So Justin & I are observing Lent, despite us not being Catholic, nor even Christian. Still, I feel like it’s a good practice that coincides nicely with the mindfulness practice of Buddhism. This late winter season is one to find a grateful person, if for no other reason than remembering that it’s not always this cold, sparse or lonely.
Quite soon, really, the daffodils will spring up and it will be time to plant peas. Meanwhile, we’re giving up all “junk” food. That means anything that is designed as food, but technically is not, and comes prepared in a bag or box with a bar code.
Snack foods are perfectly all right to eat on our self-imposed Lent, it’s just that we have to make them ourselves with whole ingredients. So far, we’ve been staving our winter-blues junk food habit with things like:
- WASA crackers, chunky peanut butter & banana slices
- No-bake cookies
- Hummus with anything that can be dipped into it
- Ricola herbal cough drops
- Home-popped (in a pot) popcorn, and
- Seed & Nut balls
A few weeks (maybe a couple of months) ago, I started making what I lovingly call, “poop balls” as a snack. They are basically Almond, Tahini & Date balls, rolled in unsweetened coconut. A similar snack is sold at Eastern Indian or Mediterranean stores, and they sort of look like white dog poop from the 70s, even in a log shape. So I make them into balls instead of logs. I usually eat them with Vundertonik, a homemade citrus health tonic, which appears strikingly like urine: and thus my sophomoric joke is complete.
Anyway, the base recipe for nut balls is very simple. Use this as a formula:
- nuts or seeds, or a combination
- nut or seed butter
- sticky, dried fruits
Grind in a blender until you can roll it into a ball, then roll in unsweetened coconut. Store in the refrigerator.
I’m out of almonds, which is kind of a big deal around here because we use them for so many things. So tonight’s Nut & Seed Balls were made with
- Pistachios
- Walnuts
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Tahini
- Honey
- Dates
- Unsweetened Coconut
The pistachios had a considerable amount of salt, so I did not add any, but I normally would add a pinch to the mix. I can’t give exact proportions, but I’d say it was about 3/4c pistachios, 1/2c walnuts, 3/4c pumpkin seeds, maybe 1/4c tahini, 2T honey, 3/4c dates and about 1/8c coconut. Yielded about 20 balls.
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