I have had a lot of coming and going over the past few weeks, which has left me without a set routine. Not being home as much, and switching between time zones a couple of times a week thanks to working over the border which is now on daylight savings time, has meant that it has been difficult to establish good eating and exercise patterns. As you can imagine, keeping energy levels up so that I remain at peak performance levels when I need to is quite the challenge. Although my saving grace has probably been my strictness about keeping relatively good sleeping patterns, I have realised that I have needed to be far more prepared about food and exercise. As they say, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
I am great with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but I am terrible when it comes to snacks. And it’s not that I eat unhealthy snacks either. It’s that if I don’t have something on me, I tend to not bother with eating until my next meal and let my energy and concentration levels dip. Which usually leads to me skipping that afternoon walk or yoga class. Bad, I know.
Although carrying around peanut butter in my handbag and eating it straight out of the jar is extremely tempting (and admittedly something that I have actually done over the past few weeks), it is neither a convenient nor, if I am completely honest, socially acceptable pastime. So I have had to come up with a solution.
These four-ingredient peanut butter energy bites take less than 15 minutes to make, taste amazing, are extremely healthy and far less conspicuous and heavy than a whole jar of peanut butter.
The best bit is, is that the recipe is extremely adaptable! No peanut butter? You can substitute in any other kind of nut butter. Don’t have a Cosco membership and don’t want to have to take out a personal loan to buy chia seeds? You can add some flax seeds instead. Feeling like a bit of variety? Experiment with spices like cinnamon, add a pinch of sea salt or add some extra nuts or dark chocolate chips.
Honestly, this mixture tastes like healthy cookie dough. Put a few in a zip lock bag and you can keep them on you all day for when you need an instant little pick me up.
What is your favourite healthy snack on the go? I would love for you to share in the comments.
xx Liz
- 1 cup dates (soaked for 10 minutes in warm water and drained)
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 1tbls chia seeds
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- Blend dates in a food processor of blender until they create a sticky dough-like mixture.
- Add peanut butter and blend until combined.
- Add oats and chia seeds and mix well.
- Roll mixture into 2.5cm balls, using the warmth of your hands to make them smooth.
- Refrigerate until chilled. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week (if they last that long!).
- Optional: Add a pinch of sea salt or chocolate chips to the mix
4 Comments
These look so tasty and they are SO amazingly easy to make! Energy bites are one of my favorite snacks on the go, too. I also love trail mix, banana chips, and crackers with hummus. 🙂
Hummus is the best!! I tried to make banana chips the other day, but unfortunately it was a total fail because the oven was too hot! I will have to try again. xx
Nothing beats a good raw bite (in my opinion!) and these look delicious! Raw bites are definitely my favourite on the go snacks – or a handful of nuts!
How good are they? Such an easy thing to grab on the way out the door. I always keep nuts in my car – just in case I get stuck in traffic!! xx