No-Bake Energy Bites

No-bake cookies. The ultimate concoction of sugar, butter, chocolate, peanut butter and oats.
Though far from healthy, those semi-solid pleasure puddles would be my fall-back indulgence, if I had to choose one. At Easter time this year, our babysitter had made little no-bake nests in cupcake liners with peanut M&Ms sitting on top. Cute AND delicious.

But, this blog is about a different no-bake concoction. In my news feed, I saw what appeared to be raw dough for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

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 When I saw the title, "no-bake energy bites", I was instantly curious. Most of us are enticed by the idea of more energy. Especially when I see chocolate chips. As I scanned the ingredients, the only unfamiliar one was flaxseed. I figured it couldn't be too bad. After all, the Peanut Butter cookies with no flour completely hid the chickpeas.

And? Pleasant surprise at the grocery store: ground flaxseed was not cost-prohibitive.

When I googled the original recipe, she had a couple more ingredients than the facebook posted one, so if you take her link from under the fancy photo up top, you can see she added coconut and chia seeds. I kept it simple for this one, as I'm just testing the facebook recipes.

I used Bob's Red Mill Golden Flaxseed Meal, generic quick oats, semi-sweet chocolate chips, Adams natural Creamy Peanut Butter (this photo was before I stirred it) and local raw honey.

The instructions were simply to combine the ingredients, form into balls, refrigerate to set, and enjoy.

She estimated you would yield 20-25 balls. I think I made 21 but I didn't begin counting until after I'd eaten a couple. I found online that following the recipe with the five ingredients I used, you were eating about 100 calories per "bite".

A friend and I took a 3 hour road trip yesterday to meet the author of Unveiled Wife, a blog devoted to strengthening and encouraging wives and marriages. I brought some along and she liked them enough to have more than one! My husband, the foodie, said it "wasn't bad". As soon as I mention some new ingredient that sounds like it came from the kitchen of Granola Gladys, he's hesitant to put it into his mouth. So, when I say flaxseed, he says "what?!"

Bottom line? Totally worth your ingredients! Not as buttery or chocolatey as a no-bake cookie, but if you put the entire thing in your mouth rather than biting it, the flavors pool together and you get a little bit of that raw oatmeal satisfaction.
I was working in a pretty hot environment so I actually put them in the freezer to set. It makes the chocolate chips a lot crispier.

What do you think?
~Tammy

Teryaki Beef-Hawaiian Style

For those of you who are becoming regular readers, thank you.
If you'll recall, I last posted a recipe that was a low-sodium Hawaiian Teryaki Chicken. I wasn't satisfied with that flavor, but my purpose here is not to alter recipes. I simply try out the ones I see and give you a review so you can make a decision.


Our appetites were whetted for a savory Hawaiian Teryaki meal, so we searched and found one from "Kuki's Kookbook".

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This recipe was lengthy in that they recommend you marinate the meat for up to three days. I had leftover ginger root from the first recipe. The ratios are simple. I used twice the liquid she listed for the amount of meat as I used two pans for my meat. I purchased short ribs at our grocery store and there were four of them. So, for each pan I had 1cup sugar, water and soy sauce mixed along with the fresh garlic and ginger. I made sure the liquid covered all the meat, but didn't bother slicing it up.

Ingredients

2 1/2    pounds    beef, shortribs ( 2-3 pounds beef short ribs OR rib eye steak, cut thin and lengthwise) 1    cup    soy sauce ( Aloha brand soy sauce, DO NOT substitute brands ) 1    cup    water
1    cup    sugar
4    clove(s)    garlic ( 3-5 garlic cloves, crushed )
1 1/2    teaspoon    ginger root ( 2-3 slices ginger, cut thin and lengthwise ) 

 

If you click on the link above, you'll get her blog and her recipe from there.
My husband was beside himself with the taste of this one! (and for me, that's the ultimate critic I'm trying to please with my food)

Our recommendation in the future is to let it soak a day or two intact (tenderizing the meat) then the third day, cut long thin slices so the sauces really absorb on all sides of the meat (and will lessen the time you spend grilling as well).

 

We served our dinner with King's Hawaiian Bread (what else?!) and fresh cucumbers and green salad.

 

This one may not have popped up on Facebook for me, but after the last one, I wanted to give you something truly tasty.
And, as far as soy sauce, I couldn't find her brand. I actually ran out of soy sauce the morning I began the marinade, so mine was a blend of kikkoman low sodium and "panda brand premium" soy sauce.

If you're worried about salt, I think a half and half regular and low sodium mix would still make it savory enough without compromising your dietary needs.

 

~Tammy