Cinnamon Apple Chips

One of the most difficult things for me to give up when I switched to Paleo is nacho cheese Doritos. Yes, they are my guilty pleasure. Last night there was a bag of them that would not get off my back. Like at all. The sat in the corner screaming at me. Try as I might, I could not stay away. I am totally the victim here. But I tell you what, I am sure regretting it. My body is obviously pretty pissed at me today.

But I'm a snacky kind of person. I like snacking. There aren't a lot of low-cal paleo snacks out there. In the past when I wanted something just to nibble on I'd go for Quaker Pops. They offered sweet and savory (my favorites were the caramel and the cheddar), but those have so many chemicals in them I just can't justify them anymore - especially the cheddar with all that sodium.

I used to not be able to live without my food dehydrator. I was constantly making jerky. When I found out about some of the food allergies, though, that negated many of the jerky mixes I had. So, the poor little food dehydrator got sent to the back of the storage closed.

I found a new use for it yesterday, though, and it got to come out and play. Of course, I got to pull out my trusty mandolin, too. I highly recommend using a mandolin for this task, as you absolutely want the apple slices uniform. If they're not, they won't dehydrate evenly and you're going to have to mess with them constantly, removing them a few at a time as they finish. If they're completely uniform, though, you can just turn it on and walk away, coming back only to check periodically.

If you don't have a dehydrator you can use a very low temperature in the oven, but you'll have to watch them closely and flip them. You don't need any added sugar or added anything - just a little sprinkling of cinnamon. Three apples filled all the trays in my dehydrator and made two good sized snack bags.

Ingredients:
3 apples (I used Fuji)
Cinnamon

Directions:
Use a mandolin to slice the apples very thin. I set mine at 1/16th inch. Not paper thin, but almost. Arrange in a single layer on dehydrator trays. Hold trays over the sink and lightly sprinkle cinnamon over slices. Let run in the dehydrator for 3-4 hours. Go for a little less time if you want them slightly tacky (dried fruit consistency) or a little longer if you want them ultra crispy, like chips.

Store in an airtight bag for up to a week.