Peanut Butter Sesame Balls

Some of you have asked for the recipe for these delicious little nuggets.

Peanut Butter Sesame Balls

 

 

I have to admit, they are one of my favorite snacks.  They are healthy and sweet and guilt free.  They come from this book

This was one of the first things I asked my mom to buy me when I got married.  It was out of print, so she had to search thrift stores and garage sales.  I think she finally found it on Amazon, although I'm not sure where she found it.  I just know it was a brand spanking new copy of my very own.  It was originally printed in 1973 and my copy was printed in 1977.  I think it was last printed in 1982.  You can find it here.

Anyway, I love it.  If you cook vegan, vegetarian, whole foods, or just plain healthy foods, this book has recipes.  It also has loads of ideas for using food storage items. It is a Natural Foods Cookbook that actually has good tasting recipes. 

I wrote to Rhodale Press and asked if I could share my favorite recipe with you.  The answer was YES!  I'm so excited. 

I'm not including pictures today. The recipe is really simple.  It is packed with protein, and not from whey powder either, (which I never seem to have).  I bet you have the ingredients in your pantry right now. 

3/4 C Peanut Butter
1/2 C Honey
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 C skim milk powder
1 C Oatmeal (not cooked)
1/4 C Toasted Sesame seeds
2 Tbl boiling water

Chopped nuts, sesame seeds, carob or cocoa powder or coconut for rolling (optional)

Combine Peanut butter, honey, and vanilla and blend thoroughly.

Mix milk powder and oatmeal together and add slowly to peanut butter mixture. Blend in sesame seeds.

Add the water, blending well.

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in nuts or carob powder. 

I like them best cold, so I refrigerate or freeze before eating. If I don't have sesame seeds, I have used wheat germ instead.  A little different texture but no real difference in flavor.  Also, I have added coconut and I have omitted the sesame seeds.  The recipe is highly adaptable. 

You can toast your sesame seeds in a pre-heated 200 degree oven for 20 minutes.

The recipe says that it yields about 3 dozen, but I always eat so many while I am making them, that I do not get this many. lol

My kids like this too.  Super easy to make, and much much better then a bag of cookies or chips. :)

Another Food Log

Are you so excited?  Can you believe anyone posts pictures of what they eat every day?  Can you think of anything more stimulating?  Okay, all sarcasm aside, this log does help me stay on track, so thank you for reading it.  I hope it is still helping you.  :)

Breakfast was interesting. I test my glucose levels fasting, and they were right in line so I grabbed 2 peanut butter balls and started my day.  Peanut butter balls are really filling.  I forgot to eat a regular breakfast and after getting the family to where everyone needed to be, went ahead and worked out.  No breakfast and a hard 45 min. workout.  Duh!

After my work out, I realized that I hadn't eaten.  I tested my sugars and I was at 74.  Yeah, I was low.  But for only 2 peanut butter balls, I wasn't too bad.  That peanut butter probably saved my bacon. lol.  I grabbed a Skor Bar.  I only had 1/3 of it and gave the rest away.  (Kids you know.)  Anyway, it was just the right amount.  But I have to be more careful.

For lunch I had left-over stir fry.  It's not as pretty as a left over. lol  Anyway, I didn't feel like making rice, so I put it over chow mien noodles.  Ideally I would have over brown rice, but this was okay too.

Snack time with my low sugar, coconut ice cream bar. 100 calories of yummy.

5 crackers before dinner to keep me going.

taco casserole. Yum.  Lots of lettuce on bottom.

My favorite little pick-me-up, frozen blueberries.  So good.

A couple handfuls of cereal, because it was easy, out and I wanted a snack.  Better than chips I guess.

Eating to Take Control

This week feels good.  Food-wise I am doing better. Exercise-wise I am doing better, and blood sugar-wise I am doing better.  It is amazing what a difference food makes in the body.  Eating well can help us feel good, energetic and healthy.  Eating poorly, can make us cranky and sluggish.  I believe in balance. I think you can have a cookie here and there as long as most of the time you are eating healthfully.  I'm getting closer to that balance.  And you? How is your journey?

Through out the day, when ever I wanted a snack, I just grabbed 2-3 peanut butter balls.  It's nice to have something quick that doesn't kill my sugar levels.

Breakfast was cereal and almond milk.  Nothing too exciting, but tasty.

Some of my home made, diabetic friendly coleslaw for lunch. The recipe is here.

I found this diet juice.  It is so good.  It has 5 calories and 2 grams of sugar. What a nice treat.

Chicken tacos for dinner. Mexican food is easily transformed into diabetic friendly fare, if you leave out extra fats and sauces.  I boiled my chicken breasts and then flavored them.  No sauces, just salsa and a little sour cream. I added avocados for some good healthy fat, and because I love them.  They add all the creaminess that I need, but since I eat them fresh, instead of in guacamole, they are a really healthy addition.

I was only at a 74 blood sugar level last night, so I made some french toast.  I used home made, whole wheat bread, (which I bought from my neighbor's daughter.  She is quite a little baker, and making this as a fund raiser to fund her trip to a national clogging competition. I love entrepreneurship!) Any way, it is a fabulous all whole wheat bread, and she grinds the wheat fresh, so it is really yummy and nutritious.  I used boysenberry syrup.