Dehydrator Snacks

HEALTHY SNACKS 

Dried Mango Chips

I don't put anything on my mango slices when I dehydrate them. They are a really sweet fruit to begin with and I think they turn out perfectly with nothing added to them. The toughest part is cutting them!

These are so easy to pack and carry anywhere.

I make fruit leathers fairly often because Gabe loves them, and I can take them to work or pack them for any outing. I never use a recipe for mine either. I usually try something a little different every time. 

 The one above contains blueberries, strawberries, ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, and banana. The red one below contains strawberries, mango, banana, and chia seeds. I used to never add any of the seeds, but it's a great way to add them to your diet! You can even add protein powder if you want!! Go figure! You can't buy these versions at the grocery store!!

Banana Chips

Banana Chips

 Place sliced bananas on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at about 90 degrees for 3-4 hours. Great little snack to have on hand. I made this batch plain, but in the past have sprinkled them with cinnamon or a mixture of agave and cacao.

If you want, you can spray your bananas with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to prevent them from turning the darker brownish color.


MAKE SURE TO READ NEXT WEEK IF YOU WANT TO GET IN ON A CHANCE FOR A GREAT GIVEAWAY!

Apple chips

Dehydrated apple chips

These little apple chips are one of my favorite dehydrated snacks. They have such a great flavor. Here's what you will need:

apples (I prefer more sour apples)

raw agave nectar

cinnamon

I core my apple and then run it through the food processor to get even cuts supper fast. This helps them to dry evenly. I dried mine on 90 degrees for about 4 hours. 

 Drizzle agave nectar over sliced apples and then sprinkle on some cinnamon. Mix them all up and place onto dehydrator sheets.

As I mentioned on Monday, I started a new job this week! I left the emergency department to take a job doing pediatric critical care transports. We pick up sick children from birth to 18ish and transport them back to a hospital where they can get a higher level of care. I never thought I would I would specialize in pediatric critical care, but I absolutely love it! It's an amazing feeling to help an innocent little child. Such a difference between kids and adults! Anyway, on Monday we did back to back calls that lasted from 1015 until about 6pm. No time for lunch breaks when you are rushing to and from hospitals trying to get a kid stabilized and in a place where they can get the best care possible. So, these apple chips, along with the snack bars that I shared with you yesterday were shoved in my pockets for snacking in between transports. Life savers for me, so I can help be a life saver for a little one:)

Delicious!

Cocoa Crispies

COCOA CRISPIES

Buckwheat Groats

Since buckwheat is actually a fruit seed, it's a great substitute for people who are sensitive to wheat. It's great for the cardiovascular system because rutin and other compounds in it help to lower lipid level. They help maintain blood flow and help keep the platelets from clumping together. Buckwheat is also a great source of magnesium and can help fight diabetes. It is a great source of insoluble fiber, which has been shown to decrease the risk of gallstones and colon cancer. The protein in buckwheat is a high quality protein, containing all eight essential amino acids including lysine. Buckwheat has also been  referred to as a fertility food.

Cocoa Crispies from Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis.

2 cups buckwheat groats, soaked for at least 1 hour

3/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons (heaping) cocoa or carob powder

2 packets of stevia (I personally do not like stevia so I substituted about 2 teaspoons agave nectar. Yacon syrup would probably work as well.)

2 teaspoon sea salt

Rinse the starch off buckwheat groats after they have soaked. Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until it looks like a soupy oatmeal. Divide between 2 teflex dehydrator sheets and spread to about 1/8 inch thick. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 8-12 hours. They should be brittle so turning them over in one sheet might be hard. It's best to turn them over in pieces and dehydrate for another few hours until crunchy.

Place in a bowl with bananas or any favorite fruit and top with almond milk. To be honest, I didn't like them when I first tasted them. Once I put them in a bowl with banana and almond milk, I fell in love! These are a fun sweet, but healthy twist for breakfast!

The cocoa crispies were another raw meal that my mom got to taste. She liked them. We had raw oatmeal, which is consumed about 5-6 mornings a week at our house.

Make sure to rinse.

I will make them a bit thicker next time.

 As you can see, they were a hit with my little guy! He shoved them in his mouth so fast, I doubt he even tasted them! We do very little dairy at our house, so I topped them with almond milk.

 Please ignore the fact that he's eating his cocoa crispies out of a pink bowl. Although it's my favorite color, it is not his! They came in a pack of multi-colored bowls:) Pink just happened to be clean that day! Oh yeah, and he's much cuter when his hand isn't half way down his throat;) HeHe! Apparently he needs he to work on his spoon skills!

