Dehydrater Makes Inexpensive Healthy Snacks

I have been seriously hoping for a Nesco American Harvest Dehydrator for a few months now. I had heard from several people that it is the best one to have. My original purpose was to dehydrate nuts (more on the amazing health benefits of first soaking and then dehydrating nuts in a future post.) Well, I got my Nesco Dehydrator yesterday thanks to my dear sister. THANKS! It is great!

To tell a little back story - my husband is quite a hilarious shopper. I truly only send him in a pinch because he comes home with way more than needed most times. Kind of like shopping after a week-long starvation diet. He gets it from his dad. You should have seen that jar of jalapenos he brought home one time!! Whew, they lasted like 3 years. Well, last week I was sick and so, needless to say, I have about four big Sam’s Club size containers of various fruit in my fridge. So, even as much as my girls love fruit, some of it is bound to go bad before we can eat it all. Well, it turned into a perfect time to experiment with my new dehydrator.

I started with the blueberries. I just had to freeze them for a bit first and then pop ‘em in the trays and turn it on overnight. This morning, there were the dehydrated blueberries in all their glory! My girls ate some in their yogurt because we just had to try the berries. They liked them! Any mom knows that is the true test. In fact, I personally don’t typically like blueberries, but they actually were sweeter than they started out to be. So, now I can bag up the blueberries and put them in cereal, yogurt, granola mix … you get the idea. I am so excited! I can use the dehydrator to remove the water from all sorts of foods, herbs, flowers – anything that has water in it basically. The possibilities are endless.

No more wasted fruit as the dehydrated fruit will last a few months if you seal it with one of those food-sealing machines or freeze it. However, even in a plastic baggie it will last a month or so, according to the manual. The dehydrator can make banana chips, dried strawberries, dried vegetables and beef jerky. There is also a way to make fruit roll-ups. That will probably be my next experiment. Also, the machine will dry nuts so that it doesn’t take up the oven for a whole day anymore. Too, I can feel better leaving it on while leaving the house which work better if you want to leave it on when going to work etc.

At the same time, though, if you don’t have a dehydrator or it isn’t in the budget right now, you could probably use your oven for the same purpose. This is how I have been drying my almonds up until now and it worked fine. You just have to put it to the lowest setting and leave the door open a crack as you want the temperature around 130-140 degrees for fruits and vegetables. Most newer ovens won’t go lower than 250 degrees but if you crack the door it will let some heat escape and keep it around where you need it.

Either way you do it – happy hydrating! It is a tremendous money-saver. You can buy things when they are in season and cost less and then keep them on hand. Too, it lets you know exactly what is in your snacks! I would love to try to make jerky, as I know my husband would love that. If anyone has a good recipe for jerky, I would love to have it!

Until next time, Keep Living Your Unique Diva Style Out Loud!

Live Domestic Diva Style

I’ve heard the urban legend of how woman burned their bras back in the late 60’s. Silly, no? They obviously weren’t privy to La Perla or Oprah’s bra fitting techniques back then. I happen to think that miracle bra’s and stilettos go great with a briefcase. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water – ya know what I’m saying? Isn’t the idea of freedom to be exactly who we were created to be? Whether that means being a beauty queen
(hello Esther), CEO, Stay-at-home-mom or a combination of all of the above. Today’s modern domestic diva is not June Cleaver. Unless, of course, she wants to be.

In my short time as a mommy (my kids are still little) I’ve already had several roles. Working mom. SAHM. Part time SAHM. More-than-enough denero to wondering ‘are we gonna to be homeless?’ Woman these days have all sorts of roles,dreams and continued confusions about what it means to be a woman. Yes,even in this century. That guilt always seems to be there lurking beneath the surface. “Am I enough?”

So, the point of all of this? Well, it is part of the reason for my blog. All of these unanswered questions about how to be a wife, mom, woman etc. in today’s world. Many of us grew up with those moms who may have been out there burning their bra’s, getting divorced, climbing the corporate ladder or Lord knows what. Most seem to have shed any traditional roots. Leaving many of us with lots of unanswered questions about true femininity. Not that some of us didn’t have these great, wonderful examples of woman who taught us to raise babies,cook, sew, grow gardens, be thrifty, throw grand parties and be rock stars in the bedroom to boot. Though, even those woman I know who did have a great lineage such as this still often feel a bit inadequate at times. That being true – no wonder the many of us who did come from bra-burning divorcee’s are totally confused when it comes to all this domestic stuff. Some of us turn our backs on it in an effort to think it will just go away. Others of us embrace it whole-heartedly and seek to be the little Martha Stewart’s of our community. Then, some of us are in-between. We sometimes stumble around the kitchen to bring meals to friends having babies, try to dress at least somewhat this century and can’t get enough of HGTV. I am personally in that last category. I am by no means an expert on any of this diva domesticus stuff. Though,I do think that we all have an inner Domestic Diva and I want to help call her forth in all of us. Truth is, it really can be fun to bust outwith a new recipe or way to save money on groceries. Who’d of thunk?The point of my blog is to share the things as I learn them, hear from others on their tips and tricks so that together we can all stand up -whether in baby spit-up covered t-shirts and chipped nails or glammed outwith our runway ready outfit – let us all say “I am woman – hear me ROAR!!!!” Domestic Diva’s Unite!!! Let’s take on this journey and embrace our inner Diva!

Live Domestic Diva