BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Quick, simple, and healthy recipe for a chocolate spread that tastes great.

Ingredients:
2 cups (16 oz) nut or seed butter
4 to 6 tbs cocoa powder unsweetened
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1/2 tsp stevia powder concentrate

Instructions:
1. Pour off most or all of the clear oil that separates on the top of a jar of natural nut or seed butter.
2. Stir all the ingredients together.
3. Store in the refrigerator.



Variations:

Mexican chocolate recipe: add 2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp nutmeg to the recipe above.

Aztec chocolate recipe: add 2 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp cinnamon to the recipe above. Allow a few hours for the full flavor of the cayenne to be released. Carefully adjust cayenne amounts to suit your taste and the hotness of the cayenne you use.

Orange chocolate recipe: add fresh grated orange zest and 1 tbs orange extract to the recipe above.


Notes:
Commercial chocolate-nut spread tastes great, but this junk food contains sugar and palm oil which I prefer to avoid for a variety of health, nutritional and environmental reasons. In contrast, my homemade recipe contains no refined sugar, and only the healthy oil content from whatever nut or seed butter was used. This recipe is also low in sodium if you choose an unsalted nut or seed butter.

After pouring off most of the clear oil separated on the top, mixing, and consuming one or two servings of plain nut butter, then the chocolate and other ingredients can be simply stirred into the jar of store-bought nut or seed butter for maximum convenience and minimum dishwashing.

My homemade recipe amounts produce a spread that tastes like semi-sweet chocolate. Adjust all of the ingredient amounts as needed to suit your own tastes.

Stevia is a natural, noncaloric sweetener and flavor enhancer that is increasingly available in grocery stores or can be purchased online. You could also substitute whatever sugar or noncaloric sweetener you prefer.

Pouring off most of the oil separated at the top of the nut butter jar produces a thicker, stiffer spread. Later on you can very carefully add back oil if needed to achieve whatever degree of creaminess you desire. I like mine to be very thick and barely spreadable straight out of the refrigerator so that a very thick layer of chocolate spread on my wholegrain toast doesn't turn runny and melt too quickly. Add more cocoa powder if necessary to thicken the recipe.

Peanut butter is the lowest cost and most widely available, but a wide range of tree nut butters (e.g. almond, cashew) and seed butters (e.g. pumpkinseed, sunflowerseed, sesame/tahini) are available in stores or can be made at home using a food processor. All of the nut and seed butters are fairly good sources of protein (e.g. peanut butter nutritional value). Uniquely among the nut and seed butters walnut is a good source of omega-3 fat.

This recipe is a great way to enjoy the health benefits of dark chocolate without the sugar and less healthy fats found in chocolate candies. Many people with special dietary requirements (e.g. low sugar, low salt, etc.) can enjoy this guilt-free chocolate spread.

The Aztec Chocolate recipe adds the flavors of the traditional Olmec, Mayan and Aztec chocolatl/xocoatl drink into the nut spread recipe. See more about chili pepper nutritional benefits.

People with allergies to tree nuts and/or peanuts may be able to enjoy the recipe if its made with a seed butter instead. If you put the recipe in your own container with your own label make sure to identify the type of nut or seed butter used because some people are deathly allergic to certain kinds of nuts.

Please share this recipe with everybody you know who loves chocolate !! Forward the link via email and/or share the link on your Facebook.

Please post your comments, questions and recipe modifications here. Thanks !!

Labels: food-drink

These pumpkin flax oatmeal bars are rich in protein, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin A.

This recipe was inspired by the recipe from tasty-yummies blog.
1 cup golden flax seed, freshly ground
1-2 cups pumpkin puree (or garnet yam, sweet potato, etc.)
1/2 cup oatmeal (or sunflower seeds)
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice mix (contains cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice)
1 tbs vanilla extract
water as needed to make a spreadable batter

The batter was spread on a solid dehydrator tray and was dried in the food dehydrator for a few hours. Then it was moved to a screen tray, enabling the drying to continue on both sides. When drying was complete the homemade granola bars were cut, sealed in plastic storage bags and kept in the refrigerator. These bars can also be oven baked as described in tasty-yummies blog. These healthy homemade granola bars are raw, wheat-free, gluten-free, and provide a lot of protein, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed nutrition facts) and vitamin A (pumpkin nutrition facts). Pumpkin spice granola bars are a great healthy snack to eat while hiking. They are also good warmed up in the toaster for breakfast.







