If you love veggie eggrolls, but are looking for a healthier way to prepare them, rather than deep frying, I have just the recipe for you.

Have you ever tasted baked eggrolls?

Well, I baked mine, and everyone just loved them.

They are very tasty.  Lots of flavor in the filling.  The wrappers are quite crispy, but not  “greasy” crispy,  thus much healthier for you, so you can enjoy them guilt free!

I read several different recipes, and created one to fit my taste.

I used regular green cabbage for the filling, and low sodium soy sauce for dipping.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 2/3 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh onions, or chives
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (check out my nifty garlic-zoom)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 14 eggroll wrappers (or more, depending on the amount of filling you use)

Dipping Sauce:

• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 6 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 2 Tbs. sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

Directions:

1. Heat up a medium saucepan on stove top with 2 Tbs. of olive oil.
2. Add chopped onions, and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add chopped garlic, and saute 1 minute.
4. Add shredded cabbage and carrots, and cook until wilted.
5. Season with soy sauce, sugar, ginger and pepper.
6. Set aside to cool off slightly.
7. Using cooking spray, grease the bottom of a baking dish, and set aside.
8. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
9. Place eggroll wrapper on a work surface, in a diamond shape.
10. Place 2-3 Tbs. of filling on an eggroll wrap, about 1/2 inch away from the lower corner.
11. Fold the corner over the filling, then fold left and right sides towards the middle, as if making an envelope.
12. Gently holding down all these corners with your fingers, roll the enclosed filling toward the top corner of the wrapper, until fully wrapped.
13. Place the wrapped eggroll, seam down, on the prepared baking dish.
14. Continue same process with the remaining wrappers, until all filling is used up.
15. Lightly spray the tops of eggrolls with cooking spray, or brush gently with olive oil.
16. Bake uncovered for 18 minutes, or until golden brown (I could have baked mine a little longer, for a crispier top).
17. Enjoy with the soy dipping sauce, or create your own.
18. To make the dipping sauce, place all ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well with a whisk ,or beat it with a fork.

Enjoy, and share your comments, please.

Someone shared this with me via email, so I instantaneously decided to share it with all of you to have a good laugh.

After all ” laughter is the best medicine”.

Enjoy!

Love this Chinese Doctor!

Q:   Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A:   Heart only good for so many beats, and that it… Don’t waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.

Q:   Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A:   Oh no. Wine made from fruit. Fruit very good. Brandy distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Grain good too. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two body, your ratio two to one.

Q:   What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A:   Can’t think of one, sorry. My philosophy: No pain…good!

Q:   Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A:   YOU NOT LISTENING! Food fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetable be bad?

Q :   Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A:   Oh no! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q:   Is swimming good for your figure?
A:   If swimming good for figure, explain whale to me.

Q:   Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A:   Hey! ‘Round’ is shape!

Well… I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – chardonay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”

AND…..

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1.   The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Brits.

2.   The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Brits.

3.   The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Brits.

4.   The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Brits.

5.   The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Brits.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like.

Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

One might think that I am getting carried away with baking for pets, but since I do not have my own dog, and Roxy is only visiting for a while, I have to try all these treats while she is here.

In case you missed my previous posts, I posted a recipe for the following dog treats:

    Whole Wheat and Bacon

  Whole Wheat and Peanut Butter

So, this is only my third post.  I would not consider this as “going overboard”, would you?

These Whole Wheat with Carrots and Banana are very healthful treats, also found online, and listed on my Pinterest board titled “TCL for Pets.

Looks can sometimes be deceiving, such as in this case, as these treats turned out looking like chicken tenders, rather than carrot and banana.  Don’t you think so?

The batter was too soft to roll out, so I tried my best to spoon it into the bone shaped biscuit cutter.

My daughter’s dog visits me fairly often as well.  Her name is Bridgette.  She is an American Bulldog, but she is on a diet, so I limit her treats….but I will definitely take some over to her on my next visit.

