Testimony of the Day
“Hi Maria, I have read ALL the diet books, I’ve done LOTS of different diets, LOTS. I understood each diet’s CONCEPTS, but never understood the science UNTIL I met Maria Emmerich! I was eating arugula, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, Ezekial bread, nuts and seeds and on and on, you name it, if we were suppose to eat it, I ate it, including grass fed grass finished beef and I still couldn’t keep the weight off! I could lose weight but I have never been able to maintain it. AND, I would never lose everything I needed to lose.
Now I understand some of the science thanks to Maria, and what IS affecting my chemistry, and I will continue to be a STUDENT with her daily BLOG’S etc.! Before I had a consultation and worked with Maria for 6 weeks, I had been introduced to Maria’s BLOG by an acquaintance almost a year prior. I read, read, read her BLOGS etc. and also bought ALL of her books except the children’s one at that time. That was a year ago. I started to incorporate her recommendations in to my life, food wise, and even some of the supplements she recommends, and I actually still wasn’t loosing. I mentioned this to the acquaintance who introduced me to Maria’s BLOG and she theorized that maybe there is something, supplement wise, that Maria could zero in on that would help me loose and maintain, or that maybe I am still doing something wrong, meaning eating something wrong.
WELL, after working with Maria for 6 weeks I think she has zero’d in on the culprit, dairy!!!! Also, I was, occasionally, eating the Trader Joe’s sprouted grain bread, so between that and the occasional dairy, we are on to something VERY important for me. I am only getting detailed and personal to help you understand that Maria KNOWS HER STUFF! Maria is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who could/would/and did tailor her services to ME, and for ME! Getting back to ALL the books I have read and diets I have done, I have never read one or talked to anyone who can and does explain the science like Maria does, plus I understand it at the same time!!
I am just mad that I didn’t hear about Maria sooner because it could have saved me a lot of money and time AND wear and tear on my body!!! Do what she says as she knows what she is talking about!!! I am just at the early/beginning stage of my journey with Maria, I am running up and down the stairs in my home where before I had to hold on because of the pain, my CRAVINGS are GONE but the fact that I can have something sweet and delicious, “healthified”, while losing weight is a Godsend to me!! The best part is that I don’t even crave anything anymore!! I AM A STUDENT FOR LIFE and will also try to be a TEACHER of Maria’s way and live by example to all my precious children and grandchildren!!! Thank you Maria for ALL that you do and DID for me!! Mary Ellen
To get started like Mary did, click HERE.
I made this for a company that I spoke at. Out of the 250 samples I gave away, only 2 people guessed the secret ingredient!
Rhubarb Bread Pudding:
2 cups eggplant, peeled
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup Rhubarb (optional), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup erythritol (or Swerve)
1 tsp stevia glycerite (omit if using Swerve)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut eggplant into 1 inch pieces and place in an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter over eggplant (add rhubarb if using). Bake for 15 minutes or until soft and drain an extra liquid.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, almond milk, sweetener, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over eggplant, and lightly push down with a fork until eggplant is covered and soaking up the egg mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.
Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream (sweetened with a drop of stevia glycerite)
Nutritional Comparison:
Store Bought Bread Pudding (per SERVING)= 642 calories, 31g fat, 7g protein, 84 carbs, 2 fiber (82g effective carbs)
Eggplant Bread Pudding (for WHOLE BATCH) = 588 calories, 47g fat, 26.5g protein, 17.5g carbs, 8.7g fiber (8.8g effective carbs)
Eggplant Bread Pudding (per serving, serves 8) = 74 calories, 5.9g fat, 3.3g protein, 2.2 carb, 1.1g fiber (1.1g effective carbs)
I know eventually I will be able to figure the conversion on my own, but I need a substitution for The Truvia. I have Stevia Extract (powdered), Stevia Glycerite, and Xylitol, what would you recommend? Thanks Maria! We love your recipes and are excited to enjoy this delicacy tonight!
All fixed Molly! I hope you enjoy!:)
Made this today and it turned out beautifully! SO delicious! I didn’t have vanilla almond milk so I used mostly coconut milk mixed with a little raw cows milk. What a yummy healthy treat! Bravo Maria 🙂
Thanks Jenni! I love how you are trying so many new recipes! Keep it up;)))
Making your moussaka tomorrow! And plan on trying your Faux-tatos very soon as well… Your recipes are fantastic keep em coming!
Made this tonight. Yum! So happy with how it turned out. Thank you Jenni for all of your wonderful wonderful recipes! Your site is one of my absolute favorites. I love coming here and trying out all your great recipes!
Thanks! Glad you liked it. 🙂
Hi Maria – Do you need to salt the eggplant (to get rid of bitterness) prior to using in this recipe?