More information:
• Dehydrated foods for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.
• Garlic rosemary flaxseed crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Cranberry Walnut Flaxseed Cracker recipe made in my food dehydrator.
• Banana flax crackers and banana walnut crackers, omega-3 fatty acid nutrition.
• Raw Flaxseed Crackers made in my Food Dehydrator.

Tags: pumpkin spice bar, food dehydrator, healthy snack foods, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, tv snacks.
Tags: granola flax bar, homemade granola bar, omega-3, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free.

Labels: food-drink

Savory crackers made with nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese can also be baked in the oven

This recipe was modified from fiddleheadscuisine blog.
1 cup golden flaxseed, freshly ground in a coffee grinder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (or 1/4 cup ground parmesan cheese)
1/2 tsp lite salt
1 tbs fresh rosemary
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup water, plus a little more to make a spreadable batter
The batter was spread on a solid dehydrator tray. The crackers were dried in the food dehydrator for a few hours and then flipped onto a screen tray, enabling the cracker to continue drying from both sides for the remaining hours. When drying was complete the crackers were cut, sealed in plastic storage bags and kept in the refrigerator. For those who don't have a food dehydrator these crackers can be oven baked as described in fiddleheadscuisine blog. These flaxseed crackers are a good source of the omega-3 fatty acid nutrition that is so often deficient in typical western diets.

Nutritional Yeast or Parmesan Cheese provides the yum-yum factor

Nutritional yeast provides a savory, nutty, cheesy flavor (Bea Rue blog) comprised of protein and b-vitamins (Nutrition Facts).

Parmesan cheese provides real cheese flavor comprised of mostly protein and fat, including a lot of saturated fat (Nutrition Facts).

More information:
• Banana flax crackers and banana walnut crackers, omega-3 fatty acid nutrition.
• Cranberry Walnut Flax Granola Bar recipe made in my food dehydrator.
• Raw Flaxseed Crackers made in my Food Dehydrator.
• Dehydrated foods for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.


Tags: flaxseed crackers, food dehydrator, healthy snack foods, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, tv snacks.
Tags: flaxseed crackers, nutritional yeast, omega-3, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free.

Labels: food-drink

These raw dried crackers are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Banana Flax Cracker Recipe

Banana flax crackers are simply made by mixing 1/2 cup flaxseeds with the puree from one banana and then dehydrating. The recipe is even better with a little lemon juice added. This adds a little zip to the flavor and should help reduce browning of the banana. In this recipe the banana puree provides the glue that holds the flaxseeds together to form the cracker. I spooned the batter onto a solid dehydrator tray lubricated with Crisco Canola Oil with Omega-3 supplement. The crackers were dried for a few hours and then transferred to a screen tray to complete the drying. Any flaxseeds that are not thoroughly chewed when eating may pass through our bodies undigested, so much of the nutrition potential of the flaxseeds may be lost.

Banana Walnut Cracker Recipe

I made banana walnut crackers by replacing the flaxseeds in the recipe above with chopped walnuts. Coarsely chopped walnuts produced thick crackers that looked more like cookies, but they tasted great! Finely chopped walnuts could be used to make a thinner cracker that would dehydrate faster. The banana lemon walnut crackers did turn somewhat brown during dehydration, so more lemon juice must be needed to prevent the browning reaction.




I added 1/4 tsp of ascorbic acid powder (= vitamin C) to the next batch of banana walnut cookies and eliminated the browning problem.

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Nutrition.

Oh Mega: Part I, Part II and Part III describes why we all should be watching the omega-3 vs omega-6 fats in our diets. All of us who don't eat a lot of oily fish (salmon, sardines, herring) need to get our omega-3 nutrition from plant sources. Flaxseed and walnuts are two of the best plant sources for omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed nutritional value)(walnut nutritional value). On those days when I don't eat fish I plan to eat some banana walnut crackers or flaxseed crackers to be sure I get the omega-3 nutrition that I need.


More information:
• Garlic rosemary flaxseed crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Raw Flaxseed Crackers made in my Food Dehydrator.
• Cranberry Walnut Flax Granola Bar recipe made in my food dehydrator.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Your Nutrition Questions Answered - Harvard School of Public Health
• Discovery Health - Top 10 Foods High in Omega-3
• Dehydrated foods for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: flaxseed crackers, banana flaxseed crackers, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, healthy snack foods, tv snacks.
Tags: banana walnut cracker, flaxseed crackers, omega-3, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers.

