Tag: cholesterol

Moroccan Spiced Veggie Wrap

As I mentioned in my last post, I am closely watching my cholesterol intake, so I’ve spent many an hour online, researching foods, checking numbers, reading nutrition labels, for foods that I thought I knew all about. When your food goals change overnight it’s like starting at square one. You have to learn your nutrition facts all over again. I’ve been keeping track of how much cholesterol, obviously, but also saturated fat, is

As I mentioned in my last post, I am closely watching my cholesterol intake, so I’ve spent many an hour online, researching foods, checking numbers, reading nutrition labels, for foods that I thought I knew all about. When your food goals change, overnight, it’s like starting at square one. You have to learn your nutrition facts all over again. I’ve been keeping track of how much cholesterol, obviously, but also saturated fat, is in the foods that I consume. I know that I need to eat more grains, less butter, bacon, and cheese (in other words: Life.) but now, I’m concerned with eating too many carbs. Did you know if you eat a half a cup of oatmeal, with a banana sliced on top, that’s 54 carbs? Yikes. That’s before any milk or sweetener! With diabetes woven through the genes, on both sides of my family, I’ve been carefully watching my carbs, for more than a decade. Now, I feel like I can’t eat anything,therefore, I want to eat everything in sight. You know, as soon as you tell yourself you can’t eat something, it becomes the Holy Grail. I’ve been keeping track of my numbers in a food journal, until this all becomes routine. I was feeling quite proud of myself, because I had consumed no cholesterol and very little saturated fat for a few days running. Well, my husband happened by, right at that moment, and oh-so-helpfully pointed out that “if you don’t eat any cholesterol, your body will make it.” Hence, I have no idea what the H-E-Doubles I’m supposed to be eating. Grrrr. The one thing I know I can eat, without concern, is vegetables. I can eat all the vegetables. So, this wrap was dinner, while the boys were eating, can ya guess? It starts with a B and smells like heaven. (At least, my version of heaven…is that weird?) Bacon! BLT wraps. Those little…darlings were eating bacon. In front of me. Again. When I gave him the stink eye, the oldest one,defensively claimed “I’m trying to get it out of here, so it doesn’t keep tempting you!” How kind.

Moroccan spice is very aromatic. Which is why I picked it. Hoping to overpower the ambrosial scent of bacon, wafting through my kitchen, as I was grilling vegetables on my panini maker. On an aside, I wouldn’t actually recommend this. This was done out of desperation, not good sense.

Once I got the squash started, and sprinkled with a little Ras El Hanout, I was starting to feel a little better about my bacon-free, forthcoming wrap. I challenge anyone, to stay cynical, when confronted with the piquant aroma of cumin, cloves, ginger, paprika, cardamom, and coriander and nutmeg meandering through your kitchen. You can buy Ras El Hanout at most grocery stores or make your own. To make your own: Toss a tsp. of each into a mortar and pestle, and mix thoroughly. You can also add, salt, pepper, and turmeric, cinnamon, sugar. Try different combinations and find what you love. To make this wrap, Here’s what you’ll need:

For the filling:

  • Vegetables for grilling (squash, eggplant, potatoes, garlic, onion, leeks)
  • Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
  • Ras El Hanout

Choose an array of vegetables, use whatever you have on hand, brush with olive or avocado oil, arrange on grill (or panini maker;). Grill until tender, then layer on a whole wheat wrap.

If you look closely, under the pile of veggies on this wrap, you may see a weird orange substance sticking out from underneath. You may be thinking: “That looks like cheese!” Busted…sort of. It’s Tofutti Dairy Free Cheese. This was surprisingly good, and meltier than I expected. For those of you thinking “Cheese? With Moroccan spices? That doesn’t work!” I thought that too. Then I thought: “I don’t give a hoot. I haven’t had cheese of any kind in five days. Etiquette be damned. This is about survival, people!”

These two products were a lifesaver.

