Eggplant Roll ups, Liquid Gold Elixir, Lydia's Organics copycat bars, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Cookies

Another beautiful day here in Northern California! I went for a run this morning with my running buddies. I ran 14 miles and the first seven were uphill, that was my first time running uphill for that long. I am used to doing rolling hills, you know, a little up, a little down, then do it over and over. The rolling hills are so much easier because you actually get to recover a little. The seven miles back downhill was a treat!

Today I have eaten...

Protein shake before my run made with a banana, protein powder and a tablespoon of almond butter.

After my run I had a tall glass of Green Lemonade and some mixed fruit drizzled with cinnamon honey. I used a banana (love bananas!) a mandarin orange, a couple strawberries, and a nectarine. Yum! The cinnamon honey rocks!

For lunch I made a green salad with lettuce, asparagus, carrots, cucumber, some of the thai curry tofu from last night, and drizzled with Natalia Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir salad dressing made of...

1 cup lemon juice

tablespoon garlic

tablespoon ginger 

3 tablespoons Nama Shoya

1 tablespoon raw honey

3/4 cup olive oil

It makes a big amount, so I store it in a mason jar and use it all week.

I used the same dressing to marinate some thinly sliced eggplant and mushrooms and have then warming in the dehydrator.

Here they are all nice, soft and warm...

I spread some pesto on each piece of eggplant, topped with a mushroom...

And rolled them up into little logs. Perfect snack!

Mackenzie and I watched a movie in the late afternoon and I snacked on some nuts while she enjoyed a bag of popcorn.

I started a few things in the dehydrator. I am making raw chocolate chip cookies, which I threw together a recipe based on the ingredients in the cookies I bought from One Lucky Duck, but with several tweaks. I used....

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

1 tablesspoon vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup cocoa nibs

a little less than 1/4 cup agave nectar

I blended the almond meal and buckwheat groats in a food processor then added the agave nectar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. I stirred in the cocoa nibs by hand and dropped the dough by the teaspoon full onto my nonstick dehydrator sheets. I have then dehydrating at 105 and will remove them when dry on the outside but still chewy inside. 

I also started some more of my copycat Lydia's Organic's bars  but added a couple strawberries and a heaping tablespoon of hemp seeds. I dehydrate these at 105 until totally dry. 

The mixture...

On the sheet...

Remember to score it into bars after about 4 or 5 hours. 

Just for fun... a picture of Mackenzie with the Easter Bunny on Saturday. 

So nice to finally have her not be TERRIFIED of the bunny like she used to be!