Labels: food-drink

Here is an upgrade of my previous homemade flaxseed cracker recipe. Whole flaxseed can pass through our system undigested, so I'm now using flaxseed meal to ensure that the flax is more thoroughly digested. Some whole flaxseed is used mostly for decoration; soaking these seeds overnight starts the germination process and may open the seed coats enough to allow digestion of any seeds that are not chewed thoroughly when the bars are eaten. Dried cranberries and chopped walnuts add flavor, texture and more nutrition, making these raw flaxseed bars good with a meal or used as a healthy snack.

1. Mix:
    1/4 cup flaxseed
    1 cup water
    soak overnight

2. Add:
    3/4 cup flaxseed meal
    1 cup dried cranberries
    1 cup chopped walnuts or oatmeal
    1/4 cup tamari (soy sauce)

3. Spread cracker batter on solid dehydrator tray, dehydrate 3 hr, cut divisions between crackers, dehydrate 3 hr more, flip onto screen tray, dehydrate until done, break crackers on dividing lines, seal in plastic bags, store in refrigerator.







4. Flaxseed meal is very susceptible to oxidation. Quantities of flaxseed meal purchased at the store should be stored in the freezer until used. (Whole, dry flaxseed can be stored at room temperature.)

5. Granola flax bars are also susceptible to oxidation, so they should be made in small batches, stored in the refrigerator and consumed quickly after dehydration.


More information:
• Garlic rosemary flaxseed crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Banana flax crackers and banana walnut crackers, omega-3 fatty acid nutrition.
• Raw Flaxseed Crackers made in my Food Dehydrator.
• Dehydrated foods for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: granola flax bars, anti-inflammatory food, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, healthy snack foods, tv snacks.
Tags: flaxseed bar recipe, anti-inflammatory, omega-3, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers.

Labels: food-drink

I modified the raw flax crackers recipe by doubling the amount of tamari for more flavor and then adding no additional salt to the recipe.

1 cup whole flaxseeds
1 cup water
1/4 cup tamari
* add water to the flax seeds and soak for 2 hours
* add the tamari
* spread 1/8 inch thick on solid dehydrator trays



I dried the crackers in my food dehydrator for 6 hours and then flipped the partially dried crackers onto a dehydrator screen tray. This allowed the hot air to pass over both sides of the cracker to speed the final drying required.



Flaxseeds are very high in omega-3 fatty acids, calories & fiber, and are very low in sugar. They also have a very strong anti-inflammatory food rating. In addition, flaxseeds provide some protein, vitamins and minerals. (Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Flaxseed)

Whole, dry flaxseeds can be stored at room temperature, but once the coats of the soaked seeds break open the fatty acids in the seeds can go rancid very quickly. Thus, I make flaxseed crackers in small batches, put them in in sealed bags in the refrigerator and eat them fairly soon after they are made.

I'm happy to get healthy flaxseed crackers into my diet because western diets are typically low in omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. These high calorie, high fiber crackers are intended for eating in small quantities - much less than the typical serving size for starchy crackers or pretzels made from wheat flour. "Institute of Medicine ... has established adequate intake amounts of ... one tablespoon of ground flaxseed" (MayoClinic) so just a few flaxseed crackers are all you need to eat every day.

More information:
• Garlic rosemary flaxseed crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Banana flax crackers and banana walnut crackers, omega-3 fatty acid nutrition.
• Cranberry Walnut Flaxseed Cracker recipe made in my food dehydrator.
• Flaxseed Health Benefits, Food Sources, Recipes, and Tips for Using It - webmd
• Dehydrated foods for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: flaxseed crackers, anti-inflammatory food, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, healthy snack foods, tv snacks.
Tags: flaxseed cracker recipe, anti-inflammatory, omega-3, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers.

Labels: food-drink

My initial efforts to make dehydrated carrot slices in my food dehydrator didn't turn out very well because my knife-cut slices were too thick. These thick carrot slices dried down into rock hard pieces that required a lot of chewing. Maybe these would be OK for somebody who wanted to chew on something that didn't contain too many calories, but these dried carrots were hard to appreciate.

Thinner carrot slices can be made with the slicing side of an inexpensive kitchen grater or a fancy mandolin slicer. The kitchen grater enabled me to quickly produce lots of small, thin carrot slices. The mandolin enabled me to make longer, wider carrot slices by cutting down the length of the carrot.

grater

mandolin slicer

After dehydration these thin carrot slices had a nice crunchy texture and a good carrot taste.




