Review - Cabela's Heavy Duty Dehydrator

For my birthday and mother's day present, Hubs told me I could get a dehydrator this year. I had been eyeing the high-end Excalibur dehydrators, but found the Cabela's Heavy Duty Dehydrator that has 10 trays and seemed similar to the Exclaibur. I couldn't find any sort of comparison anywhere, and a question to Cabela's customer service went unanswered.

A few weeks ago, we received a coupon from Cabela's in the mail, so we decided to pull the trigger on buying the dehydrator. So far, I really like it! [No, Cabela's didn't give me anything to write this review. Since my question didn't get answered, I'm pretty sure they don't know I exist. But if they wanted to send me a little somethin'-somethin', I wouldn't be opposed...] Katie at Kitchen Stewardship has a great comparison today of the Excalibur Dehydrator Head to Head with the Nesco American Harvest Dehydrator, and I thought I'd weigh in with my comments on the Cabela's version. Note that I haven't actually used either the Excalibur or the Nesco, I'm just commenting based on what Katie said.

By the way, we received a Cabela's ad in the mail today that notes the same model will be on sale for $99.99! The sale runs Saturday, June 26 from 8AM to noon ONLY. The original price is $149.99, so that's a very good deal... better than what we paid with the coupon, grr. Ah, well, I've really been enjoying it the past few weeks, so I can't complain. You can check the web site here to see if there is a store near you - the sale is in-store only.

The Cabela's dehydrator differs from the Excalibur as follows:

* Size - the trays are smaller on the Cabela's, but there are also 10 trays versus nine for the Excalibur. The overall size is 13"x18.5" for the Cabela's with 11"x14.5" trays; and 16.5"x19" for the Excalibur with 15"x15" trays.

* Similar to the Nesco, the trays are "what you see is what you get" - there are no screens or liners. (Though the Nesco may come with fruit roll liners, or at least you can purchase them separately.) I have found a lot of things fall through the holes in the tray. Apparently, Cabela's does not manufacture any sort of a liner for these. I considered purchasing Excaliabur liners and cutting them down, though I'm not sure what they are made of, so that might not work. The instruction manual for the Cabela's one has a fruit roll recipe that references liners, but an internet search led me to learn that they are coated with teflon, anyway, so no thank you!

To make soaked oats, I simply cut some parchment paper to approximately the size and shape of my trays, less 3/4 of an inch or so on the edges so there would be some air flow. I have used (and re-used) these pieces several times and they're still doing fine. I plan to give them a good wipe with a dish rag next time I wash dishes, but I haven't bothered doing anything else besides brush them off so far.

* I haven't found it to be terribly noisy or that it warms the room too awful much - I have used it in my laundry room (that tends to be warm anyway) and mostly it stays in the spare bedroom.

* There is no cover or door for the front like the Excalibur has. Instead, the trays have a "front" to them, so when they're all closed, they basically create their own door. I haven't found this to be a problem. I even have used the dehydrator to raise dough, and just removed the trays so my bowl fit. I'll admit it didn't seem to raise in record time, but probably a bit more quickly than in my air-conditioned kitchen. Perhaps next time, I'll hang a towel over the front and anchor it with something heavy on top.

* After using it a few times, they trays seem to catch on each other, so that as I'm pulling one out, another seems to pull out with it. I'm not sure why, but so far, it is only a minor annoyance. If it gets to be a major annoyance, I'll contact Cabela's customer service and complain.

* It hasn't bothered me that the shelves don't have sides. I typically bring the trays to the kitchen, load them, and then return them two or three at a time, and I haven't spilled yet. (Wow, that is probably tempting fate...)

* Similar to the Excalibur, it is large and heavy. It isn't something I'd leave on my kitchen counter, which is why I don't, I guess.

* The Cabela's dehydrator does not come with a timer to shut itself off. However, we have a plug-in timer that we got at Wal-Mart or some such that would work fine if I needed something shut off at an inconvenient time. From what I have tried so far, though, I feel it is similar to a crock pot in that another couple of hours won't really hurt.

EDIT: I forgot to mention... I don't think the dehydrator gets as hot as it says it does. I ran it at 165, and put my probe thermometer in varying racks; it never registered above 135. I ran it at 135, and it stayed right about 120. Not sure if that's common to dehydrators or what, but it's a bit disconcerting.

Anybody have any questions or comments about dehydrators? I'm totally fascinated by them and looking forward to using the heck out of mine! I'm linking this post to Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom.

Also, for more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

Baby Gifts From Your Stash

One of my sweet cousins had a baby about 7 months after Goose was born, and between the financial pinch of me quitting work and the time pinch of the stores where she was registered being too far from Goose's crib where she required naps at frequent intervals, I had to come up with something . . . inventive, shall we say. Some of the things were pulled out of my own "supply" closet, while others were purchased, and my mom split the cost with me. I felt we were able to shower my dear cousin with items that I had found to be very helpful as I transitioned to being a new mom.

