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cookies and blt’s

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Jen

Bet you never thought I’d write a post about BLT’s, huh?  Well, in place of bacon, I used my dehydrated eggplant bacon!

Eggplant Bacon

from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney

Ingredients:

  • 1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1/2 dried chipotle chile, soaked at least 2 hours – omitted because I didn’t have any!
  • 1/2 cup soaking water from the chipotle peppers – omitted, and added a little water instead
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons nama shoyu
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • pinch black pepper
  • pinch cayenne

Directions:


Cut the eggplant in half, then slice thinly to make ‘bacon’ strips.



Sprinkle it with the sea salt and allow to sit for 1-2 hours on paper towels.


In the mean time, blend all of the other ingredients in your high speed blender or food processor.


Press our the extra moisture in your eggplant by blotting it with extra paper towels.


Then, submerge the eggplant in the marinade and let sit 30-45 minutes.




Carefully lay out the eggplant strips onto your dehydrator and dehydrate at 115°F until crispy (mine took about 14 hours – I put it on before I went to bed, and it was done mid-morning).




13.5 hours later, my eggplant bacon was crispy and done!


It tasted great!  Definitely not like real bacon, although I probably haven’t had that in at least 10 years!  It was crispy and the flavor was great, so I’m glad I used the marinade!


To make our BLT’s for dinner, I took 2 slices of sprouted grain bread and toasted them, then spread a thin layer of mustard on each.

I layered the toast with green leaf lettuce, yellow tomatoes and eggplant bacon.


After the sandwich was put together, I put it on our grill pan to press it a little bit.


Yummy!  The eggplant bacon was crispy enough that it really did remind me of real bacon, besides the flavor.  But, then again, I used to eat BLT’s because I liked the crunch, so this works just fine for me!



I served our sandwiches with a side of zucchini and kale chips, which I dipped in ketchup!


Yesterday morning, I took my zucchini chips out of the dehydrator after 9.5 hours!  Here is how they turned out:




They were crispy, just like chips!  I liked the flavor better dipped in ketchup, so next time I will use some kind of seasoning before dehydrating.  I’m thinking even italian seasoning would be delicious!

For dessert I made some Super Charge Me cookies from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.

Super Charge Me Cookies

adapted from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan

makes 12 ‘ice cream scoop’ sized cookies


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quick oats (i used rolled oats)
  • 2/3 cup spelt flour (i used whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (i used 1/2 tsp)
  • 1/8 cup unsweetened coconut (i used 1/4 cup)
  • 1/4-1/3 cup raisins or other dried fruit ( i used 1/3 cup raisins)
  • 3-4 tbsp carob (to be vegan) or chocolate chips (i used 4 tbsp dark chocolate chunks)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup flax meal
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp almond butter (i used Futter’s Almond Haze)
  • 1.5 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp canola oil (i used coconut oil)

Mix all of the ingredients together, scoop with an ice cream scoop and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350°F for 13 minutes.

I took my cookies out after exactly 13 minutes, and they were perfect.  Enjoy!!

These cookies were great.  It will be my new go-to cookie for awhile now.  They are extremely east to make, and I normally have all of the ingredients in my pantry!

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Filed under: Cookbooks, Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , , , , , | 8 Comments »

healthy and fitness laps of the week – eating out & workouts

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Jen

Healthy Lap of the Week – Be Smart while Eating Out

Eating out is a huge social event in America.  Many times, when you get together with friends or family it involves some type of food.  It can be difficult to eat at restaurants, or even at someone else’s house, when you are trying to eat healthy or loose a few pounds, but there are always healthy meals to be found!  Here are my 5 tips for eating out:

  1. Look over the menu to see your options.  You want to look for meals that are baked, steamed, grilled or poached.  Try to stay away from anything pan-fried or sauteed, as that usually means that they are using lots of extra oils.  If there is nothing on the menu that jumps out at you, just ask your server.
  2. Skip the bread basket.  It is very tempting when a basket of warm, freshly baked bread gets put right in front of you.  Ask the server to take it away, or ask your friends to keep it away from you!  A few pieces or bread with butter really adds up.
  3. Ask your server if you can substitute extra veggies or salad instead of au-gratin potatoes, mashed potatoes or french fries.  Normally they will be happy to do so.
  4. Ask for any dressings on the side!  This includes salad dressings and gravies.
  5. Stick to a normal portion!  Most restuarant meals are 2, 3 or even 4 servings!  Split up your meal, and take home your leftovers for another meal.

Now, I do not eat out a lot, but when I do I try to stick to healthier options.  However, there are sometimes when I just want to eat food that is bad for me!  This is ok every once in awhile.  If you deprive yourself too much, you’ll just end up craving it more later on.  Normally, if I order an unhealthy dinner, I don’t take the extras for leftovers!!  If I do overindulge at dinner, I just get back on track the next day with my healthy eating – no big deal!

Fitness Lap of the Week – Workout with Friends!

I watched a Lifetime move last night (I love them! :)) and it was about 3 friends who made a pact to workout together.  They all wanted to lose weight and shape up, but they did not think that they could do it alone.  They were each responsible for weekly weigh-ins and to document their food for the day.  They were each others support system.

If you do not think that you can get in shape by yourself, then ask your friends to do it with you!  You are much more likely to get a workout in and eat healthy if you are meeting someone for a run or walk, or if you are accountable for what you eat.  Instead of meeting a friend for dinner, meet them for a walk to chat!  You will find that after your workout you want to eat healthy and you’ll both feel better about yourself!

Filed under: Laps of the Week, Uncategorized | Tagged: | 1 Comment »