Carrot chips made in this way are good for raw vegan and paleo diet followers who want raw or minimally processed foods, but shelf life in storage for these carrot chips will be limited. The thin carrot slices should be blanched (brief heating) before drying if desired to produce carrot chips that can be stored for a longer time. Carrots are available all year round in my local grocery stores, so I will just make more carrot chips whenever my supply runs out and will never need to store the chips very long.

More about:
• Food & Drink for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.
• Hot and Sour Zucchini Chips - Raw Dehydrated and Tasty - BRT Insights.

Tags: carrot chips, healthy snack foods, tv snacks, food dehydrator, veggie chips, vegetarian chips, homemade snacks, snack food recipe .
Tags: carrot chips, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, raw vegan, dried vegetables, vegetable chips, low salt snacks, low fat snacks, diet snacks, low calorie snacks, wheat-free, gluten-free.

Labels: food-drink

Antioxidant-rich Fruit Juices have Anti-inflammatory Properties that Help Reduce Muscle Pain after Exercise. Some additional evidence has been reported since I wrote about this in 2010 (Juices from pomegranate, cherry and other colorful fruits improve recovery and decrease muscle soreness in athletes - BRT Insights).

Pomegranate and Tart Cherry Juices - Sports Nutrition News - IRONMAN 11july2012 "Tart cherry juice contains numerous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents that can reduce pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis. ... Pomegranate juice is another rich source of bioactive compounds that reduce muscle soreness. Healthy men who drank pomegranate juice for eight days before muscle-damaging exercise experienced less muscle soreness."

Researchers Say Tart Cherries Have 'the Highest Anti-Inflammatory Content of Any Food' - Cherry Marketing Institute 30may2012 "Tart cherries may help reduce chronic inflammation ... according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University presented today at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference (ACSM) in San Francisco, Calif.(1) In fact, the researchers suggest tart cherries have the "highest anti-inflammatory content of any food" ... The inflammation benefits could be particularly important for athletes, according to Kuehl's previous research. In a past study he found that people who drank tart cherry juice while training for a long distance run reported significantly less pain after exercise than those who didn't.(2)"

Tart Cherry Juice Reduces Muscle Pain and Inflammation - Oregon Health & Science University 07july2010 "Tart cherry juice may be a safer way to treat muscle pain and inflammation than over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen, according to researchers at Oregon Health & Science University. A study of athletes who competed in Oregon’s Hood to Coast Relay showed runners who consumed Montmorency cherry juice for a week prior to the race and on race day reported significantly less pain than runners who received a placebo."

Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running - J Int Soc Sports Nutrition 2010. "Long distance running causes acute muscle damage resulting in inflammation and decreased force production. ... Tart cherries, rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, may have a protective effect to reduce muscle damage and pain during strenuous exercise. This study aimed to assess the effects of tart cherry juice as compared to a placebo cherry drink on pain among runners in a long distance relay race. ... Conclusions: Ingesting tart cherry juice for 7 days prior to and during a strenuous running event can minimize post-run muscle pain."

Homemade Sports Drink Recipe that uses Tart Cherry or Pomegranate Juice

Athletes who use these fruit juices to help reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) may want to incorporate the same juices into the sports drinks that they use to maintain good hydration during exercise.  My homemade isotonic sports drink recipe shows how antioxidant-rich tart cherry or pomegranate juices can be diluted precisely to make a great tasting sports drink.


More about:
• Grape juice sports drink DIY recipe for reducing delayed onset muscle soreness in athletes - BRT Insights 21aug2010.
• Food & Drink for Athletes and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.


Tags: delayed onset muscle soreness, isotonic, hydration, homemade sports drink.
Tags: DOMS, pomegranate juice, tart cherry juice, sports drink recipe, antiinflammation, antioxidant.

Labels: food-drink

I saw a recipe for fried Chipotle Lime Zucchini Chips, so I decided to combine those lime and hot chili flavors in a dried raw chip made in my food dehydrator. The giant zucchinis that many gardeners are so desperate to get rid of this time of year are just the right size for making dried zucchini chips. I marinaded zucchini slices in lime juice, then sprinkled them with cayenne before drying. This produced nice crispy chips with a distinct sour flavor, but my cautious sprinkle of cayenne didn't make the chips hot enough for my taste. Next time I'll add more cayenne or maybe use liquid chipotle hot sauce on the zucchini chips as I have done in the past.

