For the longest time, I've been a little afraid of dates.
No, not the fancy schmancy kind of date...
The cockroachy, icky sticky kind.
Now, a lot of the blogs I read use dates in bajillions of recipes. And for a long time, I've clicked "next page" and moved on.
Til I sunk my teeth into these suckers:
Ok, I know I'm behind the curve. Everyone raves about Lara Bars but I've been largely resistant.
Why? To be honest I'm not a fan of the measly 4 g of protein and the higher sugar content.
But with an ingredient list including dates, unsweetened fruit, nuts, and cinnamon- I've got to admit this is the purest stuff.
They keep me full, and I don't feel like my blood sugar is spiking when I eat one. Win.
The only thing I don't like about these bars is the $$. So I decided to experiment and came up with these little guys:
Wanna Date? Blueberry Chocolate Chip Bites
(Based on these)
(Yes, I know they are shaped like balls. But I just don't think Wanna Date? and Balls should go in the same title. Just sayin. Few ingredients, maximum flava.)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup chopped dates (I used dole)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or other nut)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup dried unsweetened blueberries (or cranberries)
1/4 cup raisins
sprinkle cinnamon
2 TBSP chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Pour dates, vanilla, and blueberries/raisins into food processor. Pulse until they make a paste-like substance.
2. Scrape mixture into a medium sized bowl. Pour pecans, cinnamon, and chocolate chips into the food processor. Pulse until in bitty pieces (not quite powder form).
3. Add date mix to pecan mix, mold into balls, bars, etc.Mine made ~8 golf ball sized bites.
Note: you know if you've worked with dates before that they're very sticky. Bad for your fingers, good for your, uh, balls bites.
(Murky) Green Juice OTD:
1 large carrot, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 cup spinach, 1 granny smith apple, 1 small fuji apple, 1/2 cucumber, squirt lemon juice, squirt lime juice, pinch ginger.
Today's Workout: Zumba x 1 hr 5 mins. Mygosh I love that class.
I'm off to do some more of this...
Obscene comments commence.