One way to make inexpensive, healthy snacks is to invest in a dehydrator. Once I had kids and began making all their food and snacks myself, it was time to splurge on a good dehydrator and after much research, we chose the 9 Tray Excaliber. It looks similar to a small oven, has a thermostat so you can control the temperature settings, and the capacity to dehydrate large volumes of snacks at once. It costs around $200 online and you can generally get free shipping within the U.S.
We dehydrate at 110 degrees or below, as that keeps the food in a "raw" state and preserves the enzymes which are the life of the food.
There are also less expensive varieties you can purchase at Wal-Mart. The key is to make sure it has a temperature gauge so you can maintain the nutritional integrity of the raw food by dehydrating at low temperatures (below 115 degrees).
One very inexpensive snack is flavored, dehydrated sunflower seeds. I buy raw sunflower seeds in bulk at our local health food store.
Recipe:
- Soak raw sunflower seeds for a few hours or overnight and rinse well
- Spread evenly over vented dehydrator tray
Spray with Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Wheat Free Tamari
Sprinkle with your favorite herbs or spices (garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, hot pepper for added spicy zing)
Dehydrate on 110 over night until crunchy
Tastes like roasted sunflower seeds- except they are raw!
These are great to eat as snacks, include in kids school lunches, sprinkle in salads or on soups.
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