Hot Mustard Flavored Raw Dried Zucchini Chips

The chauffeur left my Grey Poupon in the Rolls Royce again, so all I had was the store brand dijon mustard that I found in the back of the refrigerator. Nevertheless, my mustard flavored zucchini chips came out great. The hot part of the mustard flavor doesn't survive the drying process, but the zucchini mustard chips have a nice subtle mustard flavor. The beer is cold in the refrigerator, the baseball game will be on TV pretty soon, and all of these chips will all be gone before the 9th inning !!




More about:
• Pickle-Flavored Zucchini Chips and Dried Pickle Recipes Made in a Food Dehydrator - BRT Insights.
• Food & Drink for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: zucchini chips, hot and sour, chipotle lime, dijon mustard, veggie chips, vegetarian chips, healthy snack foods, tv snacks, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe .
Tags: zucchini chips, low carb, hot chili, hot mustard, low salt snacks, low fat snacks, diabetic snacks, diet snacks, low calorie snacks, raw vegan, dried vegetables, vegetable chips, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, wheat-free, gluten-free.

Labels: food-drink

Maintaining good hydration during vigorous work or fitness training activities is easier if you are drinking something that you like.

Eating more watermelon is part of a colorful healthy diet. Learning about the nutritional value of watermelon has made this a "watermelon summer" for me. I've been eating lots of fresh watermelon and drying watermelon jerky chips to eat in the future. Watermelon Sports Drinks are another way to enjoy this favorite fruit. Watermelon contains 10 g sugars per 154 g of fruit, so there are 16 g of sugar in a 1 cup serving (240 g) of watermelon juice. Diluting this watermelon juice with an equal volume of water will produce the isotonic sugar concentration desired in a sports drink. It is critical to replace the fluids that are lost to sweat during intense, prolonged sports and work activities. Experiments show that isotonic drinks are absorbed into our bodies faster than plain water.

Watermelon Sports Drink Recipe I liquified some watermelon in my blender. This produced a pulpy juice that one could drink from a wide-mouth bottle, but not through the narrow opening of a squirt bottle. Filtering through a fine cloth produced a clear liquid juice, but much of the red color and nutritional value remained with the pulp so I don't recommend filtering. Anybody who has a juicer machine could probably extract more from the pulp to make a clear liquid watermelon juice that retains more of the nutritional value, but my simple juice made in a blender worked fine for me.

Full strength watermelon juice tasted great, but based on my calculations (see above) it contains too much sugar to use it as a sports drink. Diluting the watermelon juice with an equal volume of water produced a great tasting isotonic watermelon sports drink. Adding a little stevia natural flavor enhancer and no-calorie sweetener made it taste even better.

Electrolytes serve 3 critical roles in a sports drink. Analysis shows that watermelon contains potassium but very little sodium electrolyte. To ensure maximum speed of absorption approximately 1/4 tsp of salt should be added per half-gallon of watermelon sports drink. This amount should be adjusted to your individual taste. Add enough salt so that its taste is just barely detectable. Salty sports drinks are intended to prevent the drink from quenching your thirst so you will be stimulated to continue drinking more of the drink. Beware of adding too much salt and making the drink taste bad. The goal is to have a slightly salty drink that still tastes good so you will want to drink lots of it to maintain good hydration during vigorous activities.

Watermelon-Lime Sweet and Sour Sports Drink Recipe Adding 4 oz of lime or lemon juice to a half-gallon of watermelon sports drink gave it a nice tangy flavor and contributes more vitamin C to the nutritional value of the drink without altering the isotonic sugar concentration. More about: • Apple Juice Hydration Sports Drink homemade recipe - BRT Insights. • Grape juice sports drink recipe for hydration and reducing muscle soreness - BRT Insights. • Pomegranate, blueberry & cherry sports drinks may help decrease muscle soreness - BRT Insights. • Sports Drinks for Hydration During Work or Play Activities - BRT Insights. Tags: sports drink, fitness, hydration, do it yourself, DIY, stevia, sodium, potassium , electrolyte. Tags: watermelon, hydration, fruit juice, homemade recipe, isotonic.

Labels: food-drink

Its that time of year again when gardeners are desperately seeking ways to make use of their excess harvests of zucchini.