Nope, it is not needed. Thanks! 🙂
Mine had pools of liquid floating on top when I pulled it out…
Desserts don’t get any better than when you can get some veggies in at the same time, can’t wait to try this out since bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts 🙂
Eggplant?!! Okay, this is just too weird. I MUST try this. I love eggplant, but never had it in a “sweet” dish before. I’m intrigued! Thanks for another inventive recipe. 🙂
Thanks! I love how versatile eggplant it (fries, french toast, this…) 🙂
Since eggplant is a nightshade, is it true it may inflame arthritis? I have always stayed away 🙁 and I don’t eat tomatoes except rare occasion either. Is there like a “meter” for these things, like is one nightshade worse or better than the other as far as inflammation goes?
Yes, if you have issues with arthritis I recommend to my clients to avoid eggplant. The worst nightshade is tobacco.
I don’t smoke. At least that’s one! Is there anything else I could make eggplant recipes with? A neutral-tasting firm squash? There are so many yummy-looking recipes for eggplant.
Sorry, can’t think of one off the top of my head. I’ll let you know if I do. 🙂
Chayote?
I found you via HLH2 and I am so impressed with your site! Wow! Love it & must put you on my blogroll!!!
Thank you! 🙂
could you do this the jicama?
It would have more of an apple taste and texture than bread, but you could give it a try! 🙂
Hi Maria, when you say “Pour over eggplant, and lightly push down with a fork until eggplant is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.” you do that for a little while don’t you? it seems my eggplants didn’t soak any of the egg (my cubes were a lot smaller too, about half an inch… and it ended up looking like a sweet omelet at the bottom with cubes of eggplant floating on top. I could taste the eggplant a lot more than I thought I should. Might salt and rinse next time? What do you think? (also might avoid the itchy roof of the mouth I get?). DH liked it though, more than me. 🙁
Hi France. Maybe try a shallower and wider pan? Or try stirring it a couple times during the baking. Happy baking! 🙂
I’ll try both! Thank you.
In my experience an itchy mouth usually means allergies so be careful about eating eggplant!
I made this yesterday but with only 1 cup of almond milk. I could see that if I used the full 2 cups that I would have ended up with something as you described.
I’ve had the pudding in the oven for an hour and a half and a third of the eggplant is still very firm. I’m not sure what i’ve done wrong. I used xylitol as my sweetener and subbed in coconut milk instead of almond milk.
Hmm, those subs shouldn’t have made a difference. In the first step, when you cook the eggplant, was it soft at that point?
Well Maria I have been thinking about this for awhile. I made this bread pudding and it was great, even my mum loved it! SO, now … I was thinking about stuffing? Ya maybe eggplant stuffing! So am going to make Christmas stuffing with the idea coming from your bread pudding! Sausage, onions, celery, spices, herbs, chicken stock… I will let you know. I bet it works.
Thx for the idea.
Seasons Greetings,
Sula
That’s a great idea! Let me know how it works out. 🙂
Today is my xmas as I have to work tommorow. So, the “stuffing”.
I made it in a slowcooker. Cooked it for about 6 hrs. it was too moist, so put it in the oven for about an hour. As a side dish it’s great… as stuffing, not so much. It is still too “vegetably” and not “bready” enough. BUT, it was a great experiment. Am thinking if you used a low carb bread, AND eggplant it might be just right.
Thank you for all the recipes, and ideas.
Seasons greetings to you and yours!
Sula
At least it worked as a side. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
I got around to making your “french toast” recipe and with the remaining eggplant I made the bread pudding. I enjoyed it. It was the FIRST time I had ever had eggplant so I didn’t know what to expect. I will definitely make it again!!
I just read the part about arthritis (which I do have) so I’m hoping it won’t be a problem. Thanks again for all your recipes etc…
Thanks! 🙂
I have never liked eggplant all that much, but I am excited to find dishes that I will enjoy it in. Thank you for this blog! I was inspired to eat differently after stumbling across your site, but also discouraged feeling it would be too difficult and expensive. I have slowly been doing some things differently and have decided to jump in with both feet. I ordered 3 of your books today! I have a question. I just bought a huge thing of pure stevia extract (nunaturals nustevia concentrate) and was wondering if that measures the same as the glycerite in your recipes? I have so much that I want to be able to use that up before trying a new stevia. Thanks again!
Christina
Thank you Christina! I am not sure about the nustevia. Do you have my “The Art of Healthy Eating – sweets” book? I have a conversion chart in there for sweeteners. I usually do 1 tsp stevia glycerite and 1 cup erythritol for each cup sugar replacement. 🙂
I do not have the Sweets book yet, sadly! I bought the metabolism one, the cravings one and the savory cookbook… It may be a bit of time before I can purchase anymore. I am tethering my husbands patience on a thin string with my new foods and purchases. I did get some erythritol to mix with the stevia I have and will probably have to play around a little bit with it. I did make the apple bundt cake and definately put too much stevia!It was still good, I just made a more mello icing with another recipe and it helped it to be edible! I want to try it again though, because I could tell it would be super yummy if made it with less stevia. The NuNaturals isn’t bitter but very, very concentrated, so easy to overdo it.
Thanks for all of your help!
