Monday, January 17, 2011

Dried Pineapple, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe Chunks

I had a wonderful blessing the other day. Since I volunteer at the local food bank, I sometimes get a call when they have an overage of food they can't give out over the weekend etc. I got a call and went in and got a case of cut fruit. Many were pineapple cups and others were mixed fruit. Here is some cantaloupe dried.


Just the night before I pulled out some of our dried pineapple and my youngest was eating it and asked me to leave it out for her to snack on. I thought to myself, "I need to find a good deal on pineapple so I can replenish the stock."


So, God is quick to supply. I rinsed the pineapple and cut it thin and stuck it on the dehydrator. It was so sweet that quite a bit ended up in mouths rather than on the dehydrator tray.


There was also mangos, cantaloupe, honeydew and some watermelon. I did the same with those cups.


I have dried pineapple many times before but never in little pieces. I am lazy when it comes to cutting things so they are usually in long strips. However, the acid in them if they don't dry quickly makes them go brown. They still taste good but are just black/brown in color.


I will never do them in strips again. Never have I had such amazing dried pineapple. My kids ate half a bag of the dried tonight and more than half of what I dried has already been eaten. It is SOOOO sweet and tasty.


So, for future reference, dry pineapple in little pieces and it will stay closer to the original color and will taste amazing.

To dry watermelon, it is very sweet and dries sticky so if it is really juicy, use the Teflon pads on your dehydrator or possibly rinse it first. The cantaloupe and honey dew are amazing as well. One of my favorites is dried mango. It came out tasting great also.


So I give gratitude for the blessing of the food bank in my life and for a loving Father who provides just what I want, when I want it and not just only my needs. How would it be if we as parents only took care of our children's needs? I believe he considers our wants just as we do as parents!

1 comment:

  1. Dehydrated watermelon is even better if the slices are first marinaded in lime juice or red wine. That produces tangy sour watermelon chip jerky that is extra good.

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