If you know the right people, they are free this time of year. But what to do with all of them?
Use the dusty dehydrator. Ours is on a shelf in the garage. Garage-dried tomatoes.
Instructions:
1. Obtain give-away tomatoes.
2. Decide whether to make tomato sauce or dehydrated tomatoes. Both are easy.
3. Decide on dehydrated tomatoes because you’ve never done that before.
4. Slice the tomatoes in 1/4 inch slices (about 1/2 centimeter thick).
5. Lay slices on dehydrating trays so the air can circulate all around.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, just like you were going to eat them fresh. A little garlic powder or salt if you’d like. Sprinkle over the sink so there’s no mess.
7. Dehydrate at 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) until crisp. We dehydrated ours about 15 hours.
8. Result: A wonderfully CRISP dried tomato!
Just eat like a chip, pile with a topping like a cracker, or break into pieces and sprinkle onto a salad. They are actually very good, crisp, and sweet. I used Roma tomatoes that a friend gave to us. They dried very nicely!
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When my mom visited me a month or so ago, she looked at my garden and she said, “That just looks like a lot of work, Terri.” Mom and Dad always had a large garden when I was growing up. Somewhere along the line, they got tired. They resorted to boxes, bags, and metal cans for food. I see why. I know WHY it happened, and I’m not blaming her. This has been the first year I have had the real garden that I have always dreamed of. Do I have the stamina to eat real food forever? Do I have the stamina to keep growing my own food and preserving it? Do you? How are you doing? What have your own two hands “put up for winter”?
The HSD 
Those are some chips I could sink my teeth into! As for putting up for the winter, so far just pickled peppers, my own tomatoes did not fare too well this year.
I liked your pickled pepper post! We didn’t put out any peppers like that. Just the bigger green peppers. I loved the phrase you coined “JERFing.” (Just Eat Real Food). That’s great!
I was introduced to “JERF” while doing Atkins and finding that their bars with maltitol didn’t agree with me. Found that I didn’t need “special products” with so much whole foods out there. I’m not sure who originally came up with JERF, but I like the idea. It seems like so many are nervous of cooking these days, maybe it’s the ease of processed or fast food, I don’t know. I know I used to be nervous of scratch cooking, but once I got the hang of it, it’s not so hard and really tastes better than microwave stuff. Have a great day 🙂
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also dry them in your oven!
Hi, The Homeschool Mom Blog! While I have your ear on the matter, did you just set them on the lowest temperature? Did you prop open the oven door and run a fun into the oven? And does time stay about the same or is the drying time shorter? Thanks in advance for your expertise on the matter!
(laughing) Just call me Cristina.
You set them on a cookie sheet, preferably on parchment paper, at 250º for a few hours. No need to prop open the door or put in a fan. The low heat will dry them out all on it’s own.
p.s.
I’m not an expert by any means. I just really dig dried tomatoes. I use them for all sorts of good eats.
What? You have a real name (laughing, too)? Thanks for the instructions! And I do so enjoy your blog! Thanks, Cristina! (I feel like a kid calling her teacher by her first name. Silly, eh?). Terri
Thank you for the kind words; I enjoy your blog as well! Have a great weekend! 🙂
What a great problem to have… I wish we had too many tomatoes! We will be planting ours in a couple of weeks in this part of the world. 🙂
Love them!! And I would like a peek at you garden 🙂
It’s late fall–but I’ll see what photo I can muster! I still remember your garden post. It’s my standard, and I knew any garden post I wrote could NOT compare. So I didn’t go there! My garden has been so fun, relaxing, nourishing, invigorating, challenging. Just the best.
Haha, it doesn’t need to compare. You have your style and I have mine, and I really enjoys yours 🙂
Thanks! Was a good night to hear that. 🙂
I really want to try these! Bet they would be good with guacamole or hummus!
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