Power Balls (I'm Not Giving Away Money)

I'm a runner and I was looking for snacks to eat after practice. My coach was talking about nutrition last week and was saying how you only have about thirty minutes to eat to fully recover after a hard workout. He also talked about needing a 1:4 ratio of protein to carbs when you eat. Something like chocolate milk or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich which has a lot of carbs and some protein. 

One of friends did a race a couple of weeks ago and before the race, she ate one of these type balls. She said she had made them herself with chia seeds, flax, peanut butter, honey, and oats. I thought this was a great idea and thought I'd try it myself. 

In mine, I used flaked coconut, already ground flax, honey, peanut butter (I used the creamy kind with added sugar because we bought it on Friday to make cookies and I needed to use it. I just scaled the amount of honey back to accommodate the added sweetness), chia seeds, vanilla, oats, and chocolate chips. Chia seeds are one of my favorite foods. They contain many essential vitamins and minerals, and leave you feeling more energized. During school, I put about a tablespoon in my water bottle every morning. They kind have a slimy texture when put in water that takes some getting used to, but it's really not that bad. Just make sure to wash your water bottle every week or so and never leave chia water in the bottle for more than a day. For these, I would grind the chia seeds if you feel like it. It will leave a better texture.

 I toasted the coconut in coconut oil to add some extra flavor, but it's probably not necessary. Make sure to use unsweetened coconut to make these as healthy as possible. 

 I use Haitian vanilla because it 99% vanilla extractives and 1% alcohol, instead of 53% vanilla extractives and 47% alcohol like the vanilla that is bought in the United States. I always use pure vanilla because the taste is so much better than the imitation. I've heard the best vanilla comes from Madagascar, but I've never been there to buy any. 

 I didn't have any mini chocolate chips which would be ideal, so I just chopped the regular sized ones into small pieces. I've been using Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chip because they're cheaper, but the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips are my favorite. 

 This is after I mixed everything together and formed balls that I placed on a cookie sheet. 

The nice thing about this recipe is that it is very easily adaptable based on the ingredients you have on hand or allergies. Here's a list of suggestions for extra things:

• Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, etc. I don't think almonds would work too well because they're so hard)
• Fruit (Mashed banana, bits of strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc. Dried fruit would also work well)
• Almond butter
• Coconut oil

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup Oats
• Peanut Butter
• Chia Seeds
• Honey
• Mini Chocolate Chips
• Ground Flax
• Vanilla
• Toasted Coconut

Instructions: 

1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until you have reached a desired consistency. 
2. Form into balls and refrigerate in a airtight container.