Monday, February 25, 2013

Getting over the flu and vegan peppermint patties (york-a-likes)

The flu sucks =(
Today's weigh in was really drastic from last weeks. I lost 8 lbs from last week. I am now 147.6. I know it is mostly water weight that I lost because the past couple days I have been sick with the flu and really dehydrated. I couldn't keep any food down.  I really need to drink more water. I'm really good about drinking it at the gym but not so much at home. Todd was so nice taking care of me when I was sick. He ran to the store to get me tea, drinks,"chicken" noodle soup, and jello (from the vegan store of course). We pretty much just watched movies on Netflix while I just sweat my fever out in bed. Yesterday and last night was the worst of it but I'm feeling a lot better now and am going to attempt to hit the gym in the AM before work.

                   Vegan Peppermint Patties
           makes 24 patties ( 181 calories per patty)
Last week I gave an experience at my district meeting (weekly Buddhist meeting). Since the women organized that meeting we made sure that there were snacks available to munch on at the end. I knew that one of the women was allergic to gluten I set out to find a gluten free treat. One that that was fairly simple and didn't require me buying a bunch of gluten free flour (since I love my gluten lol). Everyone at the meeting seemed to love them and my gluten free friend was very appreciative. These peppermint patties are pretty rich but really gets that chocolate craving out of the way! They make so many that whatever you have leftover you could just store in your fridge or freezer for a few weeks.
The peppermint filling
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup earth balance margarine, softened
1 tablespoon peppermint extract or peppermint oil
4 cups powdered sugar

The Chocolate shell
12 oz. vegan chocolate chips ( I used ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips)
1-2 tablespoons non dairy milk
1 tablespoon earth balance margarine

1. In a bowl combine syrup, margarine and peppermint: whip with an electric mixer. Add sugar by the cup while mixing. The dough will get a little tough to mix so once mostly incorporated you can just kneed the rest by hand until you have a big ball of white stuff in your bowl.

2. Pick up a small handfull of the dough and roll into a ball then press onto a cookie sheet covered into wax paper until it forms a small round disk shape. Once all the circle shapes are formed place the cookie sheet into the freezer. Freezing the dough helps them keep their shape while dipping into the melted chocolate.

3. To make the chocolate shell.You can either do this in a double boiler or microwave. In this case I used the microwave. I thin the chocolate with milk and margarine so it is not too thick and easier to dip. Take the chocolate chips, nondairy milk and margarine and place into a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave for about 1- 1 1/2 minutes. Stir every 30 seconds to make sure it is evenly melted.

4. Take the peppermint patties out of the freezer and with a large fork dip each patty individually into the melted chocolate and use a spoon to quickly coat and transfer back to the wax paper.

5. Place the patties in the fridge were they will set and stay fresh for a few weeks. I like to wrap them individually in tin foil but that is up to you.