Healthy Christmas-Muesli-Biscuits

As poor running rat is not able to eat 'normal' sweets during christmas time I needed a plan what to do about my addiction to all kind of sweets. I was almost forced to invent those absolutely healthy biscuits. 
                                                     You need:  

100g raisins

100g almonds (minced)

300g oat flakes

100g butter

2 eggs

200g honey

150g spelt flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

                                                        1 teaspoon baking soda
 

Mix oat flakes, raisins and almonds in a bowl. Add also baking soda and cinnamon. Let the butter melt and add. Let the butter cool down while stiring. Also add the honey and the eggs. Add  enough spelt flour to create a homogeneous doug. Form little piles and bake at 150 to 180°C until the biscuits are light brown.

Sorry for your new (but wholesome) addiction!

Healthy Sweets Only

I thought a picture in your mind might be helpful: I took a picture of the variety of sweets that I consider healthy. 

There are all kinds of nuts in the background because nuts have the healthy unsaturated fats. In the middle we have dried apples and bananachips though bananachips are rather an exeption because they they are made with a lot of added fat and sugars (often from honey). Moreover, there is dark chocolate: 99% cacao and organic on the left (and that is really not sweets anymore) and 81% on the right which I really like.

If you want to buy all those nice things it might me adviseable to start looking in a healthy food shop. If you buy them there you can be sure that you buy good stuff without refined sugar. But there are also many supermarkets which have a quite wide range of those good sweets. 

On the other hand, I (running rat's dad) make the dried apples myself. It's easy and you know exactly what they contain. Moreover, they taste just like the ones you just bought for a lot more money than they are worth. It might be as easy to make bananachips but I didn't try (yet).  I used to buy them in a pet shop for my pets until I realized how tasty they were.

When it comes to the chocolate I often buy them in the shop I work in though it is not the same quality than in the healthy food shop. However, it is convenient and cheap.

Although this is an okay range already I still look for other things I might like. I didn't try dates, figs and a lot of other dried fruit yet. But often they do contain stuff I don't want in my food like sorbic acid, sulphur dioxide or other sulphides. These substances are used as antioxidants. Citric acid does the same job though. It is found in limes and lemons. But you an eat the apples just as well if they are not treated with lemon or lime juice. They do get a slightly brown then.

So if you also want to cut back on sweets during christmas, too, try dried fruit and nuts. They are perfect substitutes. I already feel lighter (and lost a whole pound)!

Rats love Avocado!

But not only rats do like avocado also running rats love them.
I must confess that this is a rather new love but that makes it even stronger.
And as I suppose not everybody can use avocados on their menu yet I made up some little pictures with some preparation ideas so you can imagine what nice things you can make out of an avocado and some other vegetables.

If you have one or two really ripe avocados and mash them with a fork you can use them for almost everything. You can add mashed bananas, almonds and honey to get a sweet bread dip for breakfast or you add vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and garlic to have a savoury meal (spices like salt, black pepper or chili are also important!). You can also add sliced avocados to your salad or use them smoothly mixed for a vegan salad dressing. Herbs like parsely and chives also go wonderfully with avocado recipes. Be creative and try out this fruit and you'll discover some new tastes. If you need recipes you might like to try those or those.

If you want to try avocado make sure to buy them one or two days before you prepare the meal. Usually they are not quite ripe enough to mash them easily when you just bought them.

According to a highly valued page avocado is relatively high in energy and (saturated) fats but it also contains a moderate amount of magnesium which is very important for running rats. Moreover, avocado contains vitamins C, E, K, B6 and folate. If you add other fruit and veg you have a very wholesome and additionally, satisfying meal. Avocado tastes wonderful with bread or as a dip for other vegetables or bread sticks which makes it a perfect party snack. If you like butter you'll also love avocado. Give it a try!