JB, Whangarei

If you are a tramper, yachtie or camper, you may want a great ‘compact’ food solution. When my husband was planning a 10-day tramp on Stewart Island, he was concerned about the weight of food in his pack, and the cost of dehydrated food, so I made 10 days worth of food for him in my dehydrator. Every night when we had a meal that was suitable, I dried a spare serving in my dehydrator, and put it into self-seal bags. Some experiments worked, but others didn’t! You have to get everything the same size to dry consistently, and it has to be happy to have water added when reconstituting, so risottos, curries and stews all worked well. He was very happy but in the end, didn’t eat them all because of the fresh venison and paua that came his way! Many of us like the convenience of processed food, so if we treat leftovers this way, they are meals in a moment if Mum is in hospital or away and there are no other cooks at home!