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ENERGY BALLS RECIPE perfect nutrient dense sweet snack

Get your Energy as naturally as possible with this simple Energy Balls Recipe

UPDATED APRIL 2022 perfect Ramadan Recipe

The original energy balls recipe is great but here’s another version WITHOUT the very calorific peanut butter AND without all the caffeine in the cocoa. I’ve also used a delicious coating of sesame seeds and fennel seeds making this version of energy balls a perfect after dinner sweet fix.

ENERGY BALLS DOINDUBAI MONICA KAPILA fennel and sesame seeds
ENERGY BALLS NO PEANUT BUTTER OR COCOA

NEW FAVORITE ENERGY BALLS RECIPE GOES LIKE THIS

100 g of UNSALTED nuts – your choice I like cashews, almonds and pistachios all mixed

5 dates and 5 PRUNES no pips

1 tablespoon avocado or coconut oil

30 g flaxseed powder

40 g sunflower/pumpkin seeds ground to powder or you could us 70 g or dried coconut powder

1 tsp water

You pretty much make it as in method for the original recipe

ORIGINAL RECIPE FOR ENERGY BALLS USING PEANUT BUTTER AND COCOA

There are so many energy ball recipes being shared; this one was given to me by one of my uber fit and body conscious Australian gym buddies. It’s easy, uses simple, accessible ingredients and it works every time. Try some energy balls instead of your usual sweet fix!

Energy Balls Recipe DoinDubai

Ingredients to make the Energy Balls

12 to 14 pitted or unpitted dates

1 tablespoon of cacao powder

3/4 of a mug of raw, plain cashews and or almonds

2 tablespoons of your favourite peanut butter

Energy Balls Recipe ingredients 800

Equipment to make the Energy Balls

A good food processor OUR FAVOURITE IS THE THERMOMIX Read all about it or listen to a podcast on what a thermomix is and what it can do here.

Sharp kitchen knife and chopping board (to take the pips out of your dates if you need to)

Baking paper (not strictly necessary)

A large enough tray to lay out up to 14 to 18  made energy balls for setting

Prepared shelf in your fridge for energy balls to set on the tray

Metal tablespoon

One large bowl

Method to make the Energy Balls

  1. Take the pips out of the dates if you didn’t purchase them pitted
  2. Weigh out all your ingredients
  3. Process the nuts in the food processor to the thickness you want them. Some people prefer them to be almost powdery and quite fine, others a little more course. Me? I like a little of each, so I put most of the nuts in the processor and whizz to a powdery consistency, then leave a handful to be whizzed up roughly. Set aside the processed nuts
  4. Whizz up the dates to as small as you can get without them sticking together
  5. Add the peanut butter to the processor with the cacao powder, mix well so you are making a kind of very chocolatey peanut butter
  6. Add the dates to the mixture and whiz up again
  7. Add the nuts and do a final whiz till the mixture all comes together in a rough ball
  8. Switch off your food processor! Then take out your mixture and put in a mixing bowl
  9. Shape the mixture into little balls and lay out on kitchen paper on a tray ready to set in the fridge
  10. This quantity should make 12 to 14 small energy balls, set in the fridge for about an hour, or you could put in the freezer for less time.
  11. Just eat from the fridge or store in an airtight bag in the freezer and take out a few minutes before you need to serve

These Energy Balls are great for those after dinner munchies 

You can add your ingredients together

differently if you prefer.

In my video I combined the nuts with the cacao

as they are both dry ingredients.

Experiment and see what you think.

*I do recommend you make the dates as small as possible first though. Don’t be tempted to use too much cacao, it has a very strong taste!

Try the energy balls recipe with different kinds of homemade or shop bought nut butters and see if you prefer the taste! I think  these would also be good to give to growing teens as a snack especially during exams. Also a great recipe to teach to any kids going to university, provided they had a basic food processor!

Hope you enjoy! Tell us what combination of ingredients you have tried.

Monica

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PALEO PORRIDGE no oats so gluten and grain free

UPDATED AUGUST 2021

What is Paleo Porridge 

Paleo porridge is a bowl of dry ingredients that are GLUTEN and GRAIN free mixed together with milk (soya/almond/coconut/rice) topped with fresh fruit. So it looks and tastes like normal porridge. Except it’s paleo porridge.