I marinaded some zucchini slices in the pickle juice that we usually throw away when all of the pickles in the jar have been eaten. I made one batch with dill pickle juice and one batch with sweet pickle juice. Then I dried the slices in my food dehydrator. The vinegar evaporates in the dehydrator, so most of the sour taste is lost. The dried raw zucchini squash snack chips were crunchy with interesting subtle pickle flavors.

Dehydrated Pickles also make an interesting homemade snack food.

I also dried some pickle slices in the food dehydrator. The dried dill pickle slices came out with a good strong dill flavor. Dried sweet pickle slices were slightly sweet with a mild pickle flavor.

Conclusion: we can make healthy, crunchy snack foods at home. We don't need to buy the big bags of greasy, salty junkfoods at the store!! Although I sometimes still do.

Dried pickles and dehydrated raw vegan zucchini chips are healthy, homemade snacks that are low calorie, low fat, low salt, low carb and gluten free, making them suitable for many diet plans. These novel recipes seem to quickly satisfy my urges for crunching and snacking. No doubt I consume fewer calories from these dried veggie chips than I would from many types of junky store-bought snack foods. These homemade snacks make neat and tidy hors d'oeuvres or appetizers for TV or computer time, parties, etc. They are also excellent light weight foods for camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, canoeing and rafting trips.


More about:
• Hot and Sour Zucchini Squash Chips - Raw Dehydrated and Tasty - BRT Insights.
• Spicy Hot Zucchini Veggie Chips - healthy snack food recipes made in a food dehydrator.
• Food & Drink for Indoor Snacks and Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: zucchini squash recipe, dehydrator recipe, dehydrated pickles, zucchini chips, veggie chips, healthy snack foods, hiking snacks, tv snacks, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe, vegetarian chips.
Tags: zucchini chips, zucchini recips, dehydrator recips, dried vegetables, vegetable chips, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, low carb, low salt snacks, low fat snacks, diabetic snacks, diet snacks, low calorie snacks, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free.

Labels: food-drink

Dried watermelon chip jerky made in my food dehydrator tastes great. Concentrating the sugar content of a watermelon or cantaloupe into a dried chip makes a convenient healthy snack food with the nutrients from the melon. These chips are as sweet as candy, but that sweetness may sometimes be overwhelming.

Sour, acidic marinades provide some tangy flavor complexity when watermelon slices are dried to make jerky chips

Soaking the watermelon slices in sour marinade recipes (i.e. acidic, tangy) balances out the overwhelming sweetness of plain watermelon chips and adds some flavor complexity. Sweet and sour watermelon flavors are commonly used in candy and mixed drinks. For pretreatment of watermelon slices before drying I have tried a variety of sour marinades including apple cider vinegar, lime/lemon juice, red wine, and beer. All of these marinades add a bit of tangy sourness to the watermelon chips. A little sugar and watermelon flavor comes out of the watermelon slices into the marinade. Thus, it is important to keep the marinade volume low relative to the volume of the watermelon slices. I do my marinading in re-sealable plastic bags. This allows a minimum marinade volume to remain in good contact with the watermelon slices. The bag can be shaken and inverted to redistribute the marinade solution.

Watermelon-lime and watermelon-wine flavors make excellent sweet and sour jerky chips

Radiant Health Inner Wealth blog promotes lime juice-marinaded watermelon jerky chips. And I agree! Red wine-marinaded watermelon chips are also quite excellent! These sweet & sour watermelon chips are great as low fat snacks, hors d'oeuvres, and appetizers.



More about:
• Food Dehydrator used to make healthy homemade snack foods - BRT Insights.
• Food & Drink for Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: watermelon, watermelon chips, snack food recipe, healthy snack foods, food dehydrator, homemade snacks.
Tags: watermelon jerky, cantaloupe chips, appetizers, low fat snacks, hors d'oeuvres.

Labels: food-drink

Melon chip jerky can be made in a food dehydrator to produce an excellent hiking snack or TV snack food.

Dried melon chips concentrate the flavors and sugars to convert the melon into an interesting and different type of food. Dried watermelon sounds like a contradiction, but it is surprisingly good. Of course I will always eat some melon as a fresh, cold, wet, and sometimes messy food. On the other hand, I don't see too many people bringing fresh watermelon on hikng trips. Dried watermelon and cantaloupe chips will be frequently packed items in my hiking lunches. Dried melon slices also provide healthy low fat, low salt snack foods that will fit into many diet plans. These neat and tidy finger foods are also convenient for use as TV snacks, party appetizers and hors d'oeuvres.

