The New World of Dehydrators (to ME, anyway!)

On Monday I received a Facebook notice that bananas were on sale at one of our local groceries, for 19 cents a pound.  Finally!  A great deal on produce that would fit in my family's diet!  I arranged to borrow a couple of food dehydrators and then went & purchased a 40 lb box of bananas.

I've never owned a dehydrator, but I've had one on my wish list for a while now.  I figured this would be a good test to see if I liked it, and if it was worth buying it. 

I did a google search on-line on how to make banana chips, and the recipes were pretty straight forward.  I peeled them, sliced them pretty thin (hoping they would be end up crispy), soaked them in lemon juice (I used bottled rather than fresh because I've got a large bottle that I need to use up), and then put them on the trays.

It was nice to try two different kinds of dehydrators.  One of them was a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator.

I really like it.  It had six trays, and had a fan in the top.  The temperature was adjustable, too.  This dehydrator dried the food noticeably faster than the other one I used (which didn't have a fan).  Another thing I really like:  the price!  I looked this up on Amazon, and for $50-$60 I think this is a great deal.  I was thinking I would have to spend closer to $150-$200.   It has pretty good reviews, too.

The second dehydrator I tried is a 7-tray Ronco Food Dehydrator. 

This dehydrator doesn't have a fan, but has a heat element in the bottom part that radiates up through the trays to dry the food.  Because it doesn't have a fan, the drying takes longer.  The banana chips tasted the same from either machine, and the price was very comparable.  The model I used (pictured) is not currently available on Amazon, but a new model is, and it is about $49.  It doesn't have very good reviews, so I didn't even put a link for you.

The option that I didn't try was my oven.  I didn't want to tie up my oven for that all day, and it only goes down to 170 degrees, so I would still prefer to have a dehydrator.  Oh, and did I mention that you can make YOGURT in your dehydrator, too!?  Guess I know what I'll be hinting at for Christmas this year.

I had enough bananas to do a second round of banana chips.  The second time I didn't soak the bananas in lemon juice, because I wanted to see what the difference would be, and I wanted to see if they wouldn't stick to the trays as bad.  They actually look really good, and didn't turn darker like I thought they would.  The biggest negative, though, is that they taste more "banana-ey", which is a flavor I have a hard time with.  In fact, I've only started to even tolerate bananas in the last year. 

Next I'm going to make some homemade jerky, but then I better get these dehydrators returned!  I have nice friends :).

Remember the Yogurt?

I've had a little adventure making yogurt this week (HERE and HERE), and thought that the yogurt I made was a failure. 

All sorts of things went wrong while I was making it: 
*I brought the milk to a boil, which you're not supposed to. 
*I couldn't stay up late enough to let the yogurt cool down enough (it was taking FOREVER), so I waited until morning, and it had cooled off completely.  I turned on the burner & warmed it back up. 
*When I was done mixing everything up I put the jars of milk/yogurt into a cooler, which was supposed to keep it warm.  When I checked on them later, they felt like room temperature, which is a bit chilly lately.

So with all that happening, I thought for sure it was a failure.  Well, the day after my last post about it I got the jars out to clean up, and lo and behold, the milk had thickened up!  It looked like yogurt!

I wasn't sure if it would be safe to eat, but i put the jars in the fridge to chill.  I really wanted to try it, but decided to wait for a time that would be alright if I got sick or something.  Last night I tried it.  I put 4-5 drops of stevia in it, mixed it up, and ate it.  YUUUUMMMMY!  It was so good.  It was not quite as thick as yogurts at the store, but I've read they often add things to those anyway to thicken them up.  This was delicious, and no, I didn't get sick.  I ate some more this morning, this time adding cinnamon to it, and it was even better!  So, yea!  I'm glad I didn't throw it out.  I'll still use a heating pad next time instead of the cooler, but now I know the cooler worked & I can compare the two.

Today's Menu

First, an update on yesterday's menu.  I already mentioned how they loved the pumpkin coconut flour waffles.  I loved the garlic-spinach artichoke dip, but my hubby thought it was so-so.  I was a bit nervous about dinner- it had lots of new foods to try. 

