A few years ago we "splurged" and bought a food dehydrator. Turns out, it really wasn't a splurge at all, since it's more than paid for itself.

We have an apple tree in the backyard that produces more apples than we can use before they spoil. Given that scenario, you'd think we could dry them and use them over the winter, but once they're dried, they seem to magically disappear. The drying process enhances the flavors, but what I didn't realize BD (Before Dehydrator) is that freshly dried apples taste radically different than ones that were dried months before -- like the ones you typically buy in the store. No wonder they disappear so quickly.

We also use the dehydrator to dry fruits that are close to going over the edge in our fruit bowl. One of the favorites is bananas. In our house, once bananas turn a certain shade of more-brown-than-yellow, no one here will eat them (and you only need so much banana bread in the freezer). That's the perfect time to slice them and put them into the dehydrator. The almost-wasted bananas become yet another treat that flies out of our pantry.

All-in-all, at under $45, this piece of kitchen wizardry is well worth the price.

Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator is available at Amazon.com

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