Sunday Steals #12

Guys, I have exciting news for you tomorrow.

My first international giveaway.

I'm so excited, don't forget to check back - especially if you're one of my international readers!!!

In the meantime, you still have two days to enter my Chobani giveaway if you're a US reader!

Okay, on to Sunday Steals time.

Going Batty Tee for $5.99 ($19.50) @ Delia's

We are getting closer to October, after all, and a little Halloween spirit can be a lot of fun!

McGrath Beach Tee for $10.14 ($19.50) @ Hollister

It's a chopped easy fit cut and comes in three colors!

Ribbed Tights for $9.90 ($15) @ Nordstrom

Nordstrom has daily free shipping, you have to love that!

Johanna Dress for $24.95 ($78) @ Abercrombie

It comes in three colors and there are also other dresses for as little as $14.95, but this one was just prettier.

Newport Patterned Sandal for $19.95 ($49) @ Free People

Aren't those shoes cute? They're adorable! 

Buying things on sale is very practical - you get more things for the same amount of money. Another really practical thing is freeze dried produce!

Mother Earth Products makes a freeze dried fruits and vegetables in pouches (see above) with 2 cups of chopped freeze dried produce in each. Or you can buy them wholesale. But the consistent thing is that it's always just the fruit or vegetable in there - if it's a bag of diced tomatoes, it's just freeze dried tomatoes:

If it's sweet corn, it's just freeze dried sweet corn.

While their freeze dried bananas are just as tasty a snack as banana chips, there's no sugar, color, or oil added - just sliced-up freeze dried bananas,

And another great thing about freeze dried fruits and veggies? They all have crunch-factor out the whazoo! And they're as flavorful as can be, perfect for throwing on salads or soup or in sandwiches - or on parfaits, yogurt, cereal, ice cream, froyo, etc. if you're using the freeze dried fruit. Or just eating like that!

The banana chips? Yeah, you can definitely eat them just like that - same goes for the corn.

The celery is really awesome in a cream cheese sandwich. Oh. My. Goodness.

One of the great things about freeze drying produce is that the freeze drying process makes them shelf-stable, so you don't have to worry about refrigeration. This makes them a perfect choice for campers, backpackers, travelers, or even college students who want a little extra fruit and veggie action now and then!

Freeze drying food is pretty ancient, dating waaaaaay back before the days of astronaut ice cream (oh hey, elementary school museum field trips). The Peruvian Incas used a primitive form of freeze drying in 1250 BC to keep food fresh and retain nutrients. Freeze dried foods can retain up to 98% of the nutritional value of the fresh fruits and vegetables and Mother Earth freeze dried foods have the brilliant colors and strong flavors to prove it. 

I could nosh on these plain all day (and, um, kind of have been...)

But the real 'point' to freeze dried food is to give people access to quick, easy-to-prepare fresh produce with little time. Freeze dried fruits can be turned into fresh fruits with a quick five minute bath in cold water, as can vegetables - though using hot water will make vegetables rehydrate faster and so much that you won't be able to tell the difference between them and their fresh equivalents.

Freeze Dried Broccoli

Only the freeze dried version comes pre-washed and chopped, speeding things up. Also, since it takes ages to go bad (years and years and years) you can buy several different vegetables and just use a little bit of each at a time. For a one-person kitchen, that's a huge asset.

Mother Earth Freeze Dried Bell Peppers, dry

Here's what a bowl of Mother Earth freeze dried bell peppers looked like immediately after submersion in cold water:

Mother Earth freeze dried bell peppers in cold water

By two minutes later, the veggies had already soaked up quite some water (I'm not sure if you can tell, but they're no longer floating on top of the water).

A quick two minute ding-dong in the microwave later and they were ready to eat!

I just mixed in some leftover sauce from the fridge and had a delicious vegetable side in much less time than it would have otherwise taken me!

But here's the one veggie of theirs that I just can't bring myself to rehydrate:

Their freeze dried garden peas! I make trail mix out of these (paired with dried cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, dried mango, and chocolate chips) and munch them on the go - they're just so delicious and become a quick fave to add to anything and everything, from ice cream (for crunch factor!) to the aforementioned trail mix!

Freeze dried produce is brilliant. Just brillaint.

Have you tried freeze dried fruits and/or vegetables?

What's one practical tip that you have to share?

Do you like camping?