Typically Monday mornings have that "back to the grind" feel to them. You wake up and go to work and look forward to Friday... For me, on this Monday morning, I am feeling like my battery is being recharged. These baseball tournament weekends with two playing in two different far away places is SO FUN but utterly exhausting! I have to say that I am impressed by myself and all of the other moms who do this weekend after weekend.
We go go go from sun up to sun down. Each day feels like a LONG sprint - or a very fast marathon - invigorating, exciting, fun, and tiring all at the same time.
Deep breath.
Then the same thing begins the next day.... though yesterday we were blessed with not having to be anywhere until 11:45. Both boys spent the night out Saturday night and Brooke went over to a neighbor's house so Matt cut the grass while I cleaned the house - then off to the game we went. Champ's team went on to win the wooden bat tournament! So exciting!
So, you can understand why on Monday morning I am feeling relaxed - almost like I'm thawing out - mentally and physically. All three of my chickens are sleeping - birds are chirping - my coffee is hot and delicious. Life is good.
So..I thought that I had blogged about my peanut butter balls recipe but I searched my own blog (yes, is it sad and pathetic that I can't even remember what I've blogged about and what I haven't? If you happen to come across some brain cells lying around, they're probably mine as I seemed to have lost some over the years...) I couldn't find the recipe, so here it goes!
Several years ago, I came across this recipe in a family/parenting magazine. My kids - my nieces and nephews - friends - everyone LOVED them and they go crazy for them every time I make them. They are healthy little sweet treats full of protein - and I've discovered this year that they're the perfect snack for in between baseball games - to re-energize the players with a punch of protein and sweetness. They're a great snack to keep in the fridge because you can grab one (or two or three) and keep moving.
They are so easy and fun for little helpers to make if you have any in your house.
Five ingredients: Natural peanut butter (I like natural Jiff which I know has a little added sugar - but I like the creaminess and flavor of it. You can use ultra natural peanut butter (where the only ingredient is peanuts) if you wish), Rice Krispies, wheat germ, honey and graham cracker crumbs.
Typically I throw the first four ingredients into a bowl and mix and taste, mix and taste and mix and taste until they taste right and then I roll them up into little balls. I had so many moms at the baseball field ask me to post this recipe, so the other night, I got my pen and paper out and took notes on the proportions. I felt like a scientist!
Here you go:
Ingredients:
Four cups of peanut butter - this is almost an entire jar of the large jar of peanut butter
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
12 ounces honey
2 cups Rice Krispies
Graham Crackers
Mix the above together (this gets pretty hard to mix once all the ingredients are incorporated).
In a food processor, take one pack of graham crackers (when you buy a box, it comes with three wrapped sections - use one) and process it into fine crumbs. Pour crumbs onto a plate or into a bowl. You will use this to coat the peanut butter balls.
Roll a little bit (about 1 1/2 TBS) of the peanut butter mixture into a ball. If you feel like it's too sticky, add more wheat germ and/or Rice Krispies. Conversely, if you feel like it's too dry, just add more honey and peanut butter. That said, the proportions I am giving worked well for me. Roll each ball in the graham cracker mixture and place on a cookie sheet. Do this until you have used up all of your peanut butter mixture.
This should yield about 80 peanut butter balls. Trust me, you will want all 80 of them. I let them sit on the cookie sheet in the fridge (covered with foil or saran wrap) for an hour or so and then put them in a Tupperware container and store them in the fridge (I put a little sheet of wax paper in between the layers). You can give these to your friends (especially if they kids!) and they will go crazy! I haven't figured up the nutritional breakdown yet, but they are healthy, delicious and a great pop of protein for our growing kids and ourselves!
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