Dehydrated Cinnamon Apple Fries

Cinnamon Apple Fries

Dehydrated Cinnamon Apple 'Fries'

    Every fall I appreciate how fortunate I am to live close enough to some local u-pick apple orchards here in Minnesota that offer a wonderful variety of apples at reasonable prices. We love to take a day trip with the grand kids to pick apples and enjoy the farm experience complete with hay rides, feeding farm animals and watching the apple washing and sorting operation for the commercial end of the orchards business. In addition to the many u-pick options I have been blessed with a wonderful friend who is more than happy to share her homegrown apple bounty with me and my family. 

Fresh picked apples

    One of the many things I like to make is Cinnamon Apple Fries a wonderfully healthy and crunchy snack made by dehydrating julienne apples tossed in cinnamon. They are quick and simple to make if you have the right tools mainly a mandolin with a julienne blade attachment and any basic food dehydrator. 

    Once the apples are cleaned it is a simple process to julienne the whole apple without peeling or coring directly into a bowl of lemon water or water treated with citric acid to prevent browning. If you prefer not to treat the apples it will not affect the end product taste or flavor. Your end result with an untreated apple is just a little additional browning which is purely aesthetic.

    When slicing the apples don't worry about the core or the seeds. The majority of the seeds fall out of the apples before they make it to the dehydrator trays and the rest fall out after the apples have been dried. The cores end up becoming dry and crispy so you will not even notice them when enjoying your healthy treat.

Using the julienne blade on your mandolin slice the washed, whole apple directly into a bowl of water treated with lemon juice or citric acid (fruit fresh).

Drain your apples in a large colander while you julienne slice your next bowl of apples.

Toss batches of apples with cinnamon or leave plain if you wish.

Place the apples on your dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 135 degrees until crispy. Times will vary based on your local temperatures and humidity levels.

Once completely dried to your preference, I like mine crispy, condition them overnight and then store for long term or immediate consumption. 

   

Easy Basic Granola

Granola is an easy treat to make that can be customized so many ways to suit your own personal likes and preferences. Early granola consisted of crumbled whole grain products that were then baked until crisp. Nowadays traditional granola is made with oats, nuts and fruit as a base, however do not let that limit what you use as there are many tasty combinations that lend themselves to a healthy nutritious breakfast food or snack.

Spent grain barley a by product of  brewing beer,

dehydrated for alternate uses. 

 When making my basic granola recipe, I use a combination of oats and spent grain barley, which is a by product of the home beer brewing process. The brewing process simply stated involves boiling the barley and water to make a barley 'tea' that is then fermented into beer. The leftover barley still retains much of its flavor and nutritional values. I dehydrate the spent grain and store for future uses. Since I have access to a fairly regular supply of spent grain barley, I have made use of it in several recipes including my granola.

The process of making granola involves gathering your grains and nuts and toasting them; making a sauce that will act as a binding agent and then dehydrate the mixture at 135 degrees overnight approximately 12 hours or until the grains once again are dry and crispy. Add in your desired dried fruit, completely cool and then package and seal to keep out additional moisture.

Oats and barley toasted stove top.

You can toast your oats either in the oven or stove top. Toasting the grains take away the raw taste and helps to bring out the natural sugars. I toast mine in a skillet stove top in 2 cup increments being careful to stir often to prevent the oats, grains and nuts from burning.

The following recipe is for a small batch which I recommend for the first time granola maker. With a small batch the first time you will get a feel for what you may or may not like with out being out a lot of ingredients. Later this recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to suit your need or capacity to dehydrate.

Granola sauce heated to when it just begins to boil.

I then make my sauce and bring it just to the point of boiling, and then pour it over my nut and grain mixture stirring until the sauce has been well incorporated. This is then placed on on the paraflexx sheets in your dehydrator set at 135 degrees for up to 12 hours. (Times will vary).

Dehydrate the granola at 135 degrees for up to 12 hours or until dry and crispy.

Once your granola is dry and crunchy, add in your dried fruit if desired. Adding the dried fruit after dehydrating the granola keeps it from overdrying and becoming overly brittle. However if you prefer your granola with a more brittle or crispy fruit feel free to add it at the same time with the other dry ingredients.

Mix in the dried fruit of your choice.