For the Toppings:

  • Fresh greens for topping wrap (I used Beet Greens)
  • Tomatoes
  • Sprouts (I used, Pea and Leek sprouts)
  • Peppers
  • Silk Almond milk yogurt for dressing
  • More Ras El Hanout for sprinkling on top

Now you just, load up with fresh greens, tomatoes, peppers, drizzle (or glob, like I did here) some silk yogurt for the dressing, sprinkling with a little more Ras El Hanout, top with sprouts and you’re good to go. Then, tuck in the ends and fold over. Plate with some fruit and raw veggies, or seeds, if you’re running out of low cholesterol foods in your house, as well.

I went with cranberries, pomegranate arils, and sprouted pumpkin seeds.

That about wraps it up. Leave us a little feedback, and let us know your opinion. When you give this wrap a go, don’t forget to post on Insta with #canigetaramen. Find us on FB, and Pinterest under Can I Get A Ramen.

Black Bean Smash Burger

There’s a little backstory behind the naming of this burger. Black Bean Smash Burger sounds much lovelier than the “being over 40 sucks, having high cholesterol burger”, or “watching all the boys eat bacon

There’s a little backstory behind the naming of this burger. Black Bean Smash Burger sounds a bit more appetizing than “the being over 40 sucks, having high cholesterol burger”, or “watching all the boys eat bacon cheeseburgers while you are nibbling beans and greens and wishing it was bacon” burger. So, I went with the former. The reason it’s a smash burger is because I was throwing things. (Burgers. Into the pan.) Supremely irate. Today, I found out my cholesterol was high. I was simultaneously gobsmacked, and, truly not all that surprised. But still angry. On one hand, I have not eaten the standard american diet in over 15 yrs. I eat red meat maybe four times a year. I workout regularly. On the other, I drink too much milk, eat too much saturated fat. Alongside that, my father has fought high cholesterol since his early thirties, no matter how healthy his diet. I thought I was doing enough to ward it off for a while longer. Apparently not. Therefore I need to make a few more changes in diet. Add more oats, stop drinking cow’s milk altogether. Luckily, oat milk is having a moment, and is very easy to find. Also cheese. God, I’ll miss cheese. I already eat large quantities of fruits, and vegetables, start my days with smoothies, get to the gym etc. You tend to think of yourself as healthy when you do all of these things. You, maybe, don’t always count the occasional slice, when out shopping with the boys. Hence, when they say “I just want a burger”, I make them a burger. So here I sit, with my beans and green burger, smelling bacon, wanting to smash something, trying to get over it. Enter: this burger.

Where’s the bacon?

Don’t get me wrong, here. I don’t, usually, resent eating black bean burgers. I have scarfed down countless black beans burgers by choice, in the name of better health and just because I love them. I love them. But I feel that choosing a black bean burger, over a bacon cheeseburger, is different if you don’t have to. When you have to, it now feels like deprivation, and I don’t do deprivation. Does that make me perverse? Therefore, if I have to eat a black bean burger, it better be one truly decadent burger. It better have a unique flavor profile, it better be a burger that you can’t get at any fast food joint. In other words, it better be a dang sight better than a bacon cheese burger. This is better. If you find yourself in the same position, you’ll want to give this burger a try. Here’s what you’ll need:

For the Burgers:

  • 1 can of black beans (Organic is best)
  • 1 sweet potato cubed and cooked
  • handful of kale
  • 1 small egg
  • 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs
Appreciate the process. Ewww.

Drain and rinse your black beans and pour in blender, add sweet potato and kale. Blend for 20 seconds or until is mixture is like ground burger. Scoop it out into bowl, then add egg and bread crumbs, Mix thoroughly. Form into a ball and toss into pan, flatten hard, with back of spatula. Cook on each side for about five minutes, or until cooked through.

Toppings: (you can adjust toppings to your own liking, of course)

  • Avocado
  • beet greens
  • kimchi
  • pea sprouts
  • leek sprouts
  • spring onions
  • siracha
  • peppers of your choice (I chose sweet and hot peppers)
  • mongolian bbq
  • drizzle of honey
To your health…

You can customize this burger to your heart’s content. Not into Asian burgers? Try some thing else. Share your results with us:) Don’t forget to post your adaptations on Instagram: #canigetaramen, or leave us a little feedback in the comments, to let us know what you think!