dehydrating and sporatic blogging

I am the sporatic blogger! I go in waves. Sometimes I am up with the blog. Sometimes I am down with the blog.
Part of this is due to the loss of my iPhone, which is now just my iPod. Renee snagged it and hid it away and I figured she hid away into the 'nother world vortex with the 3 DVDs and flip flops she took. My coupon bag had turned into a bag-o'-shame and while cleaning it out, buried in a store circular was my iPhone. Now I can take pictures and blog again.
What have I wanted to show you while it was gone? I got a food dehydrator and grain mill. I have been milling and drying like a mad woman!
Phoebe told me that I ran the dehydrator so much during the first week I had it that I was going to break it. I have used it every day since its arrival. Here are some things I have tried and want to try. What am I missing? What should I try?
Major dehydration successes:

• yogurt-I drain most of it to thicken it up and from that make spreadable cheese and frozen yogurt. Phoebe is a smoothly making machine now that we have the Magic Bullet and frozen yogurt. Please, please, please don't mention Jamba Juice around her ever since we found their secret menu. I use the whey for bread or for a tub soak with lavender oil.
• raising bread
  
• apple leather-I got an apple peeler/corer/slicer (of course, I used a coupon) for this. If you don't have this gadget, you are missing out on serious fun! Phoebe goes to town with it.
• candied ginger-was too simple and you get a gingered simple syrup too boot! Used the vegetable slicer for it. Another gadget that I am in love with.
• banana chips-gone too fast in this house
• frozen peas & corn-they are like light little flavor goodness pieces
  
• onions and garlic-unfortunately, my entire house reeked for days and so did my silicone mats. I ground down most of it to make powders. That garlic powder is seriously strong. Unlike anything bought. Next time I will make this on wax paper to save my silicone mats the heartache of being kitchen outcasts.
• potatoes and mashed potatoes
• celery, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms-I ground up some into powder and added to meals for flavor and veggie goodness
  

Not so much success with:

• watermelon slices (they are tasty, but it is a texture thing)
• whole garlic cloves-they didn't dehydrate and I am not going to run them longer with the stench that it makes
  
• dates to grind into date sugar-they got too hard and wouldn't grind. The next batch I ground up into paste and then dehydrated. The silicone mats still had garlic/onion residue and the dates-to-be-sugar tasted like sweetened garlic. No success yet on making dates into sugar.
  
• fresh pasta noodles-next time I will make them thinner and cook them thoroughly before dehydration.
  

What I have done that I can't yet comment on:

• cooked rice to make instant rice

What I want to do:

• jerky (got a good recipe?)
  
• mango (they are on major sale this week and I am going to go bananas! I am also getting that Oxo mango pitter)
• tomato sauce leather
• pumpkin pie leather
  

Is there a dehydrated food you love? What should I attempt?

Win a grain mill

I really, really like my NutriMill. I have done rice, beans, oats, soft wheat, hard wheat, and lentils in it. Now, what I baked with these items had a lot to be desired, but I made the flour!
HappilyDomestic is giving one away. I am blogging about it because I get a couple of extra chances myself to win one for a gift to someone. It is by far and away a cool gift.
Check out the website to win one for yourself.

Thanks Amy!

I just received my gift card to HEB for my Creole chicken video. Thanks Amy!
She runs www.mysouthcentraltexasmommy.com. It is a great site to get coupon info. This was the springboard to my current couponing and freebie insanity.

Dough fun

Mel got me thinking about toddler activities and today I broke out the ridiculous collection of cookie cutters. Now I want sugar cookies!

Some recent wins

I have been having the greatest time lately!
Check out my video on easy Creole chicken that netted me a grocery gift card! Whoo hoo!
I also won a pair of Sobe flip flops.
My video on Johnsonville has free brats coming my way.
This has been so much fun! I kind of like doing the video stuff. There usually aren't a lot of entries; the Flip video is so danged easy to use that a video is easy to make; and I just like it!
On another note, my friends are selling their house in St. Augustine, FL. Do you need a house in FL? If so, shoot me an email!

Coupons & win

I have begun REALLY using coupons after attending a workshop at the end of May. I was using coupons here and there, but since then really using them to cut my grocery bills. Target $5 gift card deals stacked with their store coupons (check their site for all their coupons) and manufacturer coupons have actually put money in our pockets. I have done a number of rebates and have deposited those checks. Each one put free items into our household plus money in the bank. I paid at my recent visit to Target $153.64 for $224.54 worth of groceries. My coupon savings was $70.90! It was all stuff we needed and are going to use!
I am still refining my methods and organizing my stuff. Let me tell you, the organizing is right up my alley!
The woman who did the workshop runs My South Central Texas Mommy. It is a great website for deals, coupons, and giveaways in my area. When I attended her workshop, I got a $10 HEB gift card and recently won a $30 Incredible Pizza gift card! I am a bit amazed! Her site has great 101s on couponing. I am very pleased with everything I have gotten from her site.
Another coupon site is Deal Seeking Mom. I recently won $10 from Seattle's Best because of a Facebook giveaway she wrote about. The emails I get from her are easy to read and spell out great deals!
These sites stand out in my mind because I read them daily. For full disclosure, I am not compensated by either site to write about them, but their giveaways have me all a flutter. Give couponing a try! Subscribe to your Sunday paper and see what deals you get! I would totally love to hear what savings you get!

Twizzlers WIN!!!

When UPS came and left a huge box, I was a bit stumped as I haven't ordered anything. Well, it was my big win from Twizzlers Summer of Fun! We had so much fun opening up the package.
I've been looking for a new fancy schmancy bag. Look no further since my new one says Twizzlers on the side!
New sunglasses to boot! They remind me of my cool red ones from 7th grade that I decorated with white spots.
So much cool stuff! Thank you Twizzlers!






The shovel and bucket are really neat-o. The shovel is so cool and has a weird ergonomic feel to it that really makes it keen.
Gosh, I feel like Gidget!