This recipe yields 40 treats.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat flour (I used unbleached white, since I ran out of whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 2 cup  fresh carrots, grated
• 2 fresh bananas, mashed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup milk (I used low fat)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl add egg, oil, water and milk.
2. Mix to incorporate.
3. Mix in mashed banana, and carrots.
4. Gradually add flour and oatmeal.
5. Mix to form dough.
6. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out treats (this dough was too soft to roll out, so I used a spoon to fill up a cookie cutter, placed on a greased baking sheet)
7. Place treats on a greased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
9. Turn off the heat, but leave the baked good in the oven for another 45 minutes, to crisp up.
10. Cool off completely.
11. Store in a ziplock bag, enough treats to last one week, and freeze the rest in a freezer bag, to preserve freshness.

Now you have three wonderfully simple recipes for baking fresh “gourmet” treats for your dog, and make him feel special.

You can also make these as Christmas gifts for your family’s and friends’ pets, and save lots of money.

If you have other pet treats recipes, please share them with all of us.   Thank you.

Peanut Butter and Jelly is a favorite kid’s sandwich, but peanut butter flavored treats, are dog’s best friend.

I found this recipe online, pinned it on my “TLC for Pets” board on Pinterest (click here), and made a batch of these treats for Roxy (my son’s dog).

Roxy is easy to bake for, because she LOVES everything I make for her (hopefully I am not spoiling her too much…???).  She did not even care that these were in a shape of a Christmas Cookie, rather than a bone.

These treats are great, since they require all the natural ingredients one would use to bake cookies, without sugar and butter of course, which makes them even healthier for your pet.

This recipe yields 30 treats.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oatmeal (I used Quick Oats)
• 1/8 cup coconut, unsweetened
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (preferably organic)
• 1/2 cup milk (I used low fat)
• 1 Tbs. Olive oil
• 1 Tbs. unsweetened apple sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients on a medium bowl, and mix around to incorporate evenly.
2. Add in all remaining wet ingredients, and mix well to form a dough.
3. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out treats.
4. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
5. Cool completely.
6. Store covered, in a cool dry place, or in the fridge. You can also freeze these for freshness, and later use.

I never thought I would be baking for pets, but here I am, making treats for my kid’s dogs.

It all started by finding doggie treats pictures on Pinterest (click here to view my board pictures) and pinning them on my Pet TLC board.

Also, being as frugal as I am , I decided to try making some for our family dogs.

My son’s dog Roxy was visiting us for few weeks, so instead of buying special treats for her, I whipped up a fresh batch of Bacon Dog Biscuits, and plan to try other recipes in the future.

Believe me, I was a little skeptical about this experiment, but figured if others make these for their dogs, then it should be safe for our dog.

I had all the necessary ingredients at home, so there was no stopping me from this project.  Roxy had her nose up in the air the whole time these treats were baking, and filling up my kitchen with the bacon aroma.

She absolutely LOVES them.  These are so easy to make.  Very fresh,  made with all wholesome ingredients (good enough to sample by humans… that is if my little grandson were to grab one by accident. I definitely would not feel the same way about the manufactured ones).

Also not to mention the savings, by not driving to the pet store to purchase some there (who knows how long ago they were made, and under what conditions…maybe even in some foreign country….), plus they are not cheap by any means.

This recipe yields 30 biscuits, about 4 x 1 1/2 inches.

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk ( I used skim)
• 1/2 cup water
• 5 Tbs bacon fat (I saved the fat from frying up 1/2 lbs of bacon for our breakfast) see TIP below.
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used unbleached)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix the egg with milk and water, until incorporated.
2. Mix in bacon fat.
3. Gradually mix in the whole wheat flour, until dough forms.
4. Work the dough a little (2 minutes), on a working surface.
5. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out biscuits (I don’t have special dog treat cut outs, so I used medium size gingerbread woman cookie cutter).
6. Repeat the process until all dough is used up.
7. Please biscuits on a greased cookie sheet.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F, for 35 minutes.
9. Cool completely.
10. Store in an airtight container, or a zip-lock bag for a week, or pack in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months.

I have few other homemade dog treats recipes to share, so stay tuned.

TIP:  If you do not have bacon fat, you can always use oil, or some bacon fat and some oil.