I am a fool for this snack ball trend.

They are so good! So easy to pull together! So much better to snack on then junk food!

The one thing they don’t have going for them is a good name- Nut Balls is just awful. So is Snack Balls. Energy Balls? Nut Butter Balls? A little bit better, but not by much. I think I’ll quit before this becomes an entire post about naming snack balls. (Ugh, I even hate typing that!)

Let’s call them snack bites instead, shall we?

I feel a lot better about snack bites. My mood is changing already!

I found this lovely recipe at The Gracious Pantry and of course I junked it up with more nut butters and extra seeds and things. I couldn’t resist! They just needed to be rolled in something.

I have to admit, though, that I actually like the plain ones better. The sesame seeds get stuck in my teeth (awesome mental picture of me happening right now, you’re welcome). Don’t let that stop you now, both taste great- you could roll them in shredded coconut, too, if you’re more into that.

I think these will keep in the fridge or freezer for quite a while, but I can’t tell you from experience. They go fast in this house. Last night, I pulled some out for the family to taste test and the kids full-on grabbed them from my hands and devoured them, then looked at me like rabid dogs until I brought out a few more. My one-year-old daughter literally shoved a whole one into her mouth without a second thought. It was like watching a snake swallow an egg or something, I couldn’t look away. My advice is to make these after your kids go to bed and hide them in the back of your freezer if you ever want to taste them. Just sayin’.

(Disclaimer- She didn’t actually swallow it whole, she did chew.. I would not stand idly by and watch her choke, I promise.)

Oh, and they’re called spiced nut butter balls because there are spices in there! Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, the whole gang. Even orange zest joins the party. As usual, you can take them or leave them, whatever your preference. I think it’s fun to eat these so-called cold-weather spices all year long, but if it’s not your thing, that’s cool, too. Just don’t wait until fall to make these- they taste great right now. (Just ask my kids.)

Spiced Nut Butter Balls

 

Print

 

adapted from The Gracious Pantry. http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-spiced-almond-butter-balls/

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Snack

Serves: 30

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups almond meal
• ¾ cup nut butter (I use ¼ cup almond butter, ¼ cup sunflower seed butter and ¼ cup tahini/sesame paste)
• ¼ cup chia seeds or sesame seeds (or a mix of both)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Zest of ½ large orange
• ½ cup dried cranberries (sweetened with fruit juice if you can find them that way)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ cup shredded coconut or almond meal (optional)
• sesame seeds or shredded coconut, for rolling

Instructions

1. Combine almond meal, nut butter, chia or sesame seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, orange zest, dried cranberries and spices in large bowl and mix well. If the mixture seems too wet, add the additional shredded coconut or almond meal until you have a firm dough to roll.
2. Form into balls. Roll them in sesame seeds if you like.
3. Place balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
4. Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container.

#version#

I might need a Paleo baking intervention. I’ve gotten the hang of it now and the treats are flowing freely again in this house.. but my tummy troubles have not disappeared. (They are still undiagnosed.. go here for more of my story.) Now my wheels are turning again, trying to figure out why.

I thought that changing things around, doing things the Paleo/gluten-free/lots-of-other-stuff-free way that things might work themselves out. And now, I’m thinking maybe I need to go further.. more drastic.. start from scratch and heal (aka GAPS or something similar). I’m trying to figure out what more I can do.

But I’m realizing now that I can’t do it.

I can’t heal myself. I can’t do this in my own power. I believe in a God who heals. The God who came to earth and died for me, who goes before me and stands beside me. The God who changed my heart- I certainly didn’t change it myself. So why am I believing that I can change myself now?

“Agree with God and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove justice far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust … then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift your face up to God. You will make your prayer to him and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You will decide on a matter and it will be established for you and light will shine on your ways.” Job 22:21-28

It is easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day issues of life and believe that if we just tried harder, if we just planned better, if we were just better people that things would go our way. But the truth is that God is the perfect planner and his perfect plan for us has been in motion since before there was time. He is good and his plan is good, even if we can’t see it (or if we have a different definition of the word ‘good’). His word says that if we agree with him, good will come to us- but it doesn’t say when. Maybe it won’t be until Heaven, but it will come; so long as we believe in him and his promises.

So maybe I will try another approach to healing, maybe I won’t. I don’t know now. But I know I will be spending time with the Lord, talking and listening. Trusting in the one who knows suffering better than any man. And rejoicing because I know the end of the story (spoiler alert: it’s a happy one. :))

Apple Cinnamon Muffins (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Paleo)

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

original recipe here at Delighted Momma- http://www.delightedmomma.com/2013/01/flourless-apple-cinnamon-muffins.html

Author: via Delighted Momma

Recipe type: Baked Goods

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups of almond meal
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup of maple syrup
• 1 tbs of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend the eggs together in a separate small bowl.
3. Mix together all the above ingredients and slowly stir in the blended eggs.
4. Pour the batter evenly into 12 muffin baking cups.
5. Cook 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

3.1.09