Free:
Baby Sling - one that I had been given that didn't work for us.

Ear Plugs - I bought a multi-pack when it became clear that the tiniest noise over the monitor would rouse me from sleep. (Yes, I needed a monitor. Our bedroom and the nursery are on different floors. We slept in the spare room for a while but had to keep the doors closed to keep the cats out.) So I put a pair in a small plastic bag and gave them to her that way.

Safety Pin - I attached it over my bar strap to indicate which side Goose was due to nurse on the next time. (note, 1. that typo is my way of not really typing the actual word for all the weirdos out there searching such things to find, and 2. I didn't actually stick it through the fabric, but I put the strap inside the pin. Otherwise the straps would have been shot in short order!)

Soothies - Goose had some trouble latching on, so these gel pads were, well, soothing. I see that Medela has a cheaper version though either way, I'd look for them locally to avoid shipping charges. I had a package left over.

Incontinence Pads - Though I did not need them for their intended purpose, I had some on hand to put underneath Goose and me when I nursed her in the side-lying position. (Scroll down to see links for nursing while laying down.) I hadn't thought about it at the time, but I have since bought at a consignment sale a washable, reusable pad for Goose's crib that would work well, and would pull double duty!

Heavy-Flow Maxi Pads - I had some left over that I passed along to her.

Mother's Milk Tea - a friend had given me a few boxes, so I passed one along.

Nursing Pads - though now I might be tempted to try to make some...

Safety Q Tips - for some reason, I seemed to have trouble finding these in stores. I don't think I was looking in the right places. :>)

Disposable Changing Pads - Especially at first, I hated the thought of laying my baby down on a nasty changing table in a public restroom. I bought a package of these pads, and I think I only actually threw one away, so they certainly last. (They are also good for diaper blowouts - which we thankfully didn't experience very often.) Since I had so many left over, I just gave her a loose one.

Things I bought:
Medela Micro-Steam Bags - We battled thrush forever, and I since my cousin intended to nurse and keep working, I knew she'd have to pump, and these are a quick and easy way to make sure things are sanitized.

Aquaphor - I didn't realize this had a "following" as a diaper rash treatment, but it sure worked for us. Don't bother with the more expensive baby version, I'm pretty sure it's the same thing.

Pacifiers - I don't remember the brand we used, but we got them at Target and they were very round, which seemed most like mama.

Links - we used these to attach everything to everything else.

Mesh Laundry Delicates Bags - I love these bags for washing socks! They're intended to keep your unmentionables safe in the wash, but they work wonders for keeping tiny socks from getting lost. I also found myself much less stressed when I went to fold, for some random reason. I buy them at the Dollar Store.

Milk Freezer Storage Bags - I wanted to support her decision to nurse as much as I could! She tried the ice cube-type trays for a while but found them more difficult to thaw when the baby needed milk at daycare, so she switched to the bags.

Cute Zipper Pull - for the diaper bag! I seemed to be all thumbs when it came time to try to unzip my diaper bag in a hurry, so I found a cute zipper pull to be very helpful.

Journal - I was able to find a few of these on sale. When Goose was tiny, I journaled everything - diapers, sleeping, nursing - to try and figure out why she cried so much. I also made a brief foray into elimination communication (also known as infant potty training) and wanted to track her diapers for that, as well. When she started on solid foods, I tracked them in the journal, as well as new teeth. I still make a brief entry for each day noting sleep (because we still struggle), and I also keep track of certain potty issues she may or may not have. And, of course, anything cute she happens to do or say. :>) You think you'll remember, but you never do.

Rum - it was a small bottle. Just in case.

The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD - I cannot say enough good things about this! You can read an article from Parenting magazine that gives a summary here. I think all new parents should see it!

Anybody have any other tried-and-true things that you might add to the list?

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Gratituesday - Our Corn Stove!

I've been meaning to wax poetic about something this winter . . . our corn stove! Even the Goose loves it, she wants it lit when it's not on so we can be "all warm and toasty!"

Right now, we're experiencing yet another cold snap, which isn't a big surprise since February is supposed to be cold and snowy this year. It's amazing how much peace I get from having this thing lit with a hopper full of corn, though.

Hubs bought it the first winter we were married. I was a bit skeptical, since I don't like to be too hot, and I also was a bit scared of running it. I didn't mess with it at all the first winter, but I have since learned how to run it and do everything except a few fixes that are beyond my grasp (something about a chain that falls off once in a while) and take out the ash - that pan is HEAVY and I let Hubs handle it. I actually thought about writing a post on how to light it, but I think that would be dull as dirt for most of you... During my recent cleaning and decluttering, I found the notes I made when learning to light the stove and had a chuckle at myself. I've come a long way!

