Last week my husband, went to an evening school event led by Michael Carr-Gregg. It was called “Raising Resilient Boys” and having 2 boys of our own, our ears perked up. Little did we know it would start with a marriage talk, then lead into parenting and finishing up with how important nutrition and sleep are for everyone, not just kids! But that was for sure emphasized. Do you know that Americans eat 40% more sugar now than we did in 1980? The average CHILD eats 38 tsp of sugar A DAY!!! That is mind boggling and disgusting. And I might be part of that without even realizing it because sugar lurks every where. Turns our Michael has also written 14 books and one was “Smart Snacks” so I picked it up. I will say, he loves his coconut oil, milk, flakes and being allergic to them, I’ve modified everything in the book, but here are my 4 favorites that we tried and were successful. I tried 3 of his smoothies and my kids said “mom, we just like Shakeology” and that’s that. Considering one of this recipes cost me $12 to make (holy heck Batman!), my $4.15 Shakeology will win every time and it tasted way better!

I might have spent a whole day playing in the kitchen, but I have these 3 perfected balls that my kids are begging for more of. It says the serving is 18, but I don’t think the mastermind behind the original recipe factored in how much my 5 and 9 year old eat, or how much they’d enjoy these because I had to finally put the plate away to have some at least for one more day. I changed a few things because as written, I don’t like cacao on the outside of protein balls and I’m allergic to coconut, so some substitutions were necessary. Didn’t affect us one bit ;) These can all be made GF, SF, dairy free, and the banana ones are nut free.

Note, ALL of these balls would be great with 1-2 scoops of Vegan Cafe Latte, Vegan Chocolate or Vegan Vanilla in them. Don’t use Whey if you need these to be dairy free, otherwise, it’s fine too.

CASHEW BALLS
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups cashews
-2 cups dates (~20)
-OPTION: if you add 1 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp turmeric you will get a Gingerbread flavor

DIRECTIONS:
1) Put cashews into food processor and grind. 2) add dates a few at a time. I added 10 and 10 and then you can add more depending on your desired texture. If it’s not binding well, you will need more dates. 3) Use a TBSP to measure out dough and roll into balls and put in fridge for 30 minutes before enjoying.

BANANA BALLS
INGREDIENTS:
-1 large mashed banana, ripe
-1 cup quick oats (do not use old fashioned)
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 tsp vanilla
-¼ cup cacao powder
-1 TBSP sesame seeds, opt. See note below.

DIRECTIONS:
1) Mix everything together in Kitchenaid, or similar, mixer. 2) Using a TBSP, take a heaping scoop and roll into 18 balls. 3) If you chose to roll balls in sesame seeds, do this and then refrigerate for 30 min before enjoying. Freezable. We rolled in cacao afterwards instead of mixing it in and found we prefer it the other way, it was too dry and tart on the outside. They still disappeared in less than 24 hours, but this was a preference thing. You can chose to roll them in cacao too if you like the texture, taste, look of it.

CACAO BALLS
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups walnuts (or other nuts but then requires more dates)
-1/2 cacao powder
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 TBSP chia seeds
-2 1/2 cup pitted dates (~23), but add more if you use cashew, macadamias, almonds, etc.
-pinch of ground sea salt, opt If nuts are salted, omit this as it will be too much sodium

DIRECTIONS:
1) put all ingredients, except dates, in food processor. Puree to the consistency you prefer. I let mine run longer because I wanted nuts very tiny or my youngest won’t eat them, or will pick them apart. In my car. And I’ll lose my mind. Getting the picture?! So about 2 minutes on high was good for us. 2) Then add dates. I started with 23 and added a few more because I used Cashews and Macadamia nuts. If you can grab a handful and mash it together, then you have added enough. 3) Using a heaping TBSP, roll the dough into balls and put in fridge 30 minutes before enjoying. These freeze well up to a month, but trust me, they won’t last that long.

CHAI-SPICED SUNFLOWER SEEDS BALLS
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups sunflower seeds
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground ginger
-¼ tsp nutmeg
-¼ tsp ground cloves
-1 cup medjool dates, pitted (~10)
-2-3 TBSP avocado oil (you could substitute melted coconut oil here, but I’m allergic and wanted a mild flavor oil. If you don’t need this to be nut free you could use macadamia oil as well, which is far cheaper than avocado oil and has same mild taste.
-pinch of ground sea salt, opt

DIRECTIONS:
1) Combine sunflower seeds, sea salt and spices in food processor on high. One blended add dates. If you can add them while running, that’s ideal, but I have to pause mine to remove the lid. Add oil you chose above until mixture binds together. You may not need it all, and although these oils are healthy, clean fats, we don’t need access so do this for taste and texture. 2) Use a TBSP and roll balls and put in fridge 30 minutes before enjoying them. These freeze well. Makes 20-25 balls.

NOTE —-> You can swap 2 tsp of chai spice blend in place of all ground spices above if you prefer.

Best part about all this, Michael says it’s therapeutic for children to actually roll the balls so if they’re stressed, anxious or bickering with their siblings… “hey boys, come in the kitchen and make some snacks you love. NOW” :) I love these recipes even more when someone else is making them!

let me know which your favorites are. With containers remember; ¼ cup oats = 1 yellow, ground spices = freebies, 1 prune = 1 purple, 1 tsp olive oil = 1 tsp. Depending on the number of balls you roll, you can calculate your containers accordingly. With 2B Mindset I’d count this as a FFC and accessory for each.