Beef Jerky

Preparation is the key to success with anything and eating healthier is no exception. Having foods available to snack on can help keep the hunger monster away and keep you from just grabbing anything- including fast food.

One of the best things about jerky is that it is portable- toss it in your bag, send it to school, take it in the car. It's a healthy snack when you need a pick-me-up, and can have any flavoring you want.  I like to purchase a Swiss Steak and thinly slice it, trimming the large pieces of fat.  However, when I was purchasing the meat, I was told that if I call ahead, they would be happy to slice a Round Steak for me (They like to use frozen Round Steak, apparently it's easier to cut when it's frozen).   I was also told a general rule to jerky is you get half what you put in: if you start with 10 pounds, you will get 5 pounds when finished.

Peppered Beef Jerky

3 pounds steak (Swiss or Round cut) thinly sliced in strips

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2/3 cup Wercestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons black pepper

1.  Cut steak and place in a large bag, sealable bag (zip-loc style)
2.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meat, making sure the meat is well coated
3.  Refrigerate over night or at least 4 hours (I have always marinated my meat over night).
4.  Place meat on the dehydrator, following manufacturers guidelines.  My dehydrator is 155 degrees for about 4 hours. 

**Refrigerate jerky after it's made!

Fruit Leathers

Fruit is a wonderful food.  I really enjoy fresh summer fruits and love that they are a part of Paleo (in moderation).  When we go to the store it's inevitable, we will buy A TON of fruit, because it looks so good and we always say that will eat it before it goes bad.  However, there is always some that ends up thrown away. But not any more. 

One of my favorite snacks has always been fruit roll ups but they contain so many ingredients, so here's my answer.  These fruit leathers are all natural and homemade so you know EVERYTHING that is in them and can play with the taste.  My favorite fruits to use are strawberries, bananas, blueberries, apples, and pears.  I had some left over plums and I tried those too.  Find what you like and try it!  However, I did try orange, pineapple banana and that was NOT good. 

Fruit Leathers

1)Wash your fruit (soak strawberries to get all the dirt off of them) and remove necessary seeds (apples and pears). 

2)Place fruit in blender (I leave the skin on) or food processor and make a puree. I have found that if I place the softer fruits at the bottom- strawberries, bananas, really ripe pears, it is easier to blend and I will not need to add water.  If the fruit is not blending well add a few drops of water, just enough to get the fruit to blend.

3)Pour the puree on a coconut greased fruit leather tray for the dehydrator. 

4)Stack trays (as directed by the dehydrator manual) and follow specific directions for your model.

***You can also make these in an oven but I have never tried this method.

Now that I've said to follow the directions of your specific dehydrator, here's how I do it.  I like to make mine at night.  The first few hours it is running I turn the temp to about 165 (the highest setting on my unit).  After about an hour (or two) I check, and, if possible, remove the fruit leather from the plastic leather tray and place directly on the dehydrator tray.  Then I turn the temp down to the lowest setting and let it "cook" over night.