Lately I have found myself "on the go" A LOT with my kids right after school.  Our gym offers a Kid Fit class every week day, and my kiddos LOVE it.  While it's sometimes very stressful for me to get them there when I have a million other things I need to be doing, I just don't feel like I should squelch their enthusiasm for exercise.  So, I've been sucking it up and making it happen!

One of the problems that we are facing with this class is that it literally starts 5 minutes after my kids get out of school.  So I pick them up and we head straight there.  They change their clothes in the car and have a snack.  I've been trying to find snacks that are somewhat healthy for them since it seems kind of counter-productive to drag them to the gym while feeding them Oreos...not that my kids don't occasionally eat Oreos, but I'm trying to be better with them (and I definitely don't want them eating Oreos in my car - what a mess!).  My children, however, have figured out my little plan to help them eat better and often balk at the idea.  Anytime I show up with something new, the first question they ask is, "Mom, is this healthy?  What did you put in it?"  (I tried to pull off Black Bean Brownies with them...BIG mistake...they did NOT like them, and now they are suspicious of everything!)

I was going through an old recipe binder of mine a few months ago, and came across a recipe for Energy Balls.  I figured I would give that a try as a simple after-school snack that was packed with healthy ingredients!  My kids LOVE them.  They did ask me once if they were healthy, but after they tasted them, apparently they no longer cared, and they get super excited when they open their snack packs to find the Energy Bites inside (I had to change the name because I have two boys who snicker every time I say Energy Balls...silly boys!).  

If you're looking for a quick, easy, yummy, healthy snack for yourself or your kids...give these Bites a try and let us know what you think!  The other thing that I LOVE about this recipe, is that you can change it to add anything you like.  The original recipe called for powdered milk, but I love oats, so I substituted oats for the milk.  I do add a handful of mini chocolate chips cause it makes my kids happy and it makes me feel like I'm getting a treat when I've really only eaten about 5 mini chips!  You could easily omit those and add raisins or nuts instead.  This recipe is extremely versatile and one that I don't even measure the ingredients for, so when you make them, get creative and make them perfect for YOU!

ENERGY BITES

1 cup Peanut Butter

(I use Adam's, which has nothing but nuts in it, or fresh ground peanut butter from Winco)

3/4 cup Honey

1 big handful of Ground Flax Seeds

1 small handful unsweetened Coconut

1 small handful of mini Chocolate Chips

1-2 cups Quick Oats

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together.  I usually end up mixing it with my hands near the end cause it's quite thick and is hard to combine completely with a spoon.  I add the oats last so that I can make it as sticky or dry as I want.  I like them to stick together in a ball, but not be super messy to eat, and the amount of oats really depends on how much of the other ingredients I use.  Once the ingredients are well mixed, spoon them out and roll them into bite sized balls and eat up!  So delicious!

 

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