As a stay at home dad for 3 plus years now, I have found and retaken up some old and new hobbies. I play basketball more than I have since high school now. It's the best outlet for me to go hang out with some adults for a couple of hours and get some good exercise. I also love the game. I have taken up running as well. It is a nice get away as well. I get to be by myself with my own thoughts for the 3 or 4 mile runs I do. Hiking is another thing I have taken up. I love being outside and walking up and down rocky hills, and seeing lakes and rivers is one of my favorite things.

But, my hobbies aren't exclusively sports related. I write now, obviously. I love it and I love that I have a platform to do it. I have gotten back into my guitar a bit (by the way, the Gibson SG is the greatest guitar ever). I don't play it as much as I did before my kids, but now when I play, they love to join in, and it is a free for all, and a blast. I also have my at home dad's group that I have written and talked about with Kirk on the podcast before. I also read a lot more than ever before. All the reading in school that was mandatory doesn't hold a card to how much I read now.

But, the one newer habit I have found that I love, that I want to talk about today is my new found love of my Nesco Dehydrator. This is by no means a plug for Nesco either. They aren't paying me a dime, maybe that will change after they read this, fingers crossed, but I have found a new love with this dehydrator. It was given to me as a gift about 2 years ago over the holidays. My mother in law, who is the best, gave it to me because she knows how much I love beef jerky, and she said that she heard this was a cheaper and more fun way to make and eat jerky. She was 100 percent correct. I was immediately on board with this thing. I couldn't wait to give it a try ASAP. I went out and got some ground beef first, that's what they recommended, and while it was fine, I was a little lost. I couldn't get the right texture or flavor that I was searching for. Everyone who tried the jerky said it was fine, but I think they were just paying me lip service.

I finally got around to reading more online about recipes and talking to other people that make their own jerky. The first thing I learned, especially with a Nesco, was to buy something like flank steak or leaner cuts of meat. No more ground beef. The leaner cuts are easier to cut into bite size pieces and easier to marinate.

The marinade was the next thing I learned. There didn't need to be as much salt for a cure as I thought I needed. I could literally do whatever I wanted. If I wanted no salt, that was fine. If I wanted a little to medium amount of salt that was fine as well. It was all based on what I wanted. I have gotten some great recipes from one of my wife's uncle's, friends and online. My, I guess he's my Uncle in law, favorite is his recipe.

I have also found some places that sell strictly beef jerky, there is a great beef jerky outlet in the Wisconsin Dells, and they sell some of their marinades to take home. Those are great as well.

Beef jerky is my favorite thing to do with my dehydrator, but there is so much more that I have found that I can do with it. I make snacks for the kids whenever we go on road trips now. Instead of feeding them chips and candy at every gas station we stop at, I make a batch of apple, pineapple and banana chips. And my kids love them. I will put cinnamon or pumpkin spice or even a little cayenne on them, and the kids, and my wife and I eat them up. Sure, it takes about 22 to 26 hours for the fruit to get that chip texture, but when it is done and cooled off, it is divine. My son always asks me if I'm going to make them whenever he knows a trip is upcoming because he loves to have it on the road. He also likes to help me with the seasoning when we do the fruit. Not only is he getting a healthy snack, but he gets to help pick what he wants on the selected fruit that we dehydrate. It is great for my daughter as well. I don't have to go out and buy expensive, sometimes organic snacks for her anymore. I can just make them at home.

The Nesco also works great for drying herbs. I'm not much of a cook, but my wife is. We aren't gardeners, but my mother in law is, and she gives us fresh herbs a lot. We usually do not use them right away as we should, but with the dehydrator, I can take some basil, parsley, thyme, whatever it may be, and slap it on a dehydrator tray, let it sit for a couple of hours, and boom, we have dried herbs that we can use for a long time. It saves a lot on our grocery bill.

Even today I tried something new with my Nesco. My kids love fruit leather. You know what I'm talking about. It is like a fruit roll up, but healthy. Well, I was reading my Nesco book and I found that I could make my very own fruit leather. All I needed was whatever fruit I wanted, a blender and the Nesco. My son picked out blueberries at the store, I got home, washed them, put them into the blender, added a little water and honey, pureed it and placed it on the special sheet I have for making fruit leather and it is dehydrating as I type this. I'm curious to see how it turns out, but I'm sure it will be another hit.

This new hobby has taken on a life of its own, and I love it. I feel like a chef when doing these things, and as I have already mentioned, I'm no chef. But, I get to pick out spices and the meat or fruit or herbs and put them on a tray, set the temperature that is given to me, and let the Nesco do all the work. If you like making jerky, I highly recommend getting a dehydrator. Any kind should work, but I recommend a Nesco. It's what I have, and it works. Also, you don't just have to be a beef jerky person if you want a dehydrator. I mentioned the jerky, but I also mentioned fruit and herbs, and I'm sure there are thousands of things you can find to dehydrate.

I just felt like sharing with everyone my newish hobby because I think it is a fun and easy thing for someone who is looking for something interesting and new to try out at your home. Get a dehydrator, they're a blast.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do you have an interesting hobby that the world needs to know about, come tell us. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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