When I left on maternity leave, the Geek and I knew that we could afford to live on just his income…as long as nothing crazy happened.
Hel-lo! If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that crazy came and moved IN! And our crazy is also crazy expensive: even with insurance, our reserves were wiped out last fall.
So, things are a little tight here at the Cradle Rocking Casa…
Which means the Geek and I are starting to hustle.
My first venture into the world of “start making a little extra money from home so that I can keep my kiddos in quinoa and grass-fed beef” is a very simple, absolute no-brainer move for me: I signed up to be an affiliate of Excalibur Dehydrators.
It’s no secret I love their dehydrators; even before I had this blog, I told people they should buy one! (My parents actually did!) Since I’ve been writing here as Cradle Rocking Mama, I’ve shared several recipes that require dehydration, and in each of them, I talk about my awesome Excalibur. (Dried Melon, Beef Jerky, and Banana Bread Larabar Knockoffs all come to mind!)
Dehydrating food has about a zillion benefits, all depending on your personal needs: long-term food storage, grocery budget savings, dried fruits and meats, camping meals, or traveling on the road.
As a Flight Attendant, I’ve saved at least double the cost of my dehydrator in food savings on the road. I’d simply make up my recipe, dehydrate it, and carry anywhere from 4-10 days worth of food with me in my suitcase! Without the weight of water, I could carry that much with no trouble at all. All it took was some water and heat and Mama could eat a delicious home-cooked meal wherever and whenever.
Now, you could go to Walmart and buy a $40 dehydrator, sure! I considered it before purchasing my Excalibur. It didn’t take too much online research to realize: those cheap dehydrators? Are cheap for a reason.
They may do in a pinch, but they dry unevenly, often require frequent “tending” to (by way of rotating trays, etc.), and have odd shaped trays that can mean you can’t fit all your food in for one big dehydrating batch. All of these are the kinds of things that make people say “I hate dehydrating food”, when the problem isn’t dehydrating food, but the machine you use to do so.
So I was easily able to convince myself and the Geek that the Excalibur is the way to go…and I haven’t regretted that purchase one day since then.
With Spring about to turn the corner and head our way, fresh produce is soon to follow. Fresh, IN SEASON, and inexpensive produce. Did you know that you can dehydrate almost ANY fruit or vegetable to use later? Which means, you could buy lots of produce in season, at its freshest, and via dehydration be able to use it this winter – when melons and fresh summer tomatos are non-existent (or shipped from far away and therefore obscenely expensive). Talk about HUGE grocery budget savings, not to mention healthier foods for your family!
For these and a million other reasons, I can’t stress enough: you really should get a dehydrator.
Because I know the quality of the machine and the customer support of the company behind it, I can’t stress enough: you really should get an Excalibur Dehydrator!
I know, I know, I’m giving you this big ol’ sales pitch and all you’re really thinking is “Geez, they’re kinda pricey and besides, what’s in it for me?”
Well, IF you order your Excalibur through my affiliate link (on the sidebar and at the top of this post), you will receive FREE SHIPPING on your dehydrator! These suckers are not lightweight, tiny little packages, so free shipping is nothing to scoff at!
Even better, though, is this little juicy tidbit: Excalibur just came out with some absolutely gorgeous colors for their dehydrators, and in honor of the launch of their color line, they are offering a discount code for their affiliates to use.
If you use the coupon code “COLOR6” at checkout, you will receive 10% off your order, plus the free shipping deal! (This code expires on February 28th.)
You just can’t beat that!
What do I get for this? I get a small commission on every sale that is made through my affiliate links. That’s it. It’s not enough to make me rich, it’s not enough to replace my day job income, but it may be enough to occasionally take some pressure off our budget.
Plus, I get to make a little money doing something I would have done anyway: rave about Excalibur Dehydrators!
