A couple weeks ago I was out shopping with my friend and we stopped by an Asian food mart.  I was really excited to find a #10 can of pineapple for $5.  That is a lot of pineapple chunks.  When I got home I decided the best way to store what we didn’t eat right away was going to be to dehydrate the remaining chunks. 

I cut the chunks into smaller pieces and layed them out on the dehydrator racks.  I set the dehydrator out of the way and let it run for the afternoon and all night long.  The next morning I checked the pineapple it was finally crisp.  You don’t want any moisture left. 

I then bagged one cup of pineapple per foodsaver bag and vac sealed each bag.  I used a sharpie to label and date the package.  I can use the pineapple later in a granola, trail mix or rehydrate it for use in a recipe.

The best part is the storage space dehydrated items takes up is very little.  And these items if properly packaged will last for years to come.

One of my husband’s favorite meals around here is French Onion Soup.  In order to make my soup super easy I carmelize and can my onions ahead of time.  I know to some of you that may sound intimidating or maybe even flat out scarey but I want to show you today just how easy it is to make carmelized onions with your crockpot.

Ingredients For Crockpot Carmelized Onions

• 6 pounds onions
• 1 stick of butter or margarine (I use butter for a richer flavor)

Instructions For Making Crockpot Carmelized Onions

1. Peel and slice onions.  You can either make rings or wedges.
2. Place onions in a 6 quart crockpot and top with a full stick of butter.
3. Place lid on crockpot and allow to cook untouched for 8 hours on low.  I usually just leave mine cook overnight and finalize things in the morning.
4. After 8 hours turn off the crockpot and pack onions into warm sterile canning jars.  I use pints as they are perfect for a batch of soup.
5. Process onions for 60 minutes in a pressure canner.