Hey Chicks, At FIT CHICKS Academy we love seeing  what are students in the  Fitness & Nutrition Expert Program (FNE) come up with in the kitchen . Today we are excited to share this recipe for you from recently Certified Fitness & Nutrition Expert  Amanda Knott because it is an awesome snack on the go – and delicious too! Amanda created this recipe for one of the assignments in the Nutrition Module of the FNE program, and excited to introduce Amanda and share her amazingly easy and yummy power balls with you!

Hey I’m Amanda. I’m a busy 28 year old mom of 3 kids: 2 boys and 1 girl, and pregnant with my 4th. I also run a full time home daycare where I care for 4 other kids on top of my daughter, while my older 2 boys are in school. I was always an active/athletic person and played softball in University, but I was always overweight due to overeating and not-so-good eating. After my second was born and I tipped 230 pounds, I decided that was enough and lost 80 pounds, by myself.  This is where my passion for health and fitness has come in. I have maintained the weight loss for over 5 years now, even going through a 3rd pregnancy and am 22 months postpartum with that. I joined the FNE program so I could learn how to help others and to learn how to make a successful career out of my passion.

I’m a firm believer in setting a healthy and active example for my children and know they will hold it with them through their lives. If I can do it, I believe anyone can do it!

I love making homemade protein balls because they are super easy and delicious. They are bite sized and perfect for the go. The kids love them, my husband loves them, and so do I! I’m a busy mom to 3 and home daycare worker, so I like easy, quick recipes that require very little clean up – so these Super Duper Power Balls are perfect! I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, so the wholesome and natural ingredients in this recipe help to satisfy that need for me, while also giving me a mid-day pick me up, without an after-crash!

These balls are awesome because they won’t cause a spike in blood sugar resulting in a crash later. Because they are ‘Complete in 3’ and balanced, you’ll have sustained energy after eating them  You’ll feel good and satisfied! These little balls are loaded with some amazing superfoods and tons of fibre! We could all use a little more fibre in our diets, to help keep us regular and protect us from diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers! So prepping these bad-boys takes literally 5 minutes, hardly any mess, and the kids totally love them – they can hardly wait the cooling time 😉

There’s so many ways that you can change and alter this recipe to make it fit your needs and taste buds. Play around with it and make it how you like! You could literally sub in any ingredients to change it completely – so many options! This is what I love about these little balls!

They make great snacks when out running errands, or snacks for the kids when spending the day out and about. AND as I mentioned – they are kid approved!

So let’s get to it!

Super Duper Power Balls

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup Pitted Dates
  • ¾ cup Pitted Prunes
  • 2 tbsp homemade Maple Syrup
  • 2 tbsp Nut & Seed butter
  • 2 tbsp Chia Seeds
  • 2 tbsp ground Flax Seeds
  • 1 cup Oats
  • ½ cup Pumpkin Seeds
  • 2 tbsp Cacao Nibs (optional)
  • 4 tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk (optional)

Directions

  1. Put the pitted dates and prunes into a food processor and process them until they are broken down.
  2. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and process until everything is well blended.
  3. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, or plate, and use a spoon to scoop the blend. Form approx. 1 inch balls and place them on the sheet or plate.
  4. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or in the freezer for a quicker freeze.
  5. Then enjoy!

TIPS TO ALTER IN LIEU OF A DIETARY RESTRICTION

  • Instead of nut & seed butter, you could do just seed butter if there is a nut allergy.
  • The unsweetened almond milk is optional so if there’s a dietary restriction you could cut it out, or swap for soy milk, or water even.
  • If cacao nibs are too bitter for you, don’t put them in, or you could sub them out and put in dark chocolate chips instead

TIPS TO SUB AN INGREDIENT TO ALTER THE RECIPE

  • Instead of half dates and half prunes, you could do all dates or all prunes. I just like to mix prunes in!
  • Instead of maple syrup, you could use date syrup, or honey even!
  • Instead of pumpkin seeds you could use hemp hearts, or any kind of nut that you wish.
  • You could add in some protein powder if you wished, to make them really high protein.
  • Adding in some dried cranberry chunks or raisins could be really good too.
  • Instead of oats you could do quinoa flakes.

TOTAL SERVINGS: 24 (1 ball per serving)

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVING: 90 calories per ball

MACRONUTRIENT BREAKDOWN PER SERVING (INCL FIBRE GRAMS!):

  • Protein – 5g
  • Carbs – 11g
  • Fat – 4g
  • Fibre – 3g

Thank you so much for sharing, Amanda!

PS Do you want get CERTIFIED as a Fitness & Nutrition Expert?  Download our program brochure here and learn how you start to create your dream life, health & career!