PALEO PORRIDGE GRAIN AND GLUTEN FREE DOINDUBAI

Where did I first try Paleo Porridge 

I first tried paleo porridge for breakfast in a trendy Cape Town cafe. It’s called LSA or power porridge there and I haven’t found it in Dubai as yet.

  • L for Linseeds
  • S for Sunflower seeds
  • A for almonds

all ground up together.

Why have Paleo Porridge 

  • I had no bloated feeling at all
  • The breakfast kept me feeling full for ages
  • Dairy free/grain free/gluten free
  • Full of nutrients like omega 3s from the seeds
  • Doesn’t take much cooking time once you’ve got the basic porridge mix done

Watch the VIDEO of me making the paleo porridge in my kitchen here

The ingredients for 1 large bowl or 2 small bowls of Paleo Porridge 

30 g of Linseeds (light golden ones) Flax seeds/ Linseeds are the same thing

30 g of Sunflower seeds  (unsalted)

60g of Almond powder (ready made or you can grind your own)

IMPORTANT NOTE

These proportions are what I use in my version of LSA. I have subsequently found the original LSA that comes from the Liver Cleansing Diet book recommends a 3:2:1 proportion, so that’s:

  • 3 parts linseeds
  • 2 parts sunflower seeds
  • 1 part almonds

so recently I’ve been following these proportions and to give you an idea to make 2 medium size bowls of LSA try these: 

45 g  linseed/flaxseed powder (so that’s milled down seeds)

30 g sunflower seeds (you could use 15 g sunflower AND 15 g pumpkin seeds for added magnesium) again milled down

15 g almond meal 

But do what works best for you. Of course the linseeds, same as flaxseeds are the key here.

200 ml of your preferred type of non dairy milk – I use unsweetened soya milk, but you could use rice milk, almond milk, coco milk or normal milk if you don’t need your porridge to be dairy free and add a little water too if it’s too thick. 

Your preferred sweetener I use 1 teaspoon of coconut sugar as it has a lower glycemic index than normal sugar, you could use honey or agave syrup too or just normal sugar. I don’t recommend artificial sweeteners.

Paleo Porridge DoinDubai Ingredients

Putting it together 

Grind up the linseeds and sunflower seeds together in a coffee grinder till they resemble a fine powder.  This would take a few seconds in a thermomix! Listen to our podcast on what a thermomix is here. 

N.B Flax seed is ground to make the nutrients they offer available, otherwise they would just ‘pass through’ Since flax has a high fiber content it is best to start with a small amount and increase slowly, other wise you may experience cramping and a ‘laxative effect’. Be especially careful if you tend to suffer with an irritable bowel. Don’t be tempted to prepare large batches of ground seeds; they are best stored in natures own storage system within the seed.

Tip the ground up seeds into a bowl

Add the almond powder and sugar; mix all the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon so they are well mixed.

You could tip them straight into a saucepan if you prefer

Add your milk and stir well, then heat slowly and stir to a porridge consistency. Add a little boiling water if you prefer a looser, runnier porridge.

Paleo Porridge DoinDubai adding chia seeds

Eating it up 

Add your favourite chopped fresh fruits, papaya is a good idea and any berries you can get hold of. Sprinkle on a few chia seeds if you like and gobble it all up. Monica’s Power Porridge, all done. Try it and tell me how long you felt full for.  Thank you and do share with anyone who’s looking for a gluten free breakfast idea. 

Paleo Porridge DoinDubai finished porridge

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PALEO DESSERT RECIPE

An EASY, NO COOK Paleo dessert recipe

…that is slightly adapted from the original which comes from an Australian cooking forum. My super fit and uber health conscious neighbour from Melbourne (now in the Arabian Ranches) shared it with me and it’s brilliant.

They call it “I can’t believe it’s not chocolate!” and actually the name is very appropriate. Forget Chocolate Brownies, Hello Paleo Pudding! Excellent for kids and adults alike AND it makes use of LOCAL INGREDIENTS. No sugar, flour, butter or eggs, so it’s good for vegans too. If you use a certain type of sunflower oil then the recipe is Paleo as well.

