August is National Simplify Your Life Month. Doesn’t that sound nice?
Preparing meals and stretching a food budget can take up a considerable amount of time and energy. Having a Harvest Right home freeze dryer can drastically reduce the amount of time and energy you spend in the kitchen. (It can also save you hundreds or thousands of dollars a year in groceries.) Here are five ways you can use your home freeze dryer to simplify your life:
Cook Once, Eat Twice
You can freeze dry entire entrees and meals, giving you the ability to cook once and eat twice – or even more. For example, triple your family’s favorite soup, chili or stew recipe and freeze dry the other two portions. You’ll have two nutritious meals in the pantry ready to go for a busy night or a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Prepare Ingredients Ahead
Does your family love pesto pasta? Scrambled eggs with ham and veggies? Homemade pizza or spaghetti sauce? How about herb-grilled chicken slices for Caesar salads? Prepare the labor-intensive ingredients in one batch and freeze dry. When you’re ready for a big salad, or bowl of soup or pasta, just re-hydrate your pre-prepped ingredients, add to quick boil pasta or fresh organic lettuce and you’ve got a healthy, home-cooked five-minute meal.
Know What’s for Lunch
Figuring out what to take to work for lunch or pack in school lunches is a time drain. Use your home freeze dryer to save leftovers from dinners. Package in single portion, air-tight containers for grab-and-go weekday meals.
Automate Your Breakfasts
Most people eat the same thing for breakfast day after day. Instead of standing over the stove stirring oatmeal every morning, make one big pot of quinoa oatmeal at the beginning of the month and freeze dry weekly portions. Re-hydrate your week’s worth of breakfast on Monday morning, then stick the rest in the fridge. Don’t forget to freeze dry a batch of fresh blueberries and strawberries to add. You can rehydrate them but they have a delicious, crunchy textures right out of the freeze dryer.
Stop Worrying about Emergencies
No geography is safe from food supply chain outages. From power outages, to severe weather, to shortages caused by droughts in other areas, having an emergency stash of food is important. Use your freeze dryer to slowly build an emergency supply of nutrient-dense meals. Stored properly, your freeze-dried food can last up to 25 years. If you have pets, freeze-dried pet food will last much longer on the shelf than bagged kibble or even canned food.
Before the back-to-school days hit, take some time this week to simplify your life. As we head into the busy fall and holiday season, see if you can find creative ways to let your home freeze dryer make things easier.
