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Live and Raw Just Got Easier!

Oh Yeah! I unpacked my Excalibur 5 tray dehydrator last evening and set it up on the counter, and then I spent the rest of the evening reading about what kinds of foods etc.

When I ordered it I was mostly thinking raw crackers and cookies,  to enhance my meals so I don’t feel like I am eating celery, carrots and apples all the time. I realized last evening though that this is going to be a fantastic way to save all the abundant fresh produce to eat year round.

My family is eating so much more raw then they used to. It is interesting, because I have never considered myself the driving force behind what my family eats. Even though I am home all day, I never spent much time in the kitchen, and everyone pretty much forages :-) for themselves. Of course when the kids were little it was different.

What I’ve noticed though, is that because I am taking time every day to plan a healthy menu, my family is following my lead. The other night I made a broccoli and cauliflour salad. Justin suggested maybe I could snap some green beans that he could eat raw since he isn’t fond of Broccoli. So I did, and his beans were sitting necx to the salad.  When it came time to sit down, I noticed his plate was mounded with broccoli salad, and no beans! I said, "Hey, I thought you didn’t like broccoli". He said, "I don’t BUT this looks really good!". Oh man, I laughed!

So anyway back to the dehydrator. Right now I have 4 trays of tomatoes and 1 tray of garlic cloves dehydrating. It was easy…. I simply washed and sliced the tomatoes, and put them on the trays…the dehydrator is a LOT bigger than it looks in the picture too, and holds lots of food! I am going to dehydrate tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, carrots, zucchini, hot peppers, … you name it … everything I can get my hands on from the farmer’s market. I bought a huge grocery cart full of fresh veggies and tomatoes today and all for $30. In the winter at the grocery, that same amount of produce will cost 4 times that amount. (Don’t forget I live in Canada!)

I am going to powder some of it and put it in jars to use for cooking, and some I am going to store in chunks in mason jars to use in soups and stews for the family who like their hot meals in the winter! (I probably will too!)

I am also going to do the crackers, and maybe try some raw cookies too. It is SO easy. I will probably have the thing running daily for the first month while I prepare for winter. This is SO much easier than canning or pickling, and MUCH more nutritious as I am saving all the nutrients and enzymes. Very little is lost in the dehydrating process.

Read this article about Dehydrating foods, from Excalibur:

Raw Food Dehydration health benefits

Many people are now choosing to follow a raw food diet for the extreme health benefits of eating only raw, unprocessed foods. One way to follow this type of diet is to dehydrate raw foods, so that they are conveniently available. Dried vegetables and fruits provide convenient and delicious additions to all types of meals.

Raw foods, also known as living foods, are uncooked, free from animal products, organic, easy to digest and highly nutritious. Anyone following this lifestyle consumes a large portion of uncooked, unprocessed and often organic foods in their diet.

Some raw food dehydration requires refreshing the dried food.  Refreshing is accomplished by soaking or cooking the dried food in water until the desired volume is restored.  Depending on the food being refreshed, you would adjust the amount of water and the length of time.

Here are some general guidelines for refreshing various dried foods:

• Root, stem and seed vegetables are soaked for 30 to 90 minutes in enough cold water to keep them immersed.
• Spinach, kale, cabbage, chard or tomatoes are refreshed by covering with warm water.
• Dried fruits are soaked in warm water.  Of course, dried fruits can be eaten as is, and do not need to be refreshed to enjoy.

Another reason raw food dehydration is so popular is that dehydrating does not subject the foods to high temperatures associated with traditional canning.  This has an added nutritional benefit because when a raw food is heated to an internal temperature of over 120F, the majority of its nutritional value is lost, particularly the enzymes.  In addition, the canning process also leaks out water-soluble minerals and vitamins, thus depleting the nutritional value even further.

Another added bonus of raw food dehydration is the ability to make a beverage like a juice or smoothie using the powdered fruits and vegetables from the dehydration process.  This allows you to boost the nutritional value and content of your raw food beverage even further!

Visit Excalibur Dehydrator online store to learn more about the health benefits, ease and convenience or raw food dehydration.

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