I bet there’s more in your kitchen than you think that you can stick in the dehydrator.  What can you do with that dehydrator that’s sitting on your counter or in the cabinet and not getting used?  How about pizza dough?  A healthy alternative to the corner pizza place and you can add all the fresh veggies you have in the fridge.  It doesn’t have to be completely raw either.  Have potatoes, but no oil for frying?  Did you know you could dehydrate slices of potatoes and make your own healthier variety of potato chips?  Not only potatoes, but veggies and fruits too.  And how about pie crust that you can make and dehydrate and add your favorite fruit topping? 

Dehydrating will dry food at temperatures high enough to remove the water, but low enough to keep enzymes intact.  In the raw food world, dehydrating temps are below 112 degrees.  This allows vitamins, minerals and enzymes to be preserved.  Fresh fruit can take longer than certain grains.  Teflex sheets are liners that will let you dry watery and thinner foods without them slipping through the mesh screen.  Experiment with the times.  Flip the cookie or fruit to make drying time faster.  Eating a raw diet?  You don’t have to sacrifice the warmth of the food when you use a dehydrator. 

Save money?  Absolutely, with dehydrating.  Drying food is great for preserving food.  Dry apples, corn, tomatoes and meat to preserve and store.  Dried foods keep well because the moisture content is low.  The high cost of commercially dried foods has brought back the popularity of drying food at home.  Don’t forget nuts and seeds.  From almonds to pumpkin.  Top with your favorite spice before dehydrating.

Here are some simple recipes:

Sweet Potato Chips

Slice two sweet potatoes with a spiral slicer into thin slices and add 1/4 olive oil and 1/4 lemon juice and coat well.  Lay the chips flat on dehydrator screen and sprinkle with cayenne or pepper to your taste.  Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8-10 hours or until crispy.

Alternatives for mixing with potatoes:  Try Bragg’s Amino, Apple cider vinegar, sea salt

A Basic Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups buckwheat groats, soaked and sprouted. 1/3 cup olive oil and any herbs you have on hand to taste, like oregano, basil or pepper.  A little liquid amino and place all in the food processor until a dough is formed.  Dehydrate about 4 hours flipping half way through. You can even put these out in the sun to dry!  (Add other ingredients such as, ground flax, onion, parsley, garlic, red pepper)

Almond and Date Pie Crust

1 1/4 cup soaked almonds, 1 cup dates chopped, 1 tblspn water, 1/2 teaspn vanilla and some cinnamon.  Chop the nuts in your food processor and add dates until finely ground.  Add remaining ingredients.  The crust will be slightly damp.  Press the mixture and dehydrate for one hour or leave in the sun.  Top with everything from fresh fruit to pumpkin.  Yum!

And for the kids….Fruit Leathers

Puree any fruit until smooth and add lemon juice to keep fruit from darkening.  Add honey for sweetness if desired.  Spread fruit onto drying tray and dry for 6-8 hours.  Top it or fill it.  Let the kids decide!

These dishes will last in your fridge for days, and you can eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  My personal favorite about raw food.  Experiment with what you have. 

Be happy and be healthy!

I’d love to say that my first thought after getting the evacuation notice Monday was, better grab the wheatgrass juicer… but of course I’m not that advanced yet.  And somehow I put more importance on my Dad’s paintings and the photo albums.  Go figure… All kidding aside, it was quite a week down here in southern California and we want to extend our prayers and well wishes to the individuals and families that lost so much during this ordeal.  Obviously in a crisis the safety of our loved ones and the irreplaceable items we treasure take priority but, being suddenly forced of town for a few days gave me the opportunity to keep it healthy when on the road in a pinch.  It’s really not that hard if you have a little time to plan and several key items on hand.

Most would think that juicing on the road is impossible but that’s because so many people think of the big, heavy electric juicer that takes up a ton of space.  There are several light, portable and extremely functional manual juicers available like The Healthy Juicer by Lexen that work well for this type of situation and are so small they will fit nicely in any travel bag along with the rest of your prized possessions.  Because they are masticating juicers, they are perfect for wheatgrass and leafy greens but most are powerful enough to juice apples and carrots and whatever else your heart desires.  So even if wheatgrass is hard to come or you forgot to pack you’re fruits and veggies before you left, you can surely get your hands on something judicable and healthy.

Dried Fruits like figs, prunes, dates and even papaya, mango, apricot, and cranberries are all high in fiber which will keep the digestion rolling and something yummy like banana chips have almost a potato chip-like taste.  If you’re a do it yourself dehydrator you’ll probably already have some of these ready to go.