Once the granola has cooled store in containers, vacuum seal for longer term storage to retain freshness. Because of the oil used in the sauce, I would recommend using within 6 months to prevent rancidity.

Packaged in jars and vacuum sealed for longer term storage and some for immediate enjoyment.

Easy Basic Granola

8 cups oats (I prefer the old fashioned not the quick, you can use a combination of grains and oats to total 8 cups, I use half oats and half spent barley grain, organic puffed rice or sesame sticks are another great alternative, I have also used in a pinch rice krispies and other cold cereals)

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup oat bran (sometimes I have a hard time finding oat bran so I improvise by grinding 1 cup of oats to make my own)

1 cup flax seed

4 cups nuts (use a combination of your favorite, use more or less to suit your taste: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup honey (this can be a combination of honey, maple syrup, molasses, corn syrup or fruit syrup)

1 cup coconut oil (alternate oils can be use as well like vegetable, grapeseed, canola)

**The following spices and flavorings can be adjusted more or less to suit your personal tastes.

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

OPTIONAL- To the sauce or wet mixture add your choice if desired an additional 1 cup of any of the following: peanut butter, applesauce, mashed banana, pumpkin puree, Nutella or any other 'flavor' enhancer of your preference.

**2 cups dehydrated fruit of choice - add last after dehydrating is complete

**Mini chocolate chips, m&m's, yogurt raisins or carob raisins can be added as well after the granola has completely cooled for a more trail mix like granola.

Lightly toast the oats, alternative grains and nuts stove top stirring often to be sure not to burn. Combine the oats, nuts, wheat germ, oat bran, flax seed in a large bowl and set aside. In the same sauce pan where you toasted the grains, add the remaining ingredients except the dried fruit and bring to a boil, then pour this over the dry ingredients mixing well until the dry ingredients have been completely moistened. Spread this wet mixture on your dehydrator trays lined with the paraflexx sheets, dehydrate at 135 degrees overnight or up to 12 hours testing for crispiness. Dehydrating times can vary. Once the granola has reached the level of crispiness desired, remove from the dehydrator and add 2 cups of dehydrated fruit. Once the granola is completely cooled, package and store as desired.

*If you prefer the above recipe can be made in the oven as well. Skip toasting the grains and nuts and follow the recipe as directed placing the mixture in the oven set at 300 degrees stirring every 15 minutes until dry and toasty. Add fruit after removing from the oven and cool and package as directed.

**I have also made this recipe in the oven overnight with the oven temperature set at 140 degrees using the 'keep warm' feature with great success.

***The granola is great as a topper for fruit and yogurt, eaten with milk as a cold cereal or even cooked with milk for an oatmeal like hot cereal or by the handful as a quick ready to eat sweet snack.

Eggplant Bacon - dehydrated

 
     Having a good sized vegetable and fruit garden has allowed me to save on grocery costs. However sometimes when a particular crop is coming in...I can end up with more than what we can consume freshly. The solution is to either can, freeze or dehydrate the excess bounty.
     That is where I found myself recently with a large amount of Japanese eggplant, normally I dehydrate them in slices to be used in cooking at a later time however... I wanted to try something different.

Dehydrated eggplant slices - plain

    I had come across this blog Real Food Tulsa that had an interesting post on Eggplant Bacon. Intrigued, I decided it was worth a try especially since I had all the required ingredients on hand.

Dehydrated eggplant bacon

    When dehydrating any food item it is important that the size or thickness of what you dehydrate is consistent. To maintain a uniform thickness in the sliced eggplant I originally opted to use my mandoline slicer. But I was having some trouble getting it to slice nicely, the eggplant was not feeding through the mandoline slicer easily. I needed to improvise... so...I cut each eggplant in half lengthwise set each half between a pair of chopsticks then using the chopsticks as a guide for my knife I was able to get perfectly proportioned and uniform slices. My slices ended up approximately 1/4 inch in thickness. This results in a finished product that is similar to thick cut bacon.

Improvised slicer guide for proportioned slices

 
    I followed the posted recipe with just a few minor adjustments to suit my tastes and using what ingredients I had on hand. Since I had more than the suggested 2 eggplants, I doubled the marinade. After slicing all the eggplant I let it marinate for one hour. I then placed the marinated eggplant slices on my Excalibur Dehydrator trays and set the dehydrator temperature at 125 degrees.

