Energy Balls

My good friend Amber suggested that I try her AMAZING recipe for energy balls.  A while ago.  Like, last October.  I quickly opened the recipe because I get all excited when my friends and family share recipes with me!  Then I read the ingredients and quickly closed the recipe.  Pfffffft!  This recipe calls for wheat germ or flaxseed.   And no sugar.  At all!?!  NO SUGAR????  Are you kidding me?   Clearly, she didn't know me very well.  

So I thanked her for her recipe and told her I'd put it on my list of recipes to try.  Then I scoffed inside.  Because I knew there was nooooo way I was going to make that silly hippie food. 

Well, I've been feeling a little low on energy lately (helllllooo 15 hour work days).  So, this weekend I got desperate.  And decided to try her hippie energy balls.  I had most of the ingredients on hand, so why not?  And, I just knew that when I ate one and it tasted like cardboard, I'd be vindicated.  And I could return to sugar as my main source of energy. 

So, I made them.  And then I ate one.  And then I ate like one million more.  Because these things are deeeelicious, people.  There's no saving my pride here, folks.  I owe Amber one big fat apology.  So, here it is.  You were right and I was wrong.  (God, I hate how that sounds!)

Have a little faith in me and give these things a shot.  Seriously, I promise, you won't be disappointed.  They require very few ingredients and very little time.  They're scrumptious, healthy, and they give you energy.  What do you have to lose? 

I like these so much that I'm already trying to come up with variations.  But, for now, here is my version of Amber's  Energy Balls:

Here's what you need:

1 cup Quick Oats

2 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Honey

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 c wheat germ or flaxseed

2 tsp Vanilla

Here's what you do:

1.  Mix everything together. 

2.  Refrigerate for 1 hour. 

3.  Roll into one inch balls. 

4.  Enjoy!  Seriously -- that's it. 

FYI -- Amber's recipe also called for coconut and dried fruit.  I'm picky.  I don't like coconut, so I omitted that.  And dried fruit just didn't sound like it would fit all that well with all the other ingredients, so I kicked that out too.  I could have been wrong about that.  I've been wrong about other things.  *aaahheeemm*  Feel free to add those back in.  She suggested a cup of each. 

$4 a Day January Challenge -- Week 4 + the last 2 days of January

Last week I didn't have to buy much food because I had a lot of food that I'd previously purchased, but not cooked left over.  Here is what my grocery purchases looked like last week:

That set me back a whopping $6.47!  I also had to buy some cat food later in the week for $2.17 .  So my total purchases were $8.64.


Here's what I ate:


Breakfasts were coffee and oatmeal or pastries, which were provided at work.  I didn't want to take pictures of my pastries because, well, that would have been a little awkward.  I also had this:

Lunches were:

of course.


For dinners I had:

My man friend and I made a stuffed crust sausage pizza. 

 Tuna Noodle Casserole.

I also attempted my own personal version of Monkey Bread.  I've never made Monkey Bread before and I don't have a bundt pan (*gasp*!), so I improvised.  The result was delicious, but not as good as it could be, I think.  So, before I share it with you, I want to tweek it a bit . . .

My man friend and I also went out to dinner one night at a Mexican restaurant.  I bought dinner for about $24, