Hi Laurie, If you try it I would love to know how it turns out for you and what your thoughts are about psyllium husk :)

Hi Otillie, congrats on the new dehydrator!

As you know, when dehydrating raw food it is important to keep the enzymes alive by dehydrating at 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius) or lower.

However, I recommend turning your dehydrator on “high” (145 degrees) for about 1.5 hours when first putting food in the dehydrator, and then decreasing the temperature to 105 degrees after 1.5 hours or so.

I suggest this because the initial warmer temperature will help to take away a lot of the moisture at first, and the thinking is that it takes a while for your dehydrator to climb up to “high” and it also takes quite a while for the food to actually get to the temperature that the dehydrator air is at so it is still safe for raw foodists.

One of the best side-effects of setting your temperature higher at first is that it’s good at getting rid of the initial moisture quite quickly. Increasing the temperature at the beginning of cooking time is common practice in the raw food community. If you are not mindful about turning the heat back down after 1.5 hours, yes, your food will be heated above 105 degrees. However, this risk is warranted. That initial heat blast can really save you a lot of time and can accelerate the dehydrating process by quite a bit, even by 50% sometimes.

For me, I do strive to live a 100% raw lifestyle; however, I also make some slight tweaks to the “rules” in order to ensure that I can stay raw over the long-term.

Yep, Rosalie, you can freeze these

Hi Maha in this recipe you could use sunflower seeds instead of the almonds

Hi Bree, your comment makes me beam :)

Hi Radha, now why didn't I think about the zucc addition myself? I think that would provide the perfect texture and deonionize it a bit! Lol   One thing about honey is that it doesn't dehydrate (will never dry at these temps) so it might be good to do a different sweetener, but in this recipe you're not trying to get it completely dry anyway so it's probably good. Thanks for sharing your tips! Gets my creative juices flowing

Skeptical husbands are hard to impress so well done! Sounds like some nice tweaks, Alisa, especially the half-onion, half zucc... PS: Love your cutting board!

Hi Hannah, you are on a ROLL!  Oven does not work as a dehydrator in my experience. I suggest holding off on buying a dehydrator until you are really bored and feel limited by only being able to use a food processor and blender. I got my first dehydrator after I was raw for at least 6 months. In case you want to check out the options:

Best dehydrator is 9-tray excalibur, hands down. But... it is expensive! http://tinyurl.com/ah6o3qt

You can also get a Vegikiln - they are cheaper, white, not as "reputable" but they get the job done: http://tinyurl.com/avb59e3

You should get a 8-to-10-tray, and do not get a round dehydrator.

Hope this helps!

Hi Mena, so glad your husband enjoyed them. It sounds like you made some really nice substitutions. Glad to have you here and thank you for sharing :)

Hi Gilbert,

Thank you for your comment. But have you ever compared the results of oven/round dehydrator versus a real dehydrator? The results are second to none.

I completely understand where you're coming from, but for many people they get turned off if they attempt a raw food recipe and it tastes bad or goes rancid due to ineffective dehdrating.

I have attempted to dehydrate crackers in my oven with the door propped open, and they went mouldy.

You will find that I am very accommodating, realistic and encouraging, and I recommend that when it comes to food processors a very inexpensive model is all you will ever need.

But in my experience an oven just does not work as a substitute for a dehydrator for most recipes.

I appreciate your comment, but I feel that it does not help to say, "Sure, make it in your oven." Then when it doesn't turn out, they won't know whether it was the recipe or the equipment.

Hi Redheadedgirl, yes, give it a go and come back and tell me how they turned out!

Annie xoxoxoxoxox :)

Hi Lori, it keeps the consistency and flavor very well when frozen. I do eat frozen foods, and I do freeze some of my food. In my opinion, though, it does compromise some enzymes. In the most simplistic example, can you say that a strawberry that has been frozen for a year has the same nutritional value, enzymes, and is as "alive" as a strawberry that was just picked off the vine two minutes before? No way, they are not the same. That being said, I do freeze and eat frozen raw food - but we are kidding ourselves if we think that they are identical