Eating more watermelon is part of a colorful healthy diet

For many years I avoided watermelon thinking it was just a sugary junk food. Recent publicity on eating a colorful diet for better health stimulated me to investigate the nutritional value of watermelon.

What Color is Your Food? Taste a rainbow of fruits and vegetables for better health - North Dakota State University The site describes healthy reasons to eat a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables: Red, Orange/yellow, Green, Blue/purple, and White fruits and vegetables.

What Color Is Your Diet? Review - webmd.com "The idea is that colors don't just make food pretty. They are there because specific nutrients have specific colors. Each color group represents a family of nutritional compounds and the deeper, the more nutritious. ... Experts agree that a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables should be part of everyone's diet. Produce are naturally low fat, high in fiber, and the natural chemicals that are responsible for the brilliant colors are disease-fighting nutrients that can protect against chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and more"

Watermelon Nutrition Facts and Analysis - nutritiondata.self.com "The good: This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars."

Watermelon is a Nutritional Powerhouse - naturalnews.com "it is an excellent source of Vitamin C, which a major antioxidant. It has a high beta carotene concentration, thus offering a fair amount of vitamin A as well. ... A surprise nutrient is vitamin B, especially B1 (thiamine) and B6 (pyridoxine). ... The meat or pulp of watermelons is usually pink or red. Those colors indicate the highest content of lycopene, an antioxidant ... Then there are the minerals of potassium and magnesium, which watermelons also offer abundantly."

More about:
• Sweet & Sour Watermelon Chip Jerky is a tasty healthy homemade snack food - BRT Insights 04aug2012
• Food & Drink for Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: watermelon , watermelon chips, cantalope, healthy snack foods, tv snacks, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, snack food recipe.
Tags: watermelon jerky, melon, colorful diet, low fat snacks, diet snacks, low calorie snacks, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers.

Labels: food-drink

Use Sauces for a Burst of Flavor on your Zucchini Chips !!

Thin slices of cucumber, zucchini and the other summer squashes can be dried in a food dehydrator to make delicate snack chips with very subtle flavors (i.e. too bland for me !!). Adding various sauces on the raw zucchini veggie slices before dehydration can produce spicy veggie snack chips with some excellent bold flavors. So far I have tried hot pepper sauce, wasabi horseradish sauce, worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and extra hot Chinese mustard. Some of my favorite sauces for making chips from zucchini and other veggies are Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce, Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce, Beaver Extra Hot Wasabi Horseradish, Dynasty Chinese-Style Extra Hot Mustard, and Patak's Original Hot Curry Paste.

The flavor of the sauces mellows considerably when the snack chips are dried, so I was surprised how much sauce I needed to add to each zucchini chip to get the high flavor intensity that I wanted. Sauces that are thick like catsup can be applied in quantity on each snack chip. Vegetable slices can be marinaded overnight in sauces that have a watery consistency, but lots of flavor gets left behind in the marinade when these slices go into the dehydrator. Thin watery sauces can be thickened with tomato paste and/or onion powder if necessary to enable more sauce to be applied directly on each vegetable slice prior to drying. This way all of the great flavoring becomes part of the snack chips. The sauces dry down and stick tightly to the dehydrated chips, making these spicy, raw vegan chips a neat and tidy finger food that can be enjoyed as hors d'oeuvres and appetizers for parties, while watching TV, working on the computer, etc.

Low Fat, Low Salt and Low Calorie Homemade Zucchini Snack Chips

Most of the sauces I've tried so far on veggie chips have little or no salt, sugar or fat. Many sauces are also wheat-free, gluten-free and low carb. That makes these spicy veggie chips much more healthy to eat than many popular store-bought snack foods, and likely also suitable for people following various restricted diets. The intense flavors and low salt content in my spicy veggie chips recipe seems to quickly satisfy my urges to snack. Maybe I end up consuming fewer calories from these vegetarian chips than I would from many types of store-bought snack foods.


More about:
• Pickle-Flavored Zucchini Chips and Dried Pickle Recipes Made in a Food Dehydrator. • Healthy Hiking Snacks Made in my Food Dehydrator - BRT Insights.
• Food & Drink for Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: zucchini chips, healthy snack foods, tv snacks, food dehydrator, homemade snacks, zucchini recipe, dehydrator recipe, snack food recipe, hot pepper snacks, wasabi snacks, barbecue snacks, vegetarian chips, veggie chips.
Tags: zucchini recips, dehydrator recips, zucchini chips, dried vegetables, vegetable chips, spicy snacks, spicy chips, low salt snacks, low fat snacks, worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, hot mustard, diabetic snacks, diet snacks, low calorie snacks, raw vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, low carb.