I can’t believe it’s not chocolate!

Preparation TimeSetting TimeTotal time
 15 minutes 45 1 hour

 

Paleo_Dessert

Ingredients for Paleo dessert

Dried Dates without stones 200 grams
Cashews Nuts 75 grams
Almonds 125 grams
Cocoa Powder 25 grams
Coconut Desiccated 65 grams
Sunflower Oil 80 grams

Here’s the video for the Paleo dessert

It’s about 5 minutes long but would save you reading everything and may stay in your mind a bit better than the words!

 

 

Notes on the Ingredients for Paleo dessert

  • I used some dates I had in my fridge from Spinneys, cannot remember the brand. Bear in mind some date varieties are more sweet than others, so experiment. They also vary in price here too, so do what suits your taste and budget. And of course why not make use of ones in your garden if you grow them? I weighed my dates after I removed the stones. The original recipe suggests Majdool Dates.
  • I used desiccated, packet coconut that I had in the cupboard, you could use fresh for a more coconuty taste. Lulu’s supermarkets grate your fresh coconut for you. Coconut is a staple in South Indian cooking too.
  • Use plain or raw nuts, ie not salted or roasted. Don’t worry if you substitute a few other nuts to make up the quantity, I don’t think it would dent the recipe too much, but remember our nutritional analysis is based on the ingredients as above.
  • The original recipe calls for coconut oil, my husband threw my coconut cooking oil away! So I used sunflower oil, it works very well. Ideally it should be high oleic Sunflower oil if you want your recipe to be truly paleo, else stick to coconut. My Melbourne Neighbour suggests using slightly less than the 80 grams of coconut oil.

Equipment to make Paleo dessert

  • A flattish baking tray for spreading out the mixture
  • Silver aluminium foil to line your tray with
  • Food processor with large mixing bowl
  • A knife or icing sugar trowel to spread your mixture evenly
  • Shelf in the fridge to set the mixture
  • Sharp knife to cut up into squares
  • Tupper ware box with a lid to store in the fridge or freezer
  • And of course a good set of electronic scales to weigh your ingredients accurately!

Method for making Paleo dessert

Line the baking tray with silver foil
Blitz up the nuts in a food processor till it resembles rough crumbs or almond meal
Add the dates, coconut, cocoa powder and oil to the nuts in the food processor bowl and blitz up again till the mixture is spreadable
Put the whole mixture into the tray
Spread out to about one inch high, evenly over the tray
Put into the fridge to set for about an hour or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer
When set simply cut into the number of squares you’d like. If you divide it into 20 squares the resulting pieces will be approximately 28 g each and relate to the nutritional analysis below.

 

 

Paleo chocolate pudding

 

 

Nutritional Analysis for Paleo dessert

food label for doindubai

 

The calculations below represent a 28g portion

Using the ingredients as listed above and  have been based on dividing the finished dessert into 20 pieces and the approximate resulting weight of each piece being 28g. 

Energy kcal146.2
Fat11.6 g
Carbohydrate8.3 g
Sugars7.4 g
Protein2.7 g
Calcium23.1 mg
Magnesium40.5 mg
Phosphorus74.8 mg
Potassium185.6 mg
Iron0.8 mg
Selenium1.9 ug
Vitamin E3.5 mg
Dietary Fibre1.6 g

Using Figs rather than Dates

If you choose to use 200g of dried figs instead you would increase the nutritional value of the 28 g piece to these values. Calcium 43.6 mg from 23.1 mg  Magnesium 44.4mg from 40.5 mg  Potassium 212.6 mg from 185.6 mg and the Sugar would reduce to 5.9g from 7.4 g which would reduce the kcal  to 141.9
But figs are more expensive here in Dubai so my preference would be to use the dates

Using coconut oil

Would increase the fat content to 11.6 which is a very small increase although interestingly the sugar content increases to 7.3 g from 6.4 g which again isn’t a lot.  I would use coconut oil as a preference.

What does Paleo mean?

Professor Loren Cordain explores how to build a modern Paleo diet: The nutritional characteristics of a contemporary diet based upon Paleolithic food groups.  a paper offering insight as to the amounts and ratios of protein, carbohydrate and fat in the ancestral diet

 

 

 

 

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