Christina
I had the same problem as France. Doubled the recipe and used an oval dish that was too deep. I took your suggestion to stir a couple times during baking. What happened was the custard separated from the eggpant juices and it ended up having a watery consistency. Next time I will used a bigger shallower dish or 2 8 x 8 dishes and let it set up properly. The flavor, I must say, was good. The eggpant was nicely masked. Truth is, I’m going for seconds!
I made this and it tastes great but ended up really watery. I think that I will salt and drain it next time, as well as reducing the almond milk a bit, to make it less liquidy and will make sure to use a shallower dish as the one I used was too deep.
Mine ended up being very watery too! And doesn’t really taste like bread pudding, so not really my idea of a good sub for bread pudding. I was soooo hoping it would be.
I added some extra instructions and reduced the almond milk above. Hope this works better for you. 🙂
this dessert is incredible! I’ve always loooved bread pudding, and when i saw this recipe it seemed the strangest thing in the world to use aubergines for a sweet dish but my oh my! it’s soo delicious! i’ve no idea how you could even think up such an incredible recipe. Hats off to you, maria!
Awe, thank you! 🙂
I wish I could have eggplants! do you think it would work with zucchinis?
You might have to cook them or steam a bit prior to soften them up more. But it might work. 🙂
Hey! I made this recipe today. It is FANTASTIC! I read all the comments above before I dove in. Mine turned out great. One thing I did differently ~ I baked the eggplant and butter for closer to 20 minutes (to soften it a bit more). When I removed the eggplant from the oven, I removed it from the pan, dumped it onto a plate with paper towels and SQUEEZED it (pressed on it) very hard so it would release ALL the water. There was A LOT of water! Once I was done, I put the (now mushed) eggplant back into the baking dish and poured the egg mixture on top. The eggplant mostly floated in the mixture, but apparently that wasn’t a problem. After baking for 45 minutes, it was fluffy and the knife came out clean. I let it rest for about 25 minutes and ate a piece. It was FANTASTIC. I just wanted to share the bit about squeezing the eggplant to get rid of the moisture. That worked very well! Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I love baked goods and I miss them…and because of you, I no longer have to! XOXO
Thanks!
I made it last night… It was very pretty coming out of the oven. The taste, however, was very blah. Just this wet mush 🙁 I was so disappointed. Perhaps the comment above from Eleen is right – i should’ve squeezed the heck out of that baked eggplant before pouring egg-mixture over it.
Any thoughts on using maple syrup or honey instead of stevia or erythritol for sweetener. i would still consider both of those to be processed and like to try to avoid that as much as possible.
Honey and maple syrup are all sugar (and also processed). Maple syrup is boiled until most of the moisture is removed and honey is digested by bees, then regurgitated and fermented with their enzymes (very similar process to making erythritol which is fermented from veggies using a bee enzyme).
Uh, YUM! Made lowcarb eggplant parm for the family, so I thought I’d whip up an individual serving of this with no rhubarb. Bread pudding is probably my favorite and even though this isn’t the same, it was tasty and got me past a wicked craving. Thank you for such a great idea! If you cook this creatively with eggplant, what could you make with a rutabaga?! Haha
Thanks!
You shouldn’t subtract the carbs unless there are at least 5 grams of fiber.
This was phenomenal! I don’t keep almond milk around, so I subbed in a mix of half-and-half and HWC, which obviously made it even better, though higher calorie/carb. Still, for 6 servings, it is only 270 calories and 5g net carbs. Totally worth it, and a fantastic recipe! Thanks!
Thanks!
I ended up with sweet scrambled eggs :/
I made this dish today. I have mixed feelings about it. It’s no bread pudding, and for me it’s not really a substitute for a traditional dessert. However, as I have gestational diabetes, I cannot have any ‘real dessert’ and in this sense, this is not a bad effort at all. I like the creativity behind and how easy it is to prepare this. Very suitable for those who cannot have sugar or those on a diet. Thanks for the recipe.
Wow I just made this today and all I’ll say is double WOW! What I did to make sure that the eggplant didn’t have too much of an “eggplanty” taste is, I put extra vanilla in the butter before pouring it over and I also squeezed it with paper towels after taking it out of the oven, like another poster said. Also, when I took it out of the oven I put it in the microwave a few minutes and that puffed up the eggplant, so it has bready texture. Hubs even liked it and he doesn’t like sweets all that much! He is making plans to have it tonight after dinner. 🙂 Thank you again Maria and Craig! Another hit!
Thank you!!!
Hi there,
I’m DYING to try this, but unfortunately I am allergic to erythritol/maltitol/sorbitol. I am however able to eat stevia, splenda, aspartame, sucralose etc.. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Sarah
Try a small amount of stevia to taste.
This was absolutely delicious and if I did not know better, I never would have guessed that the “bread” was eggplant! This was indulgent comfort food at it’s best. I can’t wait to try a stuffing with eggplant to go along side of a roast chicken. Thank you for your brilliance!
Thanks!!!