Dubai & An Orange Pistachio Protein Cookie Recipe [Clean, Vegan, GrainFree, GF]

It’s finally time for my last post on my UAE and Oman Birthday Celebration trip. The final stop? Dubai. Come along while I talk about the areas of Dubai and also check in on this Orange Pistachio Protein Cookie Recipe which is clean, vegan, grain free and gluten free.

I know it’s been a bit of time since my last 2 posts on this trip. Since this trip I have packed up and moved once (good by New Orleans), obtained my medical license for my next state of practice, started working in a new place and have just returned from another trip (haha I know, I really love to travel and I’ll have to update you on that awesome trip at some point). I’ve been incredibly busy and still have so many things to do in these upcoming weeks. It’s been exhausting.

If you missed my last couple of posts here is the one on Oman and here is the one on Abu Dhabi. Both of these have associated recipes if you want to check them out!

Ok, now onto the fun stuff! When someone says Dubai I feel like they think of the super flashy aspects of it, lots of money, cars, “biggest and tallest in the world” sort of feels. This is certainly true. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be cost effective about your trip.

I was able to do everything I had wanted to do including a desert safari and the trip to Abu Dhabi and Oman without breaking the bank in the least. A great tip I have is to look on Groupon (especially for activities) as it is really big over there and many of the things that you may want to do are on there. This is how I booked our desert safari which was really fun.

We were picked up from our hotel, did some dune bashing, duneboarding, saw a hawk, rode a camel, ate good food, got some henna and watched various performances (fire dancer, whirling dervish-like dancer and a belly dancer).

Dubai itself is actually broken up into different areas so you can take time to explore each one as you like. There are older areas like the Souks and Deira which you should take an abra to get across to! It’s a cool experience and is really cheap to use (essentially a quarter).

I didn’t much care for the hustle and bustle of the souks. I felt like they were a bit overwhelming and pushy. There are a few types like the gold souk, the spice souk etc. I didn’t end up getting anything from that area and didn’t like the vibe of it. However, there was another souk (souq) called the Seef Heritage Souq that I preferred. It was quieter, right by the water and made for a much more relaxing stroll through the shops. I ended up getting some spices here.

One of my favorite areas was called La Mer, though. It was right on La Mer sea and had a really awesome vibe both during the day and at night.

Not going to lie, we went back multiple times. This area is much more relaxed and is just super chill. In terms of dress code, you can wear bathing suits etc in the beach area, but need to cover up if you are walking along the boardwalk. They have tons of restaurants and little shops as well as a theatre and waterpark.

It is recommended, out of respect, that in most areas you should not wear super short shorts, really tight dresses, spaghetti style or shoulder/chest exposing clothing. However, there are certainly areas (especially at night where you will see plenty of that in more touristy/ex-pat clubs etc, but I would wear a coverup and then take it off once you get to your destination).

There is also an area called the Marina which is sort of similar to La Mer as it has a beach and a street of shops, but doesn’t have nearly the same vibe and didn’t stay there for very long. Another place which we did not stay very long in, but was interesting to see was called The Global Village. It is a very interesting concept as once you get inside it has areas designated for different countries around the world. Inside these areas are things that you might find in that country. There was also an area for carnival rides and a floating village of food (kind of like food trucks..but boats). It was a fun way to spend the evening looking around the different areas. It seems like many people actually come here to do some shopping and/or eating.

Just because I like the picture, the area in the picture above during the night lights up with different changing colors. This was my favorite part, I found the rest of it to be a tad bit overwhelming, but the place is humongous.

Another area that I thought was pretty neat was called City Walk. We got to it by use of the metro system (it is a very clean metro with separate cars for women and children only if you so desired to sit there).

It was a mall-like area with different shops and restaurants in it. It was cool to just stroll around and look at the various areas. I got a really awesome necklace here.

Here and especially La Mer there are cool little areas with spray paint murals on them. I thought they were really neat and honestly unexpected to find in Dubai prior to visiting. Dubai was a lot more open and less conservative, especially with what I was seeing in some of these places that I had thought it would have been when planning my trip.

There were plenty of traditional things there as well, though. There were a lot of mosques around the city and you could hear the call to prayer multiple times a day. We went to the Jumeriah Grand Mosque where we had a little sample of breakfast and an explanation of the call to prayer, how the cleansing process was done and about the mosque. 2019 marks a year where women now have equal rights (yay!!) –SIDE NOTE: However, there was a restaurant that we went to and were required to sit in a side and separate “family room” because were female..so maybe not quite totally equal yet– and also a year of cultural understanding. Certain areas, including this mosque are trying to educate people on their beliefs and culture to help garner more of a cultural understanding. I learned a lot during this tour. I still had some questions at the end, but I look at this step that this mosque and other places are taking as progress in the a good direction.

Now, this post would not be complete without talking about the malls or the Burj Khalifa. There are a couple really big malls in Dubai. Noteably, the Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates. The latter of which houses an indoor skiing faciity, which is just ludacris in my mind. The former houses things like an indoor aquarium and the Burj Khalifa.

This was a huge structure, much bigger than anticipated. Many of the areas inside of the mall were just beautiful and you could find pretty much any store you desired. It was crazy. There were also tons of restaurants and food places. We ate at a place called Operation Falalfel and man it was quite tasty.

I really liked how there were so many fresh veggies. I got this egg frittata-ish dish too that was yummy!

Now right outside, sort of in a huge courtyard-like area, is where the dancing fountains, a view of the Burj Khalifa is and plenty of resturants that open to this area.

I would highly recommend checking this area out at night. The fountains dance to music and at the same time a light show plays on the Burj Khalifa. This is a not to be missed ordeal. Honestly, I thought it was so beautiful and it moved me just to watch it. I really really liked it.

Dubai is huge, the metro system (somewhat limited currently, but is on the way to expanding) and with less than a week to explore I could not get to all of the possible areas. Overall, though, I did quite a bit and enjoyed my time there. I also really liked, in general, how clean Dubai was. It was a nice change from many other cities I have been to. I would recommend going when I did as it was warm, but not hot hot summer yet.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a quick recipe, because, why not?! Let me know if you have any questions about the trip, or feel free to message me if you are planning your own trip over there and want some more detailed information!!

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Dubai & A Orange Pistachio Protein Cookie Recipe [Clean, Vegan, GrainFree, GF]

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes

Servings 27 cookies

Author AZ@…And A Dash of Cinnamon

Ingredients

• 1/3-1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal ground into flour
• 2 T peanut flour
• 1/2 orange seeded and diced
• small handful pistachios shelled
• few dashes cinnamon
• water/liquid of choice

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet

2. Grind your oatmeal into flour and mix in your peanut flour, cinnamon and pistachios

3. Add your liquid of choice slowly until your desired consistency develops *see notes

4. Fold in your diced and seeded orange

5. Place on your cookie sheet and bake for approximately 7 minutes or until done

6. Eat and enjoy! Save leftovers in an airtight container

Recipe Notes

The thinner you make your batter, the more cookies you will get. 

I link up with Deborah and Sarah’s, and  the fit foodie mama’s Meatless Monday, #recipeoftheweek,What’s for Dinner

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