Raw fruits and vegetables in a cooler are essential not just for juicing but to snack on as you go.  Oranges, bananas, apples, grapes and any other unpeeled fruit will make great munchies as will baby carrots, celery or any sliced veggies.  Make sure you wash everything before you leave home and put anything sliced in a Ziploc or vacuum sealed bag.  It will preserve your snacks a little longer and will make it easier to eat while driving top speed through the inferno.

Food bars, food bars, food bars.  If you’re without them and you’re in need of a snack while gassing up you’ll end up with a half unwrapped Snickers hanging out of your mouth while you drive away… and then the guilt, the shame, the remorse.  It’s just not worth it.  Any health food store will have a plethora available (yeah, I’m thinking of Three Amigos too).  My favorites are made by Organic Food Bar.  There are tons of options, many are vegan and they are all USDA Organic certified.  (And we don’t even sell them so you know I’m not just a pitch man).

So that and several bottles of purified water will get you where you’re going.  Once you’re there lets hope you find a few healthy restaurants or a health food store because this articles long enough already.  Besides, I’ve gotta run…

Be well,

Juicy Josh

Well, probably not—at least not completely. But there’s no doubt that without the ability to preserve foods by drying them, the Israelites wouldn’t have lasted very long in the desert. The reason drying food preserves it is that molds, yeast and bacteria all need water to grow. When foods are sufficiently dehydrated, microorganisms cannot grow and foods will not spoil. This time tested technique can not only help you keep your foods longer and make them smaller and portable for those long hikes and camping trips, it can make them darn tasty too. Sugars are concentrated in dried fruits making them sweet and delicious and the drying process overall brings out a richness of flavors that is truly wonderful.

What’s amazing is that dehydration hardly affects the nutritional value of foods at all, especially when the process takes place in your own home. When you dry foods in a dehydrator at home under gentle conditions, you produce a product far superior to anything that can be purchased in the grocery store. And compared to canning and freezing, which both involve extreme temperatures, food drying is the least damaging form of food preservation.

There is a minor loss in Vitamin C when food is dried because it is an air-soluble nutrient and food drying is an air-based process. Vitamin A is completely retained and minerals available in certain fresh fruits-such as potassium, sodium and magnesium are also not altered when the fruit is dried. The caloric value of food doesn’t change when it’s dehydrated either and dried fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and carbohydrates while being naturally low in fat.

So perhaps there’s something to the overall preservative effects of being dry. Moses was 120 after 40 years wandering around the desert and he’s just one of many centenarians in the Old Testament. I’m not making any promises, but I’m loading up on figs and long walks.

Be well,

Juicy Josh

As you might figure out, we are all about healthy living and when it comes to preserving our food we are no different.  We have received so many emails lately asking about healthy food preservation that we decided to let you in on our favorites.

These are the three methods of preserving food naturally without adding any preservatives and will prove most healthy for you.

1) Freezing - One of the most common forms of food preservation is freezing.  It works by reducing the temperature to a degree that it reduces the water activity to prevent microbial growth.  This form of food preservation is so common because it is so simple, only requiring a freezer, and works with a wide range of foods.  Generally by freezing food products you can increase their preservation up to several months.  You can freeze food products longer, however it requires extremely low temperatures of zero degrees Fahrenheit or less which most freezers cannot achieve.

2) Drying / Dehydrating – Dehydrating or drying is one of the oldest methods of food preservation that dates back many years to sun drying.  The concept behind food dehydrating is very simple, remove the moisture from the food and the growth of bacteria can be controlled.  However, it must be completely dried or bacteria will grow and your food will spoil.  This process is simple, requires very little space, and all you need is a food dehydrator.  Most people like the dehydration method because the drying process drains the excess fat from the foods making them rich in carbohydrates and fiber, and loosing very little nutritional value.

3) Canning – Canning is a popular yet more complicated method of preserving food.  It involves cooking your foods and sealing them in sterile cans or jars, and boiling the containers to kill any remaining bacteria. Their are many factors that if not performed correctly will result in an unsuccessful attempt.  Factors such as humidity, altitude, the region in which you are located, the nature and quality of the food, the air/space left in the jar, and even the shape of the jar all play a vital role in being successful at canning.  To successfully attempt canning you will need a canner, a canning kit, and quality canning jars.  Depending on which foods you are canning, you will need to do some research as to the best methods for them individually.

There you have it.  These are our three favorite methods of food preservation.  They are fairly simple and allow your food to retain most of the nutritional value.