Is a Dehydrator Worth It?

A dehydrator takes the water out of food, creating a way to lighten your load or space. It helps spices to remain almost forever, backpackers to carry weeks worth of waterless meals in their backpacks, and water out of fruit and meat for snacks.

An average dehydrator costs around $30. Is it really worth it? Well, let's look at the cost of spices at the grocery store. Let's take basil for example. I bought a fresh basil plant in early March. We're halfway through April and it's still producing leaves. We bought a sweet basil plant at a local nursery for $2.50.

Granted, the pot, soil, and water costs money, but its a small enough amount that it really doesn't add to much since the plant is so small. It's not like we're using enough water to fill a bathtub or anything. I'm a huge fan of gardening and when you plant even just one plant, like spices, it's well worth the money.

Any old dehydrator will get the job done :)

After cutting off the leaves, you should wash them (and make sure there are no bugs or insects on them).

Put a plastic tray (usually for fruit leather) on the bottom tray. This will catch all the crumbs when they are dehydrated

Place the leaves in an even layer on your dehydrator tray.

Wait 3-4 hours, but check them once in awhile. I tried dehydrating fresh strawberries one time and I actually burned them! So keep an eye on your special leaves.

When will they be done? I don't have fancy buttons on my dehydrator, but when they crumple when you touch them, they're done. Kind of like bacon.  Place them in a ziploc and have a kid crumple them to the size you want them.

Fresh organic basil

Back to the original question: is a dehydrator worth it? A regular container spice container of basil is minimum $3.00 around here. I bought the basil plant for $1.99 and have gotten at least 2 spice containers full from just one basil plant without adding any miracle grow or anything.

So the answer is yes. Over time, you can dehydrate many things...for mucho cheaper than the grocery store. Plus, who needs to keep buying the same spice container? Although they are handy...

Other uses for a regular $30 dehydrator:

Sunflower or Pumpkin Seeds
Dried Fruit (Grapes-Raisins)
Meat Jerky
Spices (Basil, Parsley, etc)
Flowers (who knew?)
Chips

A great website for more dehydrator uses: http://www.stacymakescents.com/40-uses-for-a-dehydrator 

Definitely a kitchen investment! You can use all that extra money towards your debt and create some kitchen or craft experiments :)

April's First Half Grocery Bill

The month of April I had to buy household cleaners, snack foods for my daughter's class, and get ready for a birthday party this Saturday. How am I going to do that with $400 this month? Well, in reality, I only have $200 until the 15th (second paycheck).

Did I make it to the second paycheck before running out of money? Nope. But I have learned a few things along the way.

We did have to skip on getting party favors (bag of marshmallows, carrot, raisins, and pretzel sticks) to make an Olaf. We can't afford to get small waters for kids ("melted snow"), but we do have two pitchers that we can make Kool-Aid in one and another for water, so we can do the "melted snow" thing!

What did we buy? I can hear everyone asking.
Winco: Gluten Free Chocolate Cereal (for the kids) $3.57 Kid's breakfast
             Organic 1/2 gallon mik                                 $3.48
Fresh & Easy: Green Enchilada Sauce                      $2.39 (should really learn how to make it)
             Organic Apples 4pack                                  $3.99 snack
             Sour Cream                                                   $2.79
             Red Onions (4 or 5 pack)                              $2.49
             Tortillas    (not sprouted or wheat)                $2.69
             Avocados <3 <3 <3  Too many                     $7.78
             Annie's Snack Mix (Clearance)                    $2.00
             Vine Tomatoes                                              $1.99
              Dried Fruit Cherries                                     $6.59
              Dried Fruit Apricots                                     $5.49
              Snickerdoodle Cookies                                $ 2.69
Trader Joe's
              Ground Beef, Grass Fed    1 lb.                    $6.99
              Pork Sausage, Sweet Italian                         $3.99
And Sam's Club
              Jimmy Dean Egg Sandwiches                     $10.78
              Mexican Cheese Shredded 5lbs                   $15.12
              Canned Anaheims 2 Cans                            $4.86
              Parsley Flakes                                              $3.88
              Nutty Bars (Daughter's School Snack)        $3.48
              Brown Eggs, Cage Free   18pack                $3.98 (probably only thing organic in my cart)
              Snap Peas                                                     $4.78 (snack and birthday party)
              Colby Jack Cheese Block                            $8.98 (snack, cooking, and birthday party)
              Bananas                                                        $1.36
                                                       Grand Total:     $116.14

Wow. What a difference compared to last week! Daddy and Daughter were complaining there are no snacks for school and work. *rolls eyes* Hubby was also complaining how empty the fridge looked when he opened it. It was the day before I went shopping and creating a meal plan before going really, really helped. I was able to get what I needed- minus junk food for the party.

 Sam's Club was the biggest money sucker of them all. It may look like I spent a lot there, but I was able to find items for Saturday night's dinner, plus some food for other Mexican food dinner nights (that can be frozen). I know I should have gone there in the first place- shame on me! I'm suppose to be buying healthy and organic. What the heck happened? A

Next week we will be heading somewhere...can I buy organic on my weekly allotment? Can Jenn get back on track?

It should be easier now that the birthday party is done, out of town guests are gone, and household supplies are made. Whew. Yay vacation time!

Homesteading Anyone?

This is my number 2 reference book

Has anyone ever wanted to just stop shopping at the grocery store? Or am I just crazy? Call me a hippie, but I actually want to grow my own produce for my family. I hate having to push those bacteria-infested shopping carts for hours every week just to waste my hubby's hard earned money. That's money we could use on a vacation somewhere (I've always wanted to visit Alaska for one month)!

