Burgers, Fries, and Balls

I’ve had a lot of balls this week!

The last ball I rolled (center) got a few too many chips! lol I still had a few leftover from the last batch, so I just stored them together. I think refrigerating them gives them a better texture.

This time I went with a mix of butterscotch + chocolate chips and cashews instead of macadamia nuts.

Butterscotch + Chocolate Chip Oat Balls

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 100g pitted dates
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1-2 TBSP water

In food processor or blender, add in cashews and grind until nut butter consistency. Transfer into bowl scraping the container thoroughly, then add in dates and process until paste forms; add to bowl, then process oats until flour is made. Mix all ingredients together in bowl, then fold in chips. Hand roll balls and refrigerate to set.

Makes 12-14 balls

There’s a few different ways to go about making them, so depending on the texture you are going for, you can process the ingredients at the same time or in any order you like. The most important part is the dates that bind them together, so you want this to be pasty. Loved the addition of butterscotch chips! YUM! Imagine how difficult these were to make and set aside until your fast is over!! LOL Then again, I’d have a hard time resisting them when I’m not even hungry. They’re so delish!

But good things come to those who wait…

Turkey burger stuffed with goat cheese, Yukon Gold Skin-On French fries cooked in Spectrum organic palm oil shortening, and side salad with Lindsay low sodium black olives, extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar

Sprinkled with Lo Salt (160mg sodium per 1.4 g serving). I ordered 4 (24oz) tubs of Spectrum organic vegetable shortening (100% organic palm oil) from Amazon the other day, so when it arrived, I knew I had to fry something!

(Parboiled for 5 minutes; deep fried at 350F degrees for 5 minutes after draining water off of parboiled potatoes. Remove from oil and drain on plate lined with paper towel.)

Heinz no salt added ketchup —tastes just like the original!

Turkey burger on an Ezekiel sprouted grain roll (170 cal)

So. DELICIOUS!! I could barely finish the turkey burger, but somehow I managed. Unfortunately, the dry turkey breast absorbed the goat cheese, so it was barely noticeable. I probably cooked it a little too well-done, I have an irrational fear of under-cooked poultry. In theory the burger would have been oozing with cheese. Maybe I’ll get it better next time.

I did an extra long 21-hour  fast yesterday to adjust my eating window to a better time of day. I’m really not THAT hungry until around 15-16 hours into it. I’m usually preoccupied with work and other things during the day, so most of the time I don’t even feel like I haven’t eaten in awhile, I mainly feel indifferent toward my appetite. It’s usually not until I have time to think about it that I realize that I’m hungry. I guess you get used to it more and more. A 113-year-old Walter Breuning shared similar sentiments in an interview back in 2009:

Two-meal diet aids in oldest man’s longevity

By Sydne George, Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — So what does the world’s oldest man eat? The answer is not much, at least not too much.

Walter Breuning, who turned 113 on Monday, eats just two meals a day and has done so for the past 35 years.

“I think you should push back from the table when you’re still hungry,” Breuning said.

At 5 foot 8, (“I shrunk a little,” he admitted) and 125 pounds, Breuning limits himself to a big breakfast and lunch every day and no supper.

Continue reading…

Sounds like a 16 to 18-hour daily fast to me? I love reading anecdotes from people who have lived long, healthy lives. I feel that observing real life experience from our senior generation is infinitely better than limited studies conducted by the scientific community. Sometimes hearing tales of longevity are more telling and inspirational than what science has to offer in this department. Do you know someone who has lived a very long and healthy life? Share your stories about them! I’d love to hear them.

Tagged as: burgers, burgers and fries, deep frying, fries, Heinz no salt added ketchup, intermittent fasting, Lindsay low sodium olives, palm oil, potatoes, Spectrum vegetable shortening, turkey burger