Notes to project helper.................................................................4
My plans ..............................................................................................5
Exploring MyPlate...........................................................................6
10 tips for healthy eating...........................................................6
Food groups...................................................................................6
MyPlate worksheet.......................................................................7
Reading food labels.....................................................................9
How much should you eat?....................................................10
Let’s plan a menu .......................................................................11
Kitchen and food safety basics................................................12
Kitchen safety ..............................................................................12
Food safety ...................................................................................12
Food preservation safety.........................................................13
Types of food preservation.......................................................13
Drying foods basics......................................................................14
Project objectives.......................................................................14
Why dry foods? ...........................................................................14
How drying preserves foods..................................................14
Nutritional value of dried foods............................................14
Methods of drying food...........................................................16
Drying fresh fruits.........................................................................16
Selecting fruits for drying........................................................16
Preparing fruits for drying.......................................................16
Pretreating fruits for quality and safety .............................17
How to dry fruits in a dehydrator.........................................18
Conditioning fruits.....................................................................18
Drying canned fruits.................................................................18
Making fruit leathers...................................................................20
Uncooked fruit leathers...........................................................20
Cooked fruit leathers................................................................20
Fruit leather from canned fruit..............................................21
Drying and storing fruit leather............................................21
Drying vegetables ........................................................................21
Drying frozen vegetables........................................................21
Drying herbs ...................................................................................24
Packaging and storing your product....................................24
Packaging......................................................................................24
Labeling.........................................................................................24
Storing dried foods....................................................................24
Activity 1: Let’s make trail mix.................................................26
Activity 2: Let’s make fruit leather.........................................27
Activity 3: Let’s make a berry cobbler..................................28
Activity 4: Let’s make peanut butter
and fruit spread ........................................................................29
Activity 5: Let’s make granola..................................................30
Activity 6: Let’s make vegetable soup..................................31
Activity 7: Let’s make a vegetable leather..........................32
Activity 8: Let’s dry herbs...........................................................33
Activity 9: Conduct a taste test ...............................................34
Activity 10: Label your product...............................................35
Activity 11: Going further:
Create your own activity.......................................................36
Activity 12: Make a menu plan................................................37
Activity 13: Read and make nutrition labels .....................38
Show what you have learned...................................................39
Reflections on drying..................................................................39