Drying your own foods in a food dehydrator or in your oven is simple and mostly hands-off, but to make it worth your effort, it helps to have a handful of basic ideas for using these dried goods. Most uses require that the food be rehydrated, a process usually referred to as refreshing. Refreshing is done by soaking or cooking (or a combination of both) the dehydrated food in water until the desired volume is restored. The amount of water and the length of time needed to refresh 1 cup of dried food will vary, here is a table that will help you know for most dehydrated fruits and veggies. If your foods have been properly pretreated before dehydration, the refreshing process takes less time for most vegetables. For the most part dehydrated vegetables that have been refreshed take less time to cook than fresh veggies. Do NOT rehydrate foods until you are actually ready to use them. Since the dehydrating process doesn't actually cook the foods once they are rehydrated they become a breeding ground for microbes, molds, and other nasty bacteria. 
Some basic and easy uses for dried vegetables would be to include them in soups, stews, casseroles, and sauces. They can also be used on their own, but it should be noted they won't be as "crisp" as a fresh veggie that had been steamed. Although some "hard" vegetables such as carrots, corn, and potatoes will retain a similar texture to the cooked fresh version. You can also just eat them if you want but make sure to eat them slowly so they have a little time to rehydrate in your mouth. Below are some other ways you can use your dehydrated vegetables.
DRIED GREENS- such as kale, spinach, chard, beet and collard greens, once they are dried are highly concentrated , nutritional ingredients. After drying, chop them up into flakes either with a knife or food processor. These flakes can be used in omelettes, egg dishes, the ricotta filling for lasagna, or make a salt mix with them and pour it over popcorn. They can also be made into powders using a coffee grinder. Store them in an old spice container and then use them in a smoothie or make them into a V-8 type of drink. Or you can take the flakes or powders and put them in a dip or batter or simply rehydrate the whole leaves and do the same.
DRIED VEGETABLES- such as tomatoes, carrots, beets, etc. can also be dried and made into powders. If you juice them don't throw away the pulp dry it and turn it into a powder. The powders can be used in smoothies, making your own drink mixes, flavoring dough like pizza or bread or rolls, you can even make your own dry vegetable broth mix. Another option is in how
you cut (chopped, diced, julienned) them before drying them. Once they are dried you can make your own soup mixes and store them or give them away as Christmas gifts. You can also make your own chips out of them and then crush them and use them on top of a baked potato, salad, or even incorporated into a meatloaf.
DRIED HERBS- these are extremely versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. These would be another great one to store in old spice containers. You can keep them separate or combine them to make your own unique seasoning blends to use in soups, casseroles, nut mixes, dips, etc. The possibilities are endless. These can also be added to doughs, make bread like a no knead bread and make a delicious Rosemary Parmesan loaf. You can also use them to make your own flavored vinegars for salad dressings or marinades.
Dehydrated fruits can be eaten as is or refreshed and then cooked. When cooking with dehydrated fruits simply refresh them by soaking them in hot water and then if needed use that same water in your cooking. If extra water is needed for the recipe that can be added after the fruit has been refreshed. If you need to add sugar don't add it until after the fruit is tender because the sugar will cause the fruit to harden and become tough.
DRIED FRUITS AND NUTS- fruits and nuts can be used in many ways. Make your own granola mix. Take oats, nuts and the wet ingredients (honey, maple syrup, molasses, oil etc.) bake them and then add your favorite dried fruit to the mix . You can also make a trail mix or even some no bake granola or energy bars. Use them in overnight oatmeal, cookies, cobblers, pancakes, muffins, waffles, pudding, pies and quick breads. Make your own mixes ahead of time and store them in a mason jar or mylar bag for quick treats or meals, if you have enough give
them away as gifts. My favorite thing to make with fruits and nuts when dehydrating is fruit leather. Yes, it is extremely easy and delicious, they never last long around my house. My favorite is apple pecan pie leather. Takes some apples, core and peel them, throw them in a blender and blend until completely pureed. At this point I add a splash of vanilla and about 1/2-1 tsp. of cinnamon. Add some chopped pecans and give it a quick mix. Then pour it on the sheets that are meant for making fruit leather and then dehydrate. I have also made blueberry with a little apple in it, peach with either a splash of o.j. or vanilla, and even mixed with raspberries or strawberries, the possibilities are endless.
If you make your own nut milks save the leftover meal and dry it, then turn it into a powder. If someone in your family has a gluten intolerance you can use the powder to make flour mixes for bread or even a gluten free crumble topping. If you coarsely grind it, it can be used as breading for fish, chicken tenders, pork chops, etc. You can even use it as a binding agent for veggie or bean burgers.
One final note, I did find this lady's blog who has 101+ dehydrating recipes. It is a good resource for if you are just getting going on dehydrating your food. It even has tips for what to do when using your food after it has been dehydrated. She even includes meats. We didn't include meats because there are better and more economical ways to include protein in your food storage that will last longer. It is important to remember though that most home dried goods aren't going to last more than a year or 2 so choose wisely what you do and make sure you will use it in that time frame.
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