Apparently, after doing some research on homesteading, it can and has been done. There are various websites that have made a homestead on as little as 1/10 of an acre in Los Angeles. Wow. (http://urbanhomestead.org/) Now their family is included in the whole homesteading business and they sell their extra produce. What about us who don't live in the Los Angeles area? What if I live in Northern California? Or Central California? (Seriously, is Bakersfield north, south, or central California? No one really knows this.) According to Sunset.com zip code plant zone locator, the Urban Homestead's plant zone is 22 and 23. The Bako Depot's plant zone? 8. Major difference. Citrus does okay here in zone 8, but the cold night could kill the citrus trees unless you keep some heating source on them.


The first step is research. There are other great websites that explain homesteading, but what about books? What if I have a small yard? Or don't even live in California? Don't fret. Check out your local library before anywhere for books. My library has a great selection of books, so if you don't have these books, I would look on Amazon.com or even craigslist.org.

This book is a must-buy for  beginners

The second step is to plan. Figure out how much land, pots, or area you want to use to garden with. My property is 1/3 of an acre with 3 chickens. I could grow an abundance of crops if we weren't hoping to move. There are multiple ways to have a garden and if you have a small area, then I would suggest you google "square foot gardening" to get the most out of your small area. Hey, 1 tomato plant will save you at least $10 worth of tomatoes. What have you got to lose?


The third major step to homesteading is figuring out what plants you (and your family) want and figure out their requirements. Full sun, good drainage, etc. You don't want to plant green beans next to tomatoes because of the green beans high nitrogen levels. You'll also learn about crop rotating to maximize food production each year.

Everything you wanted to know about composting

You'll also need to learn about composting. This book is a great easy-reading reference book that tells you the hows and whys of composting. I thought I would read a section, but I ended up reading it cover to cover.

So these are the first steps in creating your new homestead. These are vital. Like my stepdad always says, you can't get anywhere without a plan. So plan away and get the family involved. It does take more than one person to help with huge projects like these. My kids love when I ask them questions "what do you want to plant this year?" They feel like they are part of the team and will help whenever you ask. Remember, kids are proud to eat what they grow.

Homesteading. Is it worth it?

Homesteading. Some think it’s a day's long list of chores on a plot of land. Others see it as a way to avoid any communication with the retail grocery stores. Me? I’m just trying to provide for my family. I want to be able to provide the best for them. What do you get at the grocery store? A ton of processed, preservative filled food. Crackers, juice, canned vegetables- you get the idea. Now I don’t plan on raising my own cattle or pigs, but I do plan on raising chickens. If you don’t have one, you should. Not only do they eat leftover food, they also provide eggs without the rooster (and I enjoy watching them). Currently, we don’t have a homestead thing going on, but hopefully soon.

Currently, we purchase our groceries at the Farmer's Market. This way I know hubby's hard earned money goes back into the community -local farmers. They work so hard to produce a quality item that benefits you and them. I do admit there are some items we can't get at the farmer's market that we will buy from Sam's or Costco since their organic doesn't cost an arm or leg like the typical grocery store. For household items, we will buy after realizing we can't DIY it. I know it sounds cheap and crazy to try making your own pillowcase or tiling the floor, but we are on a fixed income (halfway to becoming senior citizens).

One time at Sam's, hubby (not quite 100% on board with my new plant-based diet or saving as much as we really can) bought an 8pk of canned peas, 8pk of canned corn, and 12pk of green beans. All because he can just open it and heat it quickly. That added up to over $20. $20.00! Each canned item is full of salt, laden with pesticides, and will last through another ten years. If I have to purchase canned vegetables, I'll buy the salt free canned vegetables or frozen, but only sparingly if I can't get it at my farmer's market. I could have grown these vegetables and saved plus grow triple that amount! All for convenience. I looked at the canned peas ingredients. They actually put sugar in their canned sweet peas. They have absolutely no taste, not even a slightly sweet one.

So the true question is this new urban homesteading phase worth it? There will be a higher water consumption for our household, but I know I won't be using any pesticides or insecticides on my mini farm. I will have more flying insects around to pollinate the plants, but the chickens will eat the crawling ones. I will have to learn how to organize our produce and properly can, freeze, and preserve, but we will save money in the end. I, as well as hundreds of others, think homesteading is worth it.

The initial start-up cost will be a few seeds, egg cartons (seed starting trays), plastic wrap (keep moisture in), and tomato cages. Plus the water. I will have to install a sprinkler system, but a hose or my yard's sprinkler system is just fine for now. I don't plan on building a greenhouse. It's not in our budget. It might be later, but we have to start small and save what we can. I don't work, so this will be my "job" to provide fresh produce for our family.

Homesteading takes planning and commitment. We are able to start a winter garden here soon, but I haven't quite planned that yet since we are waiting to find out some news about hubby's career. We are praying he transfers to Sac although I really do love the Bako Depot. I think homesteading will be worth it, not only for me, but also for my family. This way, I'll be able to find what I need when I need to- unlike the grocery and department stores. My produce will be original, unlike the orange crunchy "tomatoes" imported from Mexico year round. My kids will learn what it is like to grow and do instead of shop and depend on others for food (sounds like a homeless or welfare person). Plus, if I fill my yard with growing produce, I can sell the extra (if I want to) and have less lawn to mow (sounds like a win-win).
Do you homestead? What do you think?