Friday, January 16, 2015

Flax Seed Energy Ball Things

So I'm back with an all new recipe, and this one is actually healthy, unlike my last one. If you have already read my most recent post about what to eat while you're exercising, you've heard about these magical delicious-I-don't-know-what-they're-called ball things. When the nutritionist was at my dance studio (again, refer to my last post for more information), she showed us a recipe that is super easy and fast for these energy balls to eat before you exercise , that give you the right kind of energy. At first, I was suspicious because she put coconut in them, and I'm a strong opposer to coconut. But, I decided to give it a try, and it changed my life. Now, these mysterious spheres of excellence are all I eat- it's probably not safe. Now I am here to share this excellence with you- here we go!

Look it's them! Courtesy of Gimme Some Oven


Ingredients:

  • I cup uncooked quick oats -Make sure you use the right kind of oats- one time I used steel cut oats and they were the weirdest flax seed ball things I've ever tasted. You can also use gluten free oats. 
  • 1/2 cup peanut, almond, or cashew butter -I always use almond butter. Whole foods has a lot of really good brands. You can also use any other kind of "butter," except regular butter. 
  • 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup -I usually use honey because it's healthier and less sugary-tasting. Also, if you don't have honey or maple syrup, you can use agave. I tried it once, and it tastes pretty good-it's just sweeter.
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ, flaxseed, or flax meal -I've always use flaxseed, and I think it tastes really good. But, my dad has mentioned that you could also try chia seeds. My only concern with using chia seeds is that when they touch liquid, they get really goey and weird.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract -You could always use almond extract instead.
  • 1/2 cup Craisins, dried blueberries or sour cherries, shredded coconut (unsweetened), or chocolate chips -You can pretty much put anything you want here, but make sure not to add to many things- this can amp up the calories. My favorite is the shredded coconut. 
All you have to do after mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl is put it in the fridge for half an hour. Then, you can either roll them into balls, or just smush it all into a tubberware container and eat it with a fork, which I may or may not do.

Since this recipe is designed to be eaten to boost your energy while you're working out, it's kinda higher in calories than some other foods (like celery). Not so much that you'll have to go to fat camp, but enough that you can't just eat it whenever. The best time to eat this is right before a workout, or during one when your energy is low. You also don't want to eat a huge quantity at once, because if you do some math that means you eat even more calories. 

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