With regards to being too hot, it certainly does get that way sometimes. We have figured out how to position a fan so that it moves heat into the other part of the house, though it does leave our basement QUITE chilly because no heat comes down there. But, since I now know how to shut it down AND start it back up once it does cool off, it's not so bad in the main part of our house. :>)

We're actually considering replacing our corn stove with one of the fancy new self-igniting ones. It has a thermostat, and will shut itself off and turn back on to keep the room at that temperature. How great is that??? And with trading in our old stove plus the biomass stove tax credit, I think we could get a heck of a deal.

You can see what others are thankful for over at Heavenly Homemakers.

PS - I'm also extremely thankful that a certain Goose is taking a nap today. She skipped naps the past two days and it's been a bit of a struggle for both of us.

Calming a Cranky Goose

This past week, it has been reinforced to me that certain children (cough*GOOSE*cough) really need to stick to their schedule - especially with regards to sleep - to do well. Even if, for example, Goose still gets her nap but it's at a later time, it throws things off because our bodies have certain times that they are wired to sleep, and sleeping outside of those times tends can result in poor quality sleep. (I'm not just making this up, someday I'll tell you about my favorite baby sleep book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.)

After the "hen party" last week, I returned home to a crying Goose and her not-feeling-so-good papa - I think they were both pretty glad to see me! I'll admit that one of the reasons I waited so long to wean the honker was because she woke up pretty much every morning and from every nap crying until she was well over a year old. (After that, it was most of the time, and then decreased until her second birthday or so.) Since I can no longer squirt milk at her, I have tried to find various other means of distraction.

Though I try to limit how much "screen time" of various types to which Goose is exposed, there is a certain set of YouTube videos called Simon's Cat that will cheer her up almost without fail. So, Papa and Grandma, if you need some help, try these (I think I remember all their proper titles as bestowed by Goose) - the rest of you can just enjoy. :>)

Meow Meow On The Door



Puppy



Meow Meow Papa Go Night Night



Meow Meow On The Couch



Meow Meow In The Bed



Meow Meow In The Snow



Meow Meow On The Desk

Silicone Basting Brushes

Something that I have found handy in the kitchen is a silicone basting brush. Here is one on Amazon that is similar to what I have - I put in the whole image link so you can see the price without clicking through:

I use it for oiling the waffle iron after it's already heated up (since I usually forget), they also work well to brush sauce on food when you're grilling - especially the long handled one, and you don't end up with bristles in your food like has happened to us with regular bristle brushes (blech).

The set I purchased has 3 brushes in varying lengths. The brush heads can be removed from the handle and both pieces put in the dishwasher. My brush heads have warped a bit but they still work great.

I did a quick search and found the set in a number of places. It's not the cheapest, but I have ordered from Miles Kimball before and I have been satisfied with their service. I also didn't click through to check shipping and handling on any of these, but I imagine that could be a stickler.

Other places I found that sell the brushes: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (Whew.) Remember, I don't know anything about S&H at these sites, nor do I know anything about their policies. They just came up with cheap prices!

Another waffle tip - since I made a double batch of whole wheat waffles this morning with the intention of freezing the extras, I cooled the waffles on a cooling rack so the steam could escape. It helps the waffle retain a bit of crispness. We prefer to reheat them in the toaster so they really crunch back up!

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

Fall Yumminess

Nothing says fall like a warm drink on a crisp day! My very favorite one is strawberry cider (image from bhg.com). The recipe:

8 cups apple cider or apple juice
1 10-oz package frozen sliced strawberries
4" stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves

Combine cider or juice, frozen sliced strawberries, the stick cinnamon, and cloves in a large saucepan. Bring to boiling and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Strain through cheesecloth - I use several clothespins to clip it across the top of the pitcher (make sure it hangs down an inch or so to allow room for it to drain). Depending on the size of your straining device (see comment below about using a funnel!), you may have to rinse it out or discard and get new cheesecloth, paper towel, filter, etc. After it gets to a certain level of gunked up, it doesn't drain very well.


If you'd like, you can garnish cups with apple slices, strawberries, or cinnamon sticks. I can personally attest that this does well in a slow cooker (such as for a party), and if I'm making it just for us, I pour it into the jug the apple cider came in and put it in the refrigerator. (Sometimes I have even used a funnel and strained it right into the jug. When I want a cup, I just pour one and heat it up! It's also pretty tasty at room temperature.

You can also use a colander with a bowl underneath, and you can also use paper towels, a clean tea towel, or even coffee filters (in a colander) but you'll have to pour VERY carefully to keep from dislodging them, and I'd wet them first. The strawberries turn into kind of a sludge, and you don't really want to drink that.

