I never imagined that it would be something that I use so much, but we’ve got this thing running at least three days a week! We’ve been trying to eliminate junk food from our diets and my dehydrator has become my secret weapon. My kids LOVE dehydrated fruit and kale chips. The stuff we make in the dehydrator is so much better than what we can buy at the grocery store and much more affordable (especially in the quantities we eat!).

The reason I bought the dehydrator though, is so I could get into making backpacking food. Dal was what I was most excited to try dehydrating, and I’m so happy with how it turns out. In this recipe, I add sweet potatoes and some kale for an extra boost of nutrition, because I always feel like we’re lacking veggies on the trail.

Before you dehydrate this, make sure that the sweet potatoes are broken down enough so that there aren’t huge chunks of them in your dal. If you start with a small enough dice, they should break down pretty quickly, but if it seems like the dal is pretty chunky anyway, you can mash it up a bit with a potato masher. This will prevent chewy bites of sweet potato in your rehydrated dal.

When the dal is dehydrated, it will be crumbly. You can just throw it in a bag. Don’t worry about breaking it up in small pieces or blending it.

If you’re car camping, you don’t have to dehydrate this. You can make it at camp or even make it at home ahead of time and freeze it. Then use it as an ice pack in your cooler for the first day or two of your trip.

We look forward to Sunday Funday all week so we can eat french fries and drink beer. Lately, though, I’ve found myself accidentally migrating to the kitchen for a salad or a handful of blueberries. I have to stop myself and say “no! you can’t have those things on Sunday!” I guess if you’re consistent and you put a lot of focus into your goal at first, it really can become habit and be easy to continue.

One thing I read recently was that the pain or difficulty that comes with anything new (quitting smoking, eating healthy, running farther than ever before) comes only in waves. When that wave comes up and hits you, don’t quit, because you know that it will pass. And the more waves you work through, the shorter and easier the next ones will be- until eventually, maybe they’ll go away forever. I have been getting a lot of side stitches since I started running (always at the 30 minute mark), and I’ve thought about this wave thing each time and been able to run through them. They really do go away.

I ran the LA Kings 5K on Saturday. I’d never done an organized race before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was pouring rain and freezing, of course, but I kept a good attitude and ended up having a lot of fun. I did it in 26:45, placed 209 out of 690, but I didn’t beat Daryl Evans. He’s the ex-Kings player that ran the event. I had him in my sights the entire race, but his pace was just a bit faster than mine. I also didn’t really know how to pace myself, and I got really confused about the distance left throughout the race. Hopefully my monster watch will help me out next time. Overall, it was a blast and I can’t wait to race again! If anyone has any advice for a marathoner like me, I’d love to hear it.

I’m hoping to do most of my long runs on weekends in beautiful locations, so I’ll be cooking a lot of good post-workout meals camping. Here’s a great one that can be pre-assembled and doesn’t require a lot of dishes afterwards, allowing you plenty of rest next to your campfire.