Summer squash taking over? I chop mine into about 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces and dehydrate them. Because of the water content of summer squash, they really dehydrate to a tiny size, so you may need a smaller grate. Then I mix them in almost everything - meatloaf (instead of bread, crackers, oatmeal, etc), soups, sauces, quick breads. You get the idea.
If your dehydrated squash pieces are too large, just whiz them in a food processor or blender until you get the size you need. Even picky eaters (i.e my grand kids) will eat it all, and not realize there are extra veggies on their plate.
By Barbara Fowler from Sacramento, CA
Hi Barb! How do you dehydrate your veggies? I use a Ronco dehydrator and chop my veggies into slices and go from there. I find that slicing into 1/4 inch slices really dehydrate fine what do you use?
Wow, what a great way to use all the extra squash I have in the yard. Thanks for the tip! I love ThriftyFun! God Bless Trish in CT
Sue123, I would have gotten back sooner, but my garden is going crazy! I have a Ronco, and thanks to a step-daughter, I also have an L'EQuip (?) dehydrator. So I use both, depending on the day. I just cut the squash to 1/2 or 1/4 inch chunks, then dehydrate the Heck out of them. I keep them in a "Ball" jar (if you have the vacuum sealer with a jar sealer attachment, use it too, I just think they keep better, but in any kind of leftover clean jars with a tight lid works fine.) I am going to try many other veggies this year, since thanks to the DH, I now have so many more 4X4 foot raised beds in my garden!
I do this too. Also, did you know that you can blend the dried squash into a powder to use as a flour in recipes (muffins, sweet breads, cakes, cookies, waffles, etc), add to meat (meatloafs, hamburgers, etc), to thicken things (soups, stews, gravy, etc), to add to breadcrumbs (casserole toppings, breadings, etc), to add to smoothies, to flavor stocks, and a million other things. Also, you can puree the squash, freeze it in ice cube trays, and use it in place of milk in recipes.