I have tried using plain frozen strawberries and adding sugar, but I didn't do the calculations to see how much sugar was actually in the sweetened strawberries, and I felt like I had to add enough that it just made sense to use the pre-sweetened ones. If you run the numbers and figure it out, let me know. :>)

Cider will go on sale during the fall, and frozen sweetened strawberries go on sale a few times a year. This helps to make this treat more affordable!

Two more recipes that I'd LOVE to try this fall are caramel apple cider and caramel apple cookies. Holy cow, don't they sound GOOD?

For more yummy fall recipes, visit Life As Mom.

Motion Sickness Helps

So I married a private pilot. And I get motion sickness sitting still. Not the best combination! After our vacation with a TON of driving, I was thinking I ought to compile a list of different things I've tried and/or found that help. Here are some things that I've found to help me tolerate travel:

Dramamine was one of the first things I tried many years ago when I started having difficulty with motion sickness. For me, sometimes it seems to work better than other times. This year on our trip, I used the Wal-Mart generic version and was pleased. I also used Bonine for many years and thought it worked about as well as Dramamine. I would like to point out that I did not take either of these while pregnant or nursing!



Queasy Pops and Preggie Pops are something else that I've used for many years. After I became pregnant, I checked with my midwife to make sure the queasy pops were OK and she was fine with all of the ingredients, but check with your own health care provider if you are pregnant to make sure. The ginger ones are SPICY, and the sour ones are SOUR, but they both seemed to help with the nausea of travel. (I thankfully didn't have much trouble with morning sickness.) My favorite ones are the spearmint and peppermint, though I have most of the flavors on hand.

I think I lost these after a few uses, but I do remember having something similar to Seaband Wristbands. The key here seems to be finding the right pressure point and the right level of pressure, or tightness in the wristbands.

Plain old oranges right from the grocery store helped me some, too. I would peel back part of the rind, then pop the entire thing in a plastic bag. When I was feeling yucky, I'd pull it out and sniff - easy as that! Your mileage may vary, though - try substituting something of which you enjoy the smell and see how it works.

Something that helps in addition to other things are ice packs, especially on the back of the neck and/or the forehead. I am always amused that some people are cold on airplanes - during every flight I've taken, I've been HOT. Poor Hubs, he'll have us at such an altitude that the temps are around 60 and I'll think it's just about right. Woe to him if he tries to turn the heater on, too! Oddly enough, if he touches me, I feel cool to him, and along those lines his touch feels HOT. (So much that he gets the stink eye and immediately withdraws said touch.)

I picked up some MotionEaze on our trip. I usually used it in addition to the off-brand Dramamine, but it seemed to help. I like the smell, so perhaps that was part of it. I think it could be used on kids, so long as they didn't rub their fingers in it and then rub their eyes, and I can't say that sucking on fingers covered in the oil would be a good idea, either.


By far the most expensive motion sickness help I've used is ReliefBand. My mom gave it to me as a Christmas present in the hopes that it would help me be a better air passenger. Basically, it looks like a watch, but you apply a bit of the included gel and position the "face" of the "watch" over the inside of your wrist. It delivers a zap, basically an electric shock, I guess, every several seconds. (It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise!) There are five strength levels, and while I have used the fifth (highest) one, I do find it uncomfortable. My experience is that it doesn't necessarily keep me from feeling yucky, but it does seem to help me feel better sooner, once I stop moving.

Finally, I have found that riding in the front and/or driving is a big help, driving especially. If I'm concentrating on the road and I'm the one making the car move (haven't tried piloting the plane yet and don't particularly want to!), it seems to keep my mind off being sick. If I must sit in the back for some reason, I try to get a straight line of sight out the windshield - the middle seems to be the worst for me because the rear-view mirror is in the way. Reading, or doing other things that keep me from looking straight ahead (writing, crocheting, whatever) all contribute to the urpies

EDIT: one more thing that helps me - sleeping. Especially if you have a little one that struggles with motion sickness, you might try to time the curviest part of your trip for early afternoon, when the urge to nap is the strongest. (Or whenever their best nap time is.) On our vacation, I napped several of the days right after lunch while we were in the car and it really helped. Or, you might try either starting your trip at night after bedtime or getting up very early in the morning, provided your little one (or big one, whoever the sickie is) will go to sleep once strapped in. Do note that sleeping in the car isn't really good quality sleep like in a bed where you can stretch out and move around to get comfortable, but it can be a help to get to where you need to go.

A gift my mom gave Hubs several years ago has come in handy - a case of sickie sacks. Hubs keeps a few in his flight bag, and they've been needed on a few occasions, unfortunately.

Anybody else know of any good motion sickness helps? I'm always looking to add to the list!