Celery, Onion, Minerals and Sodium, Making Your Own Spices

I've left half an onion in my refrigerator more times than I can count.

I hate throwing the unused half away or letting it go to waste.  But it seems to be an unwritten rule that the next time I clean out the fridge, it's shriveled, or forgotten at the back of the drawer.

I find it easier to chop up the whole thing, (usually the second half is just sliced since it's quicker) and half goes in my meal at hand; the other half I immediately throw in my dehydrator, for 12-48 hours, depending on your humidity.  Even here in Utah, it's usually closer to the 24-36 hour mark.

Once I'm sure it's dry and cracks nicely, I place the dehydrated onion in my blender and powder it thoroughly.

You can do the same thing for

• celery
• carrots
• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• peppers
• broccolli
• cauliflower
• ginger root,
• parsley or other fresh herbs

Almost anything that you have more of, than what you need, will work and then I store them in those great little containers they have at the "dollar store".

With celery, I keep it all, the leaves and the stalks, then dry and powder them.

Celery is  such an underrated veggie!  It's packed with more than a dozen antioxidants (these help keep cancer causing free radicals at bay), and flavnoids (those phytonutrients that help reduce inflammation and protect our red blood cells!)

Then there's celery's sodium content; in a large stalk of celery (about a pound) there is nearly 400 mg of sodium.  It makes a great salt substitute, and the flavor is out of this world!

By drying, and even powdering your vegetables, you'll find it's a great way to hide all kinds of things in a soup!  (My Hubby always tells me how he hates peppers...can I just say he has no clue he's been eating them our whole married life...:)

Use your imagination, and if the world comes to

a screeching halt, you're prepared...if it doesn't, well, you're still prepared!

Let me know what works for you!