portions for yourself!
Managing snacks is important – healthy nibbles helps kids get through homework or sports practice and tides them over until dinner. What you don’t want kids to do is start eating out of vending machines or scrounging through the kitchen for unlimited portions of cereal or chips.
We love freeze dried after-school snacks because they don’t need refrigeration, there are no preservatives, you can avoid allergens, they don’t spoil in a hot locker during the day, and you can pack or portion their favorite foods while having some control over what they’re eating. For younger kids who are eager for some autonomy in the kitchen, freeze dried snacks are the perfect compromise.
Apple and Oatmeal Bites
This is such an easy, healthy after school nosh. Cook a batch of oatmeal and stir in apples that are sliced or diced to about 1″. Place in bite-size dollops on the freeze dryer trays and run them through a standard cycle. These handheld nibbles are like an oatmeal cookie but are full of protein and slow-burning carbohydrates that will help kids stay full until dinner.
Yogurt Drops and Fruit
Here’s another perfect combination: Freeze dried yogurt and fruit. For the yogurt drops, use a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in one corner of the bag. Then make small coins of yogurt on your freeze dryer trays. It may help to line your trays with parchment paper and then start up your freeze dryer about 30 minutes beforehand then simply place in the freeze dryer for a standard cycle. And for healthy fruit snacks, just slice up all of your favorite fruits and place them on the tray. Remember, you can run both the fruit and the yogurt at the same time.
Veggie Chips
This is one of our favorites because freeze dried veggies have a powerful flavor. They’re the perfect crunchy texture and can easily satisfy those afternoon munchies. All veggies can easily be made into a healthy snack with a little spritz of olive oil and a dash of seasonings like lemon pepper, Mrs. Dash or even cinnamon. Just slice and freeze dry, then sprinkle with your favorite seasoning or spice. Trust us, freeze dried sweet potatoes are so good that you might not ever want potato chips again.
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“All veggies can easily be made into a healthy snack with a little spritz of olive oil and a dash of seasonings like lemon pepper, Mrs. Dash or even cinnamon. Just slice and freeze dry, then sprinkle with your favorite seasoning or spice.”
Do you spritz with oil before or after the FD – The post says when the SEASONING goes on, but doesn’t mention when you should spritz with oil.
Thank you
I use a dehydrator to make snacks and jerky.
i have had freeze dried snacks like bananas and and veggies, What are freeze dried meats and fish like ? or do they need to be re hydrated
Freeze dried meats are best rehydrated. They are just like fresh and can be done raw or cooked. For example, if you freeze dry a raw steak, rehydrate it and put it on the grill and it is just like fresh.
I’d love to hear more about this, as well — so far I’ve done a few batches of shaved brussels sprouts, and they’re a great texture with a good taste, but I can’t help but feel that if I could get seasoning to stick they’d be wonderful. I tried sprinkling just dry seasoning before drying, and it was a kind of lackluster result. Maybe the light oil spritz before seasoning and drying is the method?
Harvest Right, can you clarify? I’ve heard mixed results about processing items with fats in it in the freeze dryer, so I’m curious if the oils would interfere with the drying process at all.
I have found freeze drying, then using a little spritzer to spritz the veggies with a neutral oil (or, delightfully, truffle-infused olive oil), and then tossing with seasoning, works really well. Also, then I can freeze dry and save large, unflavored batches, to be used for recipes or seasoned for snacks as I find the need. So far my favorite is bites of freeze-dried and seasoned bell peppers.