Protein Balls

Last week my friend, Liz, told me she wanted to make her own healthy protein snacks. I took this as a challenge. Because that's how I roll.

I've been a little obsessed with quinoa lately so I originally sought out a recipe featuring that awesomeness. I found a recipe that I thought looked fantastic so I ran off to Walmart to get the few ingredients I was missing. But Walmart does not carry Carob chips so I was thwarted until better stores opened (It was 1am. Again, that's how I roll.) 

I had every intention of getting to a store on Friday...but I woke up puking. Now, I don't know about you, but a tummy bug of the magnitude I was enjoying is not at all conducive to being anywhere within 3 miles of food. So I didn't get my carob chips until Tuesday. But I did lose 3 pounds, so there was an upside. I whipped up this recipe and had it all spread out on my pan to cool in the fridge. I licked the spoon before I washed it, to see how it tasted and I almost started that round of vomiting again. But, I was 90% sure that was because it was warmish and about the same consistency as oatmeal, which I HATE. 

So I waited. And waited. And waited. And went to bed. And woke up. And waited. By the time I dropped The Kid off at preschool I was over the waiting. The goop is at the bottom of my trash can now. But my other friend, Laura, gave me a link to a recipe she had tried and her kids had approved. If kids like, I consider that a guarantee. These looked AMAZING!

But, I had two problems. I hate coconut and I have no honey. So it was time to improvise a little. This is my modified recipe:

Protein Balls 

1/2 cup peanut butter 

1 cup oats (I used the old fashion kind, but I'd guess instant would work too.)

2 scoops of chocolate flavored Pure Protein Whey Protein Shake mix

1/3 cup carob chips

1-2 tsps coconut oil (I just scooped a lump in there. But any oil type thing should work, it's just to help smooth out the carob while melting.)

So, the protein powder replaced the coconut of the original recipe and the carob replaced the honey. 

I melted the carob and oil in the microwave, stirring every 20 or 30 seconds and being very careful not to scorch it. I gave it a good final stir to make it all smooth and then dumped the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and stirred. Then I scooped the mix into 14 balls and stuck them in the fridge for a bit. They are kinda yummy and extremely easy.

Nutritional Info per ball

Calories : 130

Fat : 8

Saturated Fat : 3

Cholesterol : 11

Sodium : 76

Carbohydrates : 9

Fiber : 1

Sugars : 3

Protein : 7

Iron : 4%

Calcium : 4%