Lesson learned today:  I need to get as much food prep done during the day that I can, so that it is ready to throw together at dinner time.  It was a bit stressful trying to get it all done.  The biggest success:  the deviled eggs.  They've always loved these, and could eat five or more a piece if I let them!  Semi-success: The roasted pepper soup.  Not-so-much:  The baked stuffed eggplant didn't go over so well, but I will definitely try it again when I have more time.  I rushed through a few of the steps, and I don't think it was as good as it could have been.

Today's Menu:

Breakfast:
Beef Sausage (It has lots of onion.  I was supposed to chop finely, but I was in a hurry & it was a big onion.  This is definitely an example of where a food processor would come in very handy.  You also add lots of spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, sage, etc., which made me a little nervous.  Everyone really like them, but Jimmy said they tasted like little hamburgers with lots of onions.  My kids were lovin' it- hamburgers for breakfast!)
Greek Yogurt (plain, sweetened w/stevia) & fruit

Lunch:
A yummy BIG salad, w/avocado & a variety of veggies

Dinner:
Chicken & Bean Tacos (I'm supposed to soak my own beans for this, but I've got lots of canned food storage beans, and I'm just going to use them.  Normally you're supposed to use LETTUCE LEAVES for the taco shells!  I'm going to do that for Jimmy and me, but I'll use up some of the corn shells I have saved up for the kids).

Snacks/Sweets
Green Smoothie with Coconut Milk (has spinach, pineapple, bananas, and coconut milk)

Homemade Larabar Recipe Review 2

Yesterday's snack was supposed to be trail mix that had banana chips in it, but my bananas were still dehydrating & needed more time.  So I decided to try another recipe in my Healthy Snacks to Go e-book. 

I loved the first recipe I tried a week or so ago (see post HERE), which was a basic larabar, but my husband thought they were way too chocolaty.  This time I decided to make one without the cocoa powder, the "Coco-shew" bars.  The recipe is so basic, and sounded really good to me because I like cashews. 

Coco-shew Bars Grind: 1/3 c. cashews
Add: ½ c. raisins, ¼ c. coconut
Stream in: ½ tsp. vanilla

The author recommends making these bars in a food processor, but I don't have one so I used my Vitamix.  It worked fine, but it was hard to get down into the bottom of the blender picture & scrape out the sticky mixture around the blades.

Verdict:

Not nearly as good as the basic bars that I made last time.  They turned out WAY too sticky, so I kept adding more & more cashews to try and make them dryer.  I couldn't even really form them into bars or balls well.  The taste was alright- nothing to shout about.  The even more frustrating part?  I couldn't even get some of my family to try them. 

Lesson learned:  I need to remember that as I try these new foods some of my family will hesitant to try them, but I need to keep trying.  Maybe sometimes they'll be pleasantly surprised.

I give these bars 2.5 stars out of 5.
** I just had to update this.  I had put some of the leftover in a bag & put it in the fridge and just ate a little, and it is LOTS better!  The fact that it's not mushy... it's more solid, and the flavors had blended more or something.  It would raise my rating to a 3.5 stars out of 5 if refrigerated.

New Meal Plan with the Fam

Well, overall the new GAPS meal plan is going pretty well.  I met a little more resistance from the kids than I thought I would, but I have to remind myself that change is always difficult, especially when it comes to food.

Monday was my shopping and prep day, so we didn't officially start this until Tuesday.  But I did make a family night treat from my meal plan.  It was Sesame Seed Candy, and I think it turned out really good.  Surprising to me, the kids didn't really get into it.  Even Jimmy said he thought it tasted weird at first, but then the flavor grew on him.  We'll definitely try this again.  I think that they'll like it better next time.  It's really easy to make.

Sesame Seed Candy

1 1/2 cups hulled sesame seeds
1/2 cups honey
1/4 tsp Real salt

Grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil.

Toast the sesame seed in a stainless steel skillet over med-high heat, until golden & fragrant.  Stir every 20-30 seconds, more at the end.

Add honey, and continue on med high heat until the mixture thickens, another 3-5 minutes.  Pour onto the greased cookie sheet and allow to cool for a minute.  Score with a knife into bit sized pieces and allow to cool another 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.  Break apart bite sized pieces and allow to harden, or roll into balls.  Store covered in the fridge.

