My husband and I aren’t really great at waiting. We also aren’t great at giving gifts at “gift giving” times. We have always felt that gift giving is for any day and when we see something that we know would be perfect for someone we give it to them. The further away from a “gift giving” day the better. Nothing perks up a random ho-hum day like a gift. Hence, my new Dehydrator on a random day in the middle of an abundance of “gift giving” days. Fun!
One thing that we do struggle a bit with following our Primal/Paleo lifestyle is SNACKS. I suppose I could make some Primal/Paleo treats with coconut flour or almond meal but I think that’s a pretty slippery slope. A cookie, is a cookie, is a cookie and I think a Primal/Paleo cookie will still make me want MORE cookies or any other flour based treat. To try and stay away from flour based treats we eat Jerky, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Even with those yummy snacks I still miss grabbing a hand full of chips or some other dry crunchy thing. Dehydrator to the rescue! I hope.
The first think I learned when I was reading about my new dehydrator was that I could make Jerky. This was news to me. I thought the only way to make Jerky was to go out and shoot some large animal and then do whatever it is you do to it to make Jerky. That was NEVER going to happen so I was really excited when I discovered I could use the (half ton of) grass-fed ground beef in my freezer to make Jerky.
The project for the day was making Jerky. I read my directions, washed everything and then proceeded to mix my ground beef with the “jerky” seasoning and curing package that came in the box. After mixing the spices with the beef I loaded the “jerky gun”. This little gun shoots out strips of beef that dry out and turn into strips of jerky. Cool and sooooo easy.
The fourth picture is after one hour in the dehydrator. I ended up leaving the jerky in the dehydrator for about 5 hours. I thought it was done after 2 hours but I wasn’t sure so I called Nesco, the company that makes my dehydrator. They suggested I leave it in for at least 4 hours but between 4 and 6 would be best so that’s what I did. The last picture is a few pieces of the finished jerky. It has to sit on the counter wrapped in papers towels for a couple of hours and then it goes into an air tight container for storage. I took a little taste and it was good. Very spicy but good. I’m looking forward to trying more tomorrow.
Happy random day!
Eat Well, Have Fun
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!