Peanut Butter Energy Balls with Buckwheat, Chia Seeds & Dark Chocolate

Snacks have a high bar as far as I’m concerned. They need to offer some fat, fiber and protein, and they need to be compact, quick to eat, low in sugar, satiating, and (most importantly?) fun. A successful snack keeps you powered for a few hours without heading for the cupboard where all the chips and popcorn are stored before dinner. Snacks are also where cravings often show up, which is why chocolate and peanut butter are featured here.

This recipe is written for natural peanut butter, ie. peanut butter that contains only roasted peanuts and sea salt. Please don’t buy the other stuff - it’s full of refined sugar and hydrogenated oils. If you’re craving more sweetness, you can always add more raw honey.

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Peanut Butter Energy Balls with Buckwheat & Dark Chocolate

7/8 cup toasted buckwheat groats
2 tablespoons chia seeds (whole)
1 cup natural salted creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons raw honey
Pinch of fine grain sea salt
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Combine the buckwheat, chia seeds, peanut butter, honey and sea salt and stir well. Incorporate the chopped chocolate until it’s well distributed. To form each ball, press the mixture together with your hands to firm it up, then gently roll into a ball. These store in the fridge for quite some time, but they won’t very long at all.

Mustard Vinaigrette

I’m reposting a recipe that I originally posted almost 5 years ago to reflect how I make it now, which is much easier and more scalable. The original recipe called for thinly slicing and pasting 3 garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle, which certainly isn’t insurmountable, but it’s one of those semi-laborious steps that often stops us from making something despite our best intentions. In my current version, I make a double batch of the original recipe, throw everything into a high-speed blender, let the machine blend it into creamy oblivion, and then pour it into a 32oz mason jar that will keep in the fridge for a good while.

The main benefit of having a tasty vinaigrette ready to go in your fridge is self-evident: you’ll likely eat more salads. And, like all recipes, when you make something at home, you get to control the quality of the ingredients. Even the healthy store-bought vinaigrettes use gums and stabilizers, as well as other oils besides olive oil.

I also use raw apple cider vinegar in this recipe to amp up the health benefits. There is evidence that apple cider vinegar may help regulate blood sugar and support weight loss. And it’s incredibly tasty here.

The olive oil will solidify a bit in the fridge, so I usually spoon out the vinaigrette that I want into a small bowl and microwave it for 10 seconds. If I have more time and I’m still cooking, I’ll set the bowl near the stove to warm naturally.

I hope you enjoy!

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Mustard Vinaigrette
Adapted from the mustard vinaigrette recipe (pg 41) in Cook This Now by Melissa Clark

Special equipment:
High-speed blender

6 medium garlic cloves
Rounded tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend it up! This stores well in a 32oz mason jar in the refrigerator.

Homemade Sushi

This isn’t a recipe, more of an idea. But it’s one that my kids regularly enjoy so I thought it was worth posting. It’s made 100% from pantry and freezer staples. For the price of boiling a small pot of rice and a bag of frozen edamame, you get an interactive and nutritious meal. White rice and tamari bring the fun, while seaweed, edamame and black sesame seeds bring the nutrition.

There’s no rolling here, just put everything out on the table and let kids (and/or adults) make “taco-style” sushi rolls. I got this idea from my friend Lidya and found it very liberating that I can serve sushi to my kids without needing to know how to professionally roll it.

There’s plenty of nutrition here. Seaweed is rich in a number of vitamins and minerals including B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B9 (folate), iron and magnesium. Black sesame seeds are rich in healthy fats, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese. And edamame provide protein, folate, calcium and iron among other things.

And, you can make extra rice for fried rice the next day. If you make the fried rice, you can toss in whatever leftover edamame you have as well. Options abound!

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Homemade Sushi

Seaweed
Cooked white rice
Black sesame seeds
Cooked frozen edmame
Tamari or soy sauce
Optional add-ins: avocado, cucumber, left-over cooked salmon

Put everything on the table and let your kids have fun :)