Dehydrated Watermelon

When I was a kid we always had an abundance of fruits and vegetables! My mom used to have this HUGE garden that she would tend to everyday and we would visit the farmers market and roadside fruit stands! One of our favorite ways to preserve foods was to dehydrate them! My siblings and I would always sneak into the dehydrated before the fruits were done and eat them!

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We dehydrated a ton of foods, but the one item that stood out most in my childhood memories was dehydrated seedless watermelon! The texture and taste of the dried watermelon is unlike any of the other fruits! We like to dry it completely so it is crunchy and SUPER sweet! Dehydrated watermelon is probably one of the sweetest dried fruits we have made! Everyone who has tried it agrees that it tastes like cotton candy! My boys eat it right out of the dehydrator while it is still hot, so once it is actually done I don’t really have much left to save!

Some of the foods we dehydrate:

Zucchini (GREAT for snacking and tastes like chips!)
cantaloupe
okra
kiwi
strawberry
banana
plantain (sweet)
plantain (savory) (Perfect for dipping in salsa!)
oranges (Great steeped with hot tea!)
Apples (green, red, golden)
lemons (Great steeped with hot tea!)
mango
papaya
herbs (grow and make your own spices!)
garlic (used in flavored oil or to use as a spice)
cherries
watermelon
jerky
fruit roll-ups (pour applesauce in the fruit roll tray)

Our dehydrator is a Nesco American Harvest Express Food Dehydrator. It came with a jerky gun and fruit roll trays! Amazon is the best place to buy one!

The post Dehydrated Watermelon appeared first on That Savage Life.

My husband (a bomb technician, hence the name) was really wanting chili so I came up with this recipe to fit with Paleo! This was by far some of the best chili (Paleo or not) that I have ever had and my husband agreed! My 7 year old ate four bowls because he loved it! You do not even taste the vegetables in it so it is a great way to get the veggies in the kids (and the husband) without a fuss!

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The Bomb Paleo Chili Ingredients: 

Two pounds of ground meat. We used turkey and pork.

2 cans tomato paste (JUST tomato pulp)

1 can diced tomato (JUST tomato, water and salt)

4 cups Broth (we used bone broth, but beef or chicken broth will work fine!)

– celery

– zucchini

– carrot

– onion

– crushed garlic

1 tbs of dark cocoa powder. Just trust me on this… it gives your chili and amazing smokey flavor!

1/4 cup Chili powder (this is NOT cayenne and should not be spicy!)

Chipotle powder or cayenne pepper to taste. Remember as it sits it will get hotter.

Salt/pepper to taste.

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Instructions:

– Brown ground meat, set aside.

– Add all the veggies with the broth and boil until veggies are tender.

– Add ALL ingredients to the crockpot and cook on high for 6 hours.

The best way to get a thick and hearty chili is to boil the excess liquid out of it! I boil mine until it has very little liquid left! This recipe easy to cook thanks to my Ninja 3 in 1 Cooking System! I was able to brown the meat, boil the vegetables and slow-cook the chili all in one pot! If you don’t have one you should check them out!!

The post The BOMB Paleo Chili! appeared first on That Savage Life.