'Bacon' Marinade
2 medium eggplant cut into bacon like slices
4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1/4 cup bottled lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
fresh ground black pepper approx 1/2 tsp
2 Tbsp olive oil (Optional)

    While the eggplant was dehydrating I decided to reduce the remaining liquid marinade to a syrup like consistency. I simmered the marinade over a low flame until it was fairly thick and nicely concentrated. I then used this to brush over the slices before they were completely dry. I did this approximately 4 hours into the drying process, I brushed each eggplant slice with the concentrated marinade glaze on both sides and returned each tray to my Excalibur to finish dehydrating until crispy. Since I had started this project late afternoon, I let my dehydrator run over night and by morning the eggplant bacon was nicely dry and crispy. Drying times will vary depending on how thick you slice the eggplant and the wattage of your dehydrator.

    After cooling I stored the eggplant bacon in quart sized mason jars and vacuum sealed them for storage...

Vacuum sealed jars for long term storage

    But not before I had some with my lunch...turkey swiss on white with garden lettuce, tomato and eggplant bacon...delish!!

Turkey swiss on white with garden lettuce, tomatoes and eggplant bacon...delish!

Cooking the Deals of Oct 9-15

So I was on a breakfast recipe kick this morning... they all sure sounded better than the bowl of cereal I ate!

Cooking the Deals of Oct 2-8

All the recipes this week come from my mom... just ask the hubbs... she's a great cook!

No Cooking the Deals this Week

This weekend was crazy-busy for us, and I still have so much to do! Next week we should be back to our regularly scheduled posts!

Cooking the Deals of September 4-10

I had more fun coming up with treats this week, and had trouble coming up with actual meals. But, I have them!

Cooking the Deals of August 28 - September 3

Five new recipes to try out, including one dessert! I love smoothies! 

Cooking the Deals of August 21-27

We had a busy first weekend home with our little girl, so I didn't have time to write up this post until today. Sorry to those who look forward to it on Sunday. I hope next weekend is a little more tame so I can get this posted earlier!

Cooking the Deals of Aug 14-20

Well I hope that I can live up to my daughters meal planning cooking and couponing expectations. She and my favorite son-in-law blessed our family with a beautiful baby girl, Eleanor Elisabeth (granted I may be biased) and they are spending some time together getting to know each other. Thus my 'I never write down my recipes and use whatever I have on hand' cooking methods had to be recorded and adapted for this weeks sales.

Cooking the Deals of August 7-13

As my due date approaches (August 13th), I wanted to let you rest assured that I have asked my wonderful mother to post some ways to cook the deals. She has agreed, and let me tell you (cause the hubbs tells me!) that she is a much better cook that I. So I'm sure you're in for some great meals and recipes! 

Cooking the Deals of July 31 - Aug 6

As my due date approaches (August 13th), I wanted to let you rest assured that I have asked my wonderful mother to post some ways to cook the deals. She has agreed, and let me tell you (cause the hubbs tells me!) that she is a much better cook that I. So I'm sure you're in for some great meals and recipes! 

Cooking the Deals of July 24-30

Back to our regularly scheduled meal plan posts! Thanks for being patient with me last week.

No Cooking the Deals this Week

Sad news. Sunday night my mother-in-law passed away from complications from her long battle with cancer. Needless to say that my focus this week is on family, so I won't be posting any meal ideas. I should be back to posting next week!

Okay, so I'm Nesting...

I finally admitted to myself yesterday that, with 4 weeks to go until our baby's due date, I'm nesting. Besides getting the nursery together and such, I've been making several freezer meals so that the hubbs' life is much easier once our daughter arrives.

Cooking the Deals of July 10-16

I guess I really like chicken, as 4 out of 5 recipes are with chicken this week again! Plus a recipe for a yummy dessert that has been handed down through several generations in my family.

Cooking the Deals of July 3-9

Chicken-abounds! Lots of chicken recipes this week!

Cooking the Deals of June 26 - July 2

Got a couple of great ideas for the 4th, come rain or shine! 

Cooking the Deals of June 19-25

Remember that Saturday is Double Double Daze at Rainbow!

Cooking the Deals of June 12-18

Not everything that is included here is at rock bottom prices this week, but some of you may have a lot of this on hand already and paid less for it.