Good morning, everyone, how are you?
I am a little shaken by the elections results, but determined that I need to do what I can do, to have hope, to focus on the good, to remember that no matter who is President,
Jesus is King.
The Handy Hubby and I have also asked ourselves if this changes things on how we are working at being more self-sufficient and prepared for any eventuality.
And the answer was yes.
Has this election changed your plans in any way?
Today I am talking about how to dehydrate pumpkins,
and then how to use them.
The process is very very simple.
You cube up the pumpkin, or cut into slices, peeled of course.
Lay those pieces on your tray and dehydrate at about 150*, or the fruit and vegetable setting on your dehydrator.
Once they are dry and crispy, place them in your blender,
and hit the on button.
You will quickly end up with pumpkin flour, which stores really well and takes up very little space.
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Here is a picture of how little space a single large pumpkin takes up.
2 cups.
Pumpkin flour is incredibly convenient.
You use it at a ratio of 1:4.
One cup of pumpkin to four cups water 
will make four and a half cups of pumpkin puree.
That is enough for two pumpkin pies.
If you are making a single pumpkin pie, use 1/2 cup flour to 2 cups of water.
Or how about making a quick bread? Change out 1/4 of the flour amount required to make a pumpkin bread.
Or Pumpkin sweet rolls.
Or Pumpkin brownies.
In my newest Ebook, The Master Mix Way,  there is a fabulous recipe for One in a Million Master Cake mix. I use it all the time to make cupcakes, etc.
Well, since dehydrating pumpkin and using it for recipes so I can share with you on here,
I used only 2 cups of the mix and 1/4 cup of the pumpkin flour to make a rich and tasty pumpkin cake, that we then frosted with cream cheese frosting.
It was absolutely delicious, moist, and rich.
Even better, lets talk about using it in cooking. Ever heard of Pumpkin soup? Did you see my recipe for Fabulous Fall Beef Stew that I posted yesterday? Pumpkin is a natural thickener. You could simply dehdyrate the cubes and throw them in the crockpot with the rest of the ingredients and have a thick, tasty stew for dinner that evening when you got back home. This could be used for making the filling for pumpkin ravioli, simply by adding boiling water to the amount of pumpkin you needed, and use it to fill the ravioli pockets.
Dehydrated foods are so incredibly convenient, 
they take such little space, 
and can be made into so many different meals.
 While I love canning, and do my fair share of it, I have been leaning more and more towards the dehydrating end because of how little space and weight it takes up. I am quite sure I could fit 5-6 large pumpkins, dehydrated and ground into pumpkin flour, into a single half gallon jar. Compare that to the 40 Quarts it took me to put up two and a half pumpkins
 Are they both useful?
Absolutely.
Are they both convenient to have?
Absolutely.
Are they both moveable and ready to go in case of an emergency?
No.
I can throw those dehydrated slices into meals in a bag for my family, and have two weeks worth of meals for five people that fits in a backpack. Whereas carrying a ton of jars just isnt possible.
I think there is a place for both in most homes. You never know when you might have to leave your home in a hurry, and having a place where you have meals stored ready to go is common sense. And there is no worries about using it, because not only are dehydrated foods good for many more years than canned foods, they also retain more nutrients, and just might provide that quick “throw in the crockpot meal” right before you rush out the door in the morning.
A little effort goes a long way, right?
Excuse me, now I need to go work on the 18 pumpkins we have left. 🙂
I just wanted to give you a heads up that tomorrow I will be doing a Thoughtful Thursday post on what I think about the election, and what my heart and mind and telling me needs to be done. It will be focusing a lot on preparedness, FYI.
I appreciate all of you whom have read my posts, even if we are of different political persuasions. I don’t want to alienate you, so if you don’t want to read, then tomorrow is the day to skip. Although I would hope you would listen to me as I would listen to you. We don’t have to agree. 🙂
I am also going to be sharing some ideas on Friday for Thanksgiving decorations that I have seen and will be making around here for my family. I hope you enjoy those.
Many blessings to you and yours,
Heather