Stawberries!!

 

Who doesn't love strawberries? We look forward to picking them every year. Living in the South they are always sweet and juicy!
 
I make strawberry salads, salsa and eat them as they are. My daughter can hardly to wait till we get home from the local farm before she wants to snack on them. My favorite use for strawberries is in salads. They add a just enough sweetness and texture to spice up a salad. In our house salads are with almost every meal. Here is a quick and easy salad I do with strawberries.

• Use any type of salad; I used a spring mix.
• Chop up some strawberries
• Throw in some gorgonzola cheese; any type of crumbly cheese will work. I have used blue cheese crumbles, feta and goat but my favorite is gorgonzola
• Pecans or almonds. The Honey glazed pecans are awesome! I can find them at my Walmart by the nut section in the produce isle.
• I use a strawberry vinaigrette to lightly coat. Any balsamic dressing would work. Enjoy! 

This year I have been seeing dehydrated strawberry recipes all over Pinterest so I decided to take a try at it. I have a dehydrator; serval to say the least but I mainly use them for Venison. I decided to do something different, I used a recipe that called for oven dehydrating at 210 degrees for 4 hours. They are a nice healthy treat; not too chewy or to dry.
 
First you start with a fresh picked strawberries from the garden or from the grocery. Slice them about 1/4 inch; I used a egg slicer to cut mine to make sure I got them all the same size.
 

 

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and lay the strawberries in a single layer.

 

 

Place them in the over set at 210 degrees for 4 hours. Vent to oven by leaving the door open enough to allow the moisture to escape and turn on your hood fan.
 
I checked my strawberries every hour; you'll want to watch them and you might need to cook them longer than 4 hrs depending on your over and location.
 
This is the strawberries at the halfway mark; 2 hours.
 

 

Once they are dry pull them from the oven and let them cool completely before you store them. I used a mason jar but they can be stored in a Tupperware or zip back. I keep mine in the pantry where there is not too much light. We eat them within a day or so but I would guess they would hold for a week or so if you can make them last that long. :)