S&P Lacinato Kale Chips

One of my favorite things, is a big bowl of kale chips. I love the taste, and I can eat as many as I want without feeling guilty about how bad they are for me.  My favorite recipe that I've tried is rather addicting, and I like them so much that it's hard to try other recipes out there. I did however, make my own sea salt and black pepper version for my mom this past weekend. I wasn't sure she'd like my favorites, so I tried some plain ones.

Ingredients

A couple of large bunches of Lacinato Kale (dino kale) . Remove leaves from center stem.

Toss in a bowl with about 1/8-1/4 cup sunflower oil depending on how much kale you make.

Black pepper, a few twists of Himalayan Sea salt, and garlic salt to taste.

Directions

Place in dehydrator at 115 degrees for about 3-4 hours. 

Click here to see the healthy benefits of kale!

Home Made Fruit Roll-Ups.

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on some of the kids snack foods out there? One of my favorites is fruit roll-ups, but the ingredient list is not very healthy, at all! Here's what's in one variety:

Ingredients

Ingredients in Fruit Roll-Ups as listed on the Fruit Roll-Ups Variety Pack box include pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Fruit Roll-Ups also contain 2 percent or less than 2 percent citric acid, sodium citrate, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, dextrose, maltic acid, ascorbic acid, natural flavor and the following food coloring: blue 1, red 40 and yellows 5 and 6.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/523619-fruit-roll-up-ingredients/#ixzz1cVJmxqWl

Really? Do you really want to give that to your kids? Why must they add all of the extra "crap" that does no good for a healthy body? And food coloring? There are plenty of raw fruit leather recipes out there, but here's what's in mine:

MANGO BANANA

2 mangos

2 bananas

Puree the above TWO ingredients and place on teflon dehydrator sheets! SO healthy with nothing extra added. This is just as healthy as eating fresh fruit because they are dehydrated at about 95 degrees. They are SO delicious!

 STRAWBERRY BANANA

1 pint stawberries
1 1/2 bananas
1 tbs agave nectar
Purree the above THREE ingredients and place on teflon dehydrator sheets. I have absolutely no problems giving these to my son, and he loves them!

It should peel right off the teflon sheets.

Wrap them in press n seal.

There you have it! Delicious treats for kids and adults without any extras added!

Cleaning binge.

Remember me telling you about my refrigerator cleaning habits? Well, I was on one of my refrigerator cleaning binges the other day and got this out of it:

Yep, that's dried parsley! I had some parsley in the frig and no recipe waiting to use it, so I dried it. My dehydrator was just sitting there on the counter begging to be used, so I obliged! I have since used it in several cooked recipes including chicken and barley stew (AMAZING BTW) and garlic bread. No, my home is not completely "raw." Don't you remember I have a husband that mostly refuses to touch my "raw" creations:( For that matter, he refused the chicken and barley stew too. He's just that picky:) He'd probably live on hot dogs if I'd allow it, but that won't happen! Ever!

Fruit Leathers.

Can you remember eating fruit roll ups as a kid? I'm pretty sure my mom didn't buy them very often because we didn't get too many snacks, well, besides oreos. My mom used to get up in the middle of the night to eat those delicious little sandwich cookies, and since I always heard her, I got up and joined in:)  Fruit leathers is one of the things I've been dying to make with my new dehydrator. They are completely raw and have no added sugar, colors, or preservatives. I made two kinds the other night and let them dehydrate overnight at 95 degrees. They are great and my husband even liked them. Finally, he tried something!

Pineapple Banana Leathers

1 banana

3 slices pineapple

squeeze of lemon juice

blend all ingredients and smooth them out on the teflex dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate 12-14 hours (or until fruit easily peels off sheets) at 95 degrees.

Strawberry Apple Leathers

1 apple (don't peel or core it)

4 pitted dates

1 to 1 1/2 cups whole strawberries

1 inch piece of vanilla bean cut into small pieces

Blend all ingredients. Spread onto teflex dehydrator sheets and dehydrate for 12-14 hours (or until fruit easily peels off sheets) at 95 degrees.

Spread as evenly as possible.

The fruit peels very easily off of the Teflex when done.

Cut the large sheets into smaller squares.

Roll them in saran wrap or press and seal wrap. I prefer press and seal wrap because it holds better.

Now, eat up and feel like a kid again!