I have been well overdue for a post though I have been cooking like mad lately. It hasn’t translated to the blog yet because I’m just 1.) playing with a lot of new ideas and 2.) quite lazy about recording my measurements.
This week I will supply you with a recipe for a revolutionary new thing in my life, introduced to me by my lovely friend Stacy (thank you Stacy!!). Nick and I LOVE THEM and have now started making our own regularly. They are simple to make, healthy, low calorie, and pack a protein punch. Best of all they seem made for people who are the grab an
d go kind of breakfast eater or the person who just isn’t much of a breakfast eater at all as they are small, quick and delicious. I often have one for breakfast with half an apple or as a mid-day, pre hike snack.
These are especially awesome for vegetarians as they are basically a ball of protein, fiber, omegas, b’s and other goodness for your heart, skin, mood and more! Hemp hearts, flax, chia and pumpkin seeds are such a great source of omegas which as you probably know if you are a veg is really hard to maintain outside of using a supplement.
Variations abound and obvs you can heighten the indulgent or the healthy side. Below is my go-to recipe. Check out this post I found for 25 other variations (!), most are not my cup-of tea, but an awesome example of how much you can play here. Some notes on the ingredients; Use high quality peanut butter. If you live in Atl, go pick the flax meal up for cheap at the Dekalb Farmers Market.
This week I’m cooking a banana squash bread with some spelt flour and a springy lemon soup. Recipes will end up on here if any of it’s good. Hope these balls are as much of a game changer for you as they are for us.
Healthy Breakfast Balls
- hemp hearts, 1 tbsp
- sunflower seeds, 1 tbsp
- chocolate chips, 2 tbsp
- peanut butter, about half a regular jar of peanut butter = about a cup
- oats, 1 cup
- flax meal (aka ground flax seeds), 1/2 cup
- dried cranberries, 1 tbps
- pumpkin seeds, 1 tbsp
- honey, 1.5 tbsp
Makes about 15 balls
Variations: sub peanut butter for other nut butters, chopped dates or prunes, chia seeds, walnuts, almonds, coconut shavings, sesame seeds, raisins, a sprinkle of cayenne (metabolism boost!), dried fruits, crystallized ginger. If you wanted to be naughty you could put in some nutella, butterscotch or toffee chips but it ain’t really my thing I think they are better with more trail mix-esque flavours.
Mix together all ingredients in a bowl. Pop in the fridge for around 10-20 minutes or until easy to mold into balls. Shape a little smaller than golf-ball sized. Pop into tupperware and then into the freezer to grab whenever you crave – so quick and easy!