Labels: food-drink

I bought a Nesco FD-35 Food Dehydrator in hopes of making some healthy hiking snacks and TV snacks. I paid $40 for my dehydrator and another $40 for some accessories - additional trays, screens and fruit roll sheets. Initial results have been pretty good. I made some great dehydrated fruits including apple, pineapple, banana, watermelon & cantalope. Dried vegetables such as zucchini summer squash, red peppers, green peas, green beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, & carrot also turned out nicely. Tofu marinaded in soy sauce also dehydrated into a tasty snack. I'll discuss dehydrator recipes in more detail later.

More about:
• Food & Drink for Outdoor Activities - BRT Insights.

Tags: hiking snacks, healthy snacks, tv snacks, food dehydrator.
Tags: hiking snacks, dehydrated fruits, dried vegetables, zucchini snack chips.

Labels: food-drink

We need to stay well fueled and well hydrated during our activities. The food and drink that we consume during during recreation or work activities may be designed specifically for athletes (e.g. sports drinks) or chosen for convenience in packaging or transport (e.g. dried banana chips are more convenient than fresh bananas).



• Pumpkin Spice Granola Fiber Bars homemade in my food dehydrator.
• Garlic rosemary flaxseed crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Banana flax crackers and banana walnut crackers made in my food dehydrator.
• Cranberry Walnut Flaxseed Cracker recipe made in my food dehydrator.
• Raw Flaxseed Crackers made in my Food Dehydrator.
• Dried Carrot Chips make a healthy, raw and tasty snack food.
• Tart Cherry and Pomegranate Homemade Sports Drinks Help Reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) in Athletes.
• Hot and Sour Zucchini Chips - Raw Dehydrated and Tasty.
• Watermelon and Watermelon-Lime Sports Drink Recipes - homemade, healthy, natural and taste great too!
• Pickle-Flavored Zucchini Chips and Dried Pickle Recipes Made in a Food Dehydrator.
• Sweet & Sour Watermelon Chip Jerky is a tasty healthy homemade snack food.
• Dried Watermelon, Cantalope and other Melons make great healthy homemade snacks 20july2012.
• Spicy Veggie Chips - recipe for healthy homemade snack foods made in a food dehydrator 16june2012.
• Healthy Hiking Snacks Made in my Food Dehydrator 01june2012.
• Apple Juice Hydration Sports Drink - homemade recipe 02may2012.
• Low-Fat Chocolate Milk as a Post-Workout Recovery Drink 17april2012.
• PowerT Hydration Juice - healthy homemade energy-sports drink recipe 07sept2010.
• Homemade Energy Drink Recipe Made Using Healthy Natural Tea 06sept2010.
• Energy drinks boost your metabolism for better athletic performance 05sept2010.
• Grape juice sports drink homemade recipe for hydration and reducing muscle soreness 21aug2010.
• Pomegranate, blueberry, cherry & grape sports drinks decrease muscle soreness 17july2010.
• Organic sports drinks made from healthy natural fruit juices 13nov2009.
• Go Green with Homemade Sports Drink Recipes 02nov2009.
• Stevia natural sweetener enhances the flavor of homemade sports drinks 09oct2009.
• Hydration Fruit-Ade Natural Sports Drink Update 01oct2009.
• After Sports Drinks Provide Carbohydrate & Protein for Recovery After Workouts 24sept2009.
• Hydration Fruit-Ade - homemade natural sports drink DIY recipe made from fruit juice 22sept2009.
• Hydration Cool-Ade - homemade inexpensive sports drink recipe for outdoor sports 18sept2009.
• Sports Drinks for Hydration of Kayakers & Paddleboaters 14sept2009.
• Paddle boaters need good hydration drinks for optimum performance 09sept2009.


Tags: hydration, sports drink, do it yourself, DIY, stevia, sodium, potassium , electrolyte.
Tags: hydration, fruit juice, homemade recipe, isotonic, tea, energy drink, chocolate milk, recovery drink.


Back to: BRT Kayaking & Hiking Homepage. | Sitemap.

Labels: food-drink, subtopic