Make Your Own Dry Minced Onions

Here is something I posted on August 30, 2008. I am re-posting this to participate in Tammy's In-Season Recipe Swap. Please go over and visit and see what others have contributed! Make sure you take a look at all of Tammy's recipes, they are great!

Many people dry their own bananas or apples, but did you know it is very easy to make your own dry minced onions or dry onion powder? I wait until I find a good sale on onions and buy lots of them. It's even cheaper when you can grow your own! I can only speak from experience with an electric food dehydrator, however I have read where you can dry things outdoors or in your oven. Do a web search and I am sure you can find instructions as to how to do this without spending money on a dryer. I have had mine for many years so it has paid for it's self many times over. This is how I do it...

First, cut the ends off your onions and peel away the dry, papery outer layers. Second, slice your onions to about 3/8" thick. Now lay them onto the dehydrator and turn it on. It takes 12-14 hours in my dryer. Yours may vary. Just follow the instructions that came with your dryer. After they are dry, they should be brittle. You do not want to store them with moisture in them, it will ruin the whole batch.

Next I put them in the blender and whir them to the desired consistency - chopped or powdered.

I store them in old glass jars or chipped canning jars - anything I can't use for canning. I also give used canning lids a second life by using them to seal these jars of dried food. That's all there is to it, it's that easy! Just use as you would normally use the store-bought kind. Only this way they are far cheaper, and if you grow the onions yourself, it is very frugal and self-sufficient!

One tip that I recommend is to place your dryer in your garage or outdoors because it will make your house really stink to dry onions.

I plan on doing this to my garlic this year. I have never done it before, but I am sure it will be the same as the onions. Have fun drying your own onions or garlic!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

3 c cooked long grain rice
10oz chopped broccoli (frozen or fresh works)
2c diced cooked chicken
1 tbsp dry minced onions
4 eggs
1 c milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2c shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup (or make your own)

In a greased 9x13 baking dish, combine rice, broccoli, chicken and onions. Beat together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over items in dish. Sprinkle with 1c cheese. Spread soup over top. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until melted.

Another one-dish-meal! Just add some fruit on the side and you are set!

Angie's Chili Soup

1# ground beef
1/2c chopped onion
1 tbsp chili powder
dash garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash salt & pepper
2 cans tomato soup
1/2 can Aldi's Mexican Chili Beans (more if you like)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
tomato juice to thin it out as needed

Put all into a crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

We like to sprinkle cheddar cheese over this and serve with crackers or cornbread.

I ALWAYS triple this recipe. We like it ALOT!

On occasion, I have put the beef in raw and let it cook that way. It turned out well. If you do this, you want to make sure that you are using very lean meat or else it will be greasy.

Sometimes I will pour this over nachos for a snack.

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

1# ground beef
1 tbsp dry minced onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1c ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Brown beef in a skillet (I like cast iron). Drain fat if needed. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve between two slices of bread/buns or we like to dump it on one slice and eat it with a fork.

I like to serve this with baked taters and fresh fruit.

Leftover sloppy joe is versatile. I have used it as a taco filling, a topping for nachos and in the chili soup pot.

Brownies

Here is another recipe I use that I could not make better! :)

Best Brownies from the Hersheys Kitchens wesite.

I have never made the frosting, these are perfect without it!

Lasagna

I have tried many lasagna recipes over the years, and for some reason either my husband or I didn't care for the results. Then this past spring I found a winner! I have not made any changes to the orginial recipe, so I will post the link to it and you can follow it from here. It is a very good, easy recipe.

Lasagna, from Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog


Correction: on several occasions, I DID change one thing in the recipe! I omitted the cottage or ricotta cheese. It STILL turned out fabulous! We actually like it better this way!

Candied Carrots

2 pounds carrots, sliced (or use canned)
2 tbsp butter
1/2c brown sugar

Place carrots in a saucepan and add 1" water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, and cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Add butter and brown sugar and cook until butter is melted, while stirring. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

1/2c vanilla yogurt
1/2c peanut butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional
Fruit or pretzels for dipping

Yields 1 cup

Beef Roast

3 to 3-1/2# beef roast, any cut
4 - 5 potatoes, cut into chunks
4 carrots, sliced or small chunks
3c water
1 pkt onion soup mix (make your own here!)

Place roast, taters and carrots into a crock pot.
Sprinkle onion soup mix over top.
Pour water over all.
Cover and cook on low 8 - 9 hours.
Delicious and so easy!

This is a great meal in one pot. I often make this up early in the morning on very busy days and then I don't have to think about supper until we are hungry! Serve with applesauce (home-canned of course!) to round out the meal.

Potato Soup

4 medium potatoes
2 c water
1 small onion
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
crushed red pepper flakes
ground black pepper
3 c milk
1/2 tsp sugar
1-1/2c shredded cheddar cheese
2-1/2c cubed cooked ham

Cut potatoes into chunks, we like them big!
Bring water to a boil in large saucepan. Add tater chunks and cook until tender. Drain, reserving the liquid. Set aside the potatoes. Measure 1c of the potato water, set aside.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring often until onion is tender. Don't let them brown.
Add flour to pan and season with red pepper flakes and black pepper. Cook 3 minutes.
Gradually add the potatoes, reserved potato water, milk and sugar to the onion mixture. Stir well.
Add cheese and ham. Simmer on low for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. It likes to stick!

Yummy!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

5 large potatoes, thinly sliced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-3/4c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp dry minced onion
1-3/4c milk

Slice potatoes and place in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, onions, salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the sliced potatoes.
Top with the cheese.
Pour milk over all.

Cover and bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Take out of the oven and uncover. Put back into the oven for additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden. Yum, cheesy!

I often serve this with meatloaf.

Baked Oatmeal

1/2c applesauce
3/4c brown sugar
2 eggs
3c oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2c raisins

Combine all ingredients in order listed. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve with milk.

I make this in the evening, refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning. This smells so good first thing in the morning!

Chicken Tacos

Combine in a small bowl:

1 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp chicken boullion powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cumin

In a large skillet, add:
2 pints home-canned chicken
2 tbsp oil
1c water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2c cooked rice (however much you want to stretch it!)

Cook on medium high until the pepper and onion is tender.

To the skillet ingredients, add the mixed seasonings. Cook on medium until heated through. Stir often and add a little a bit of water as needed to prevent sticking or drying out.

Spoon onto soft tortillas and serve with salsa, sour cream, taco sauce or lettuce!

Angie's Meatloaf

1-1/2# ground beef
1 large egg
1/2-3/4c ketchup
1c oatmeal
salt & pepper to taste
couple tsp dry onion flakes (to taste)
sprinkle of powdered garlic

Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Dump onto a pan and shape into a loaf (or put in a loaf pan - I like to use those jelly roll pans). Place into an oven preheated to 400 and bake for 30-40 minutes. Slice and serve!

Recipes

A long while back I promised posting some of my recipes, well here I go! I will post the recipes that I regularly use. These aren't *completely* made up by me. I typically find a recipe that seems like something we would like, then I "doctor" it up from there and it turns into my "own" recipe. Since I have changed them, I don't feel I need to cite where the original came from. Anyways, most of them I can't remember where they came from! I try to make as much as possible from scratch. I cook for 2 adults and 1 toddler, but usually I make a meal that would feed 4-6 people. That way I have leftovers for the next days lunch.

Enjoy!

Remembering Our Babies - October 15