LIVING RAW BY GRACE
  • Home
  • 7 Day Detox Program
    • Detox Program FAQs
    • Contact Me
    • Testimonials
  • UnCookBooks
    • Lists of Recipes

Dehydrators & A FREE Recipe!

9/28/2010

2 Comments

 
Picture
Dehydrators
My home smells like pizza. One of the beautifully unexpected aspects about dehydrators is that they fill your home with wonderfully delicious scents while your food dries.  I’m making Mini Pizzas, which if you have my UnCookbook you know are made of sliced eggplant, marinara sauce, and some spices.  When dehydrated, they taste wonderfully chewy and conquer that I-need-to-have-pizza craving I get now and that.  They kinda remind me of those pizza bites I used to love as a kid.

Dehydrators.  Before I went raw, I had no idea why they were necessary and had never even seen one.  The idea of drying your fruit sounded silly to me…why not just eat it normally? I liked jerky, sure, but would rather buy it than make it.  Yuck. So when looking for a dehydrator, I wasn’t sure what to keep an eye out for.  I quickly learned that the dehydrator needs a temperature gauge, as most dry at temperatures hot enough to cook (and thereby destroy the nutrients and enzymes of) your food.  I also learned that if I wanted to make crackers, breads, and fruit leather, I would need a square dehydrator, not a round one.  Most round dehydrators have the fan in the middle – with a cutout…so you would get bunt-shaped foods. I quickly learned that there was one name on everyone’s lips: Excalibur.   They have phenomenal dehydrators, lots to choose from and a great reputation.  They are expensive, though…and I wasn’t sure I wanted to splurge if I wasn’t going to use it very often.  Smart, cautious move…but I wish I had splurged. I bought the four tray and later on bought another four tray.  Like the rest of my appliances, I am looking to possibly upgrade and sell the dehydrators I have now.  If interested in purchasing mine from me, contact me.

As much as I recommend an Excalibur dehydrator…I know that not everyone needs to dry all their food, so I tell everyone to find what they can in their budget.  I bought one of my friends an inexpensive round dehydrator for $40 for her birthday and she makes wonderful foods in it. I’ve enjoyed her crackers and she tells me wonderful stories of her pancakes and other treats.

Now I can’t imagine what I’d do without my dehydrator!   My Mini Pizzas are UnBaking right now and I need to make another batch of crackers. Breads, cookies, tortillas, granola, cereal, spicy seeds, “candied” nuts, chips and fruit leather are all a lovely part of my diet.  Not an essential one, but a wonderful option when salads get monotonous.  In fact, fruit leather may be the easiest food in the world to make.  It’s so easy and simple to me, that I can’t imagine putting it into my next UnCookBook, so I’ll share it with you.  

Now, if you don’t have a dehydrator…never fear!  Take a look at your oven.  Does it have a “warm” setting?  Any idea what temperature your “low” setting is?  If you have a meat thermometer (and if you don’t, they are only a dollar or two), put your oven on “low” or “warm” and prop the door open a little.  Now, place your thermometer inside and wait ten minutes.  If the temperature is under 120°, you are in business!  If it’s even lower…yaaay!  Ideally, you want to get it below 118°, but I like around 105°. 

For those of you without a dehydrator or a warm oven…feel free to bake these little babies…they are still delicious and better than the store bought fruit rollups.  They have no added sugar and are remarkably healthy.

Strawberry Fruit Leather:
  • 2 pears*
  • 6-10 strawberries**
  • 1 tsp cinnamon***
Blend until smooth.  Line your dehydrator trays (or baking sheets) with parchment paper or teflex/paraflexx sheets (non-stick).  Pour fruit sauce onto trays and spread evenly – about a ¼” thick. Dehydrate till desired consistency – around 24 hours at 105°.
*Pears are 98% carbohydrates, which are helpful in weight reduction and also provide a natural quick source of energy.  A pear is a nutrient dense food, providing more nutrients per calorie, than calories per nutrient. Pears also provide 30% more potassium than an apple, which is necessary for maintaining heartbeat, muscle contraction, nerve transmission, and metabolism. High in Vitamin C, copper and Vitamin K.

**Strawberries are PACKED with Vitamin C, and eating a handful will fulfill your RDA. They also have wonderful anti-cancer properties and have been linked to fight against macular degenerations, rheumatoid arthritis, and helps heart health. Strawberries are also excellent sources of manganese, iodine, potassium, folate, vitamins B2, B5, B6, K, cooper, magnesium and even omega-3 fatty acids) 

***In the ancient world, cinnamon was more precious than gold and was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs.  It is used both as a culinary spice and for medicinal purposes.  Cinnamon is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-spasmodic and even has anti-clotting properties, making it a natural treatment against arthritis, yeast infections, stomach ulcers, and has even showed to inhibit the growth of cultured tumor cells. Cinnamon has also been used in Korea and China as a traditional herb for treating diabetes. It is rich in magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinch, copper, and selenium.  It also is rich in Vitamins A, C, and E.
2 Comments
Kelli Morgan
10/3/2010 09:58:53 am

LOVE all the information. I am drolling over your uncookbook all day!

Reply
kitchen makeovers sydney link
8/30/2012 05:03:31 pm

It is extremely helpful for me. Thank you for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

     About the Blogger

    Haley is passionate about Raw Food and how God has used it to heal her. She loves to share what she knows with anyone who is curious, and finds herself talking to everyone around her about her lifestyle. 

    God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. (2 Corinthians 3-7)

    This Scripture applies to every area of  life that Haley is passionate about. In order to be grateful, confidant, and assured of anything in your life...it must be tested and proved. That testing is never easy and rarely pleasant...but it IS purposeful. She now can take the comfort that God has given her and share it with you. Amen!

    Archives

    January 2020
    August 2019
    December 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    January 2016
    October 2015
    April 2014
    January 2014
    June 2013
    January 2013
    July 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    31 Days Of Raw
    Apples
    Appliances
    Banana
    Bananas
    Bible Study
    Bill
    Birthday
    Blenders
    Blending
    Blendtec
    Business Cards
    Calcium
    Calendar
    Calories
    Camping
    Challenge
    Chia
    Christian
    Classes
    Cold
    Consultating
    Coupon
    Crackers
    Creations
    Csa
    Daily Food Journal
    Dehydrator
    Desserts
    Detox
    Dinner
    Dip
    Dips
    Dirty Dozen
    Dr. Oz
    Exercise
    Faith
    Farmer Markets
    Farmer\'s Market
    Farmers Market
    Feminine Health
    First
    Flu
    Food Storage
    Free
    Future Plans
    Generosity
    Goals
    Grace
    Green Crisps
    Greens
    Green Smoothie
    Green Smoothies
    Grocery Shopping
    Handstands
    Healthmaster
    Healthy Food
    Help!
    Help!
    Hurom
    Juice Cleanse
    Juicers
    Juicing
    Mainstream
    Medicine
    Newsletter
    Ninja
    Nuts
    Online Classes
    Oprah
    Organic
    Overeating
    Part-time
    Pictures
    Pies
    Prayer
    Price Matching
    Protein
    Public
    Q&A
    Raw Potlucks
    Raw Recipe Night
    Raw Recipe Party
    Recipe
    Restaurants
    Reviews
    Salad
    Secret
    Special
    Stewardship
    Teaching
    Travelling
    Uncookbook
    Vegan
    Video Club
    Virtual Consultation
    Vitamix
    Water
    Website
    Yoga

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • 7 Day Detox Program
    • Detox Program FAQs
    • Contact Me
    • Testimonials
  • UnCookBooks
    • Lists of Recipes