I'm still supposed to be off of sugar, but I'll admit I did have some of these.  I figure I'll add in some healthy snacks here & there.  My next doctor's appointment is in November, they'll be testing my blood again then.  If it shows that my candida levels haven't gone down much, then that will be a kick in the pants and show me that I need to be strict with myself for the long haul.

On Tuesday our menu was:

Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables (vegetables means lots of onions & then chunks of avocado on top.  They weren't so sure about all the onions...)

Lunch
Large green salad, with Egg Salad on the side. (The kids are still eating school lunch.  I told them I'd make school lunch to send with them, but they haven't taken me up on that yet :)

Dinner
Meatloaf (healthy version not on the diet, but wanted to use up from my freezer.  I also had some separate for me that are gluten-free).
Green Salad, topped w/cucumbers & tomatoes.

Snack/sweets:  Crackers (Mary's Gone Crackers from Costco), or left over sesame candy

Here is today's menu:

Breakfast
Pumpkin Coconut Flour Waffles (They LOVED this!  I made the batter the night before, so this morning was smooth sailing as I got everything ready).

Lunch
Green Salad + Garlic-Spinach Artichoke Dip & veggies (This dip turned out SO good!  It's very basic: mayo, spinach, garlic, artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese.  Yum!)

Dinner
Roasted Pepper Soup, Baked Stuffed Eggplant, and Deviled Eggs (Now THIS will be the test!  I think they'll be picking around at this.  I'm excited to try it, though).

Snack
Trail Mix (Includes: "Crispy" walnuts- you soak them over night, then dehydrate them in the oven all day at the lowest temperature.  They become extra crispy- yummy!;  banana chips- I'm dehydrating some right now.  We'll see if they're ready by this afternoon... I might have to make some lara bars and save this mix for another day; coconut flakes).

Now, Here's How You REALLY Do It!

I just found a tutorial on how to make homemade yogurt, and WHOA am I off on what I did yesterday! 

Remember how I mentioned before the great menu & meal planner for the GAPS diet I found on www.healthhomehappy.com?  Well I still like it over all, but I found another flaw.  Her instructions for making yogurt are pretty vague.  It says:

Heat milk gently on medium heat, stirring approximately every 10 minutes, until milk is close to a boil
[I was very consistent at stirring it, but when it was getting hotter & hotter the boiling point took me by surprise.  Too hot!] 
Cover, remove from burner, and allow to cool until the yogurt is comfortable to the touch, 90-110* F. [Check.  Finished this step at about 10:30pm.  At 12:30 am my milk was still too hot, so I went to bed, and did the next step in the morning. Nope, milk wasn't hot any more.] 
Pour nearly warm milk into jars.  Using one tablespoon of commercial yogurt per quart mix yogurt into the jars of warm milk.  Cover, and shake to distribute culture.  Keep it warm in a yogurt maker, food dehydrator, or cooler [Cooler?!  This is what I did, and it didn't keep it warm at all!  When I checked the bottles in the cooler later this afternoon, they were normal room temperature- not warm at all.]

So I googled "how to make your own yogurt", and I found an awesome TUTORIAL right away.  Things I'll do differently next time I try to make my own yogurt:

* Use a thermometer from the start so it doesn't begin to boil.
* Start earlier than 10:00pm. 
* When you're done use a heating pad to set the yogurt on  the counter top instead of in a cooler.

Have any of you made your own yogurt?  I'd love to hear your tips & advice.

Lesson Learned: Don't Start Making Yogurt at 10 PM

I love my new menu & planning guide for the GAPS diet that I purchased on www.healthhomehappy.com.  I love that it helps me plan ahead & prepare things the night before.

One thing that I was supposed to start tonight is yogurt.  I've never made homemade yogurt, but decided that it is time.  I started heating up the milk at about 9:30pm.  It finally came to a boil (which in the instructions it says nearly a boil, so I hope I'm not out of luck already!), so I turned off the heat & put a lid on it.  I'm supposed to wait for it to get in between 90-110 F before I add some yogurt to the milk to start a new batch yogurt.  It's now 12:30 AM, and it is still about 120 F!!  Seriously?  I had no idea it would take so long to cool off.  Now YOU know & can avoid my mistake.