November Deals
There are lots of great sales in November. I hope you are taking advantage of them, because this is where you can really save a lot of money while filling your pantry. There’s turkey (of course), spices, flour, sugar, evaporated milk. And…celery.
So I’m going to get eight bunches of celery this week. Because this is the perfect time to make celery powder. And nothing could be easier. Just rinse the whole bunch under running water, then slice it up and put it into your dehydrator. Don’t separate the stalks, don’t cut off more the 1/2″ off the top–you can use every bit of the celery–leaves and all–until you get to the bottom where there the stalks are wide and tough and usually have dirt in between them. Total prep time is less than 10 minutes.
What to do with eight stalks of celery?
Dry it, of course!
Dried celery takes up almost no space at all. An entire bunch of celery will condense to less than 2 cups of dried pieces. But the best thing to do is to grind it into a powder. That’s right, just put it into your blender and blend it until you have a nice fine powder. Let it stand for a minute to allow the dust to settle, then pour into a jar with a tight fitting lid (you don’t want moisture or humidity to re-hydrate the powder. You’ll have a nice green clump of celery powder.) and use it to season soups, casseroles, meatloaf and chicken.
One bunch of celery will make about 1/4 cup of powder. You’ll want a couple cups of this tasty powder for a year’s supply. That’s why I’m getting eight bunches. Maybe I’ll get an extra one to use in turkey stuffing and salads for the next couple weeks. There’s plenty of uses for it, fresh or dried.
Good for you!
Not only is this a good way to save money, it’s also healthy for you. Using celery can help you reduce your salt use by as much as one-third. And the powder is super-concentrated vegetable goodness that will add essential trace minerals and vitamins to your food.
Get off to a good start dehydrating with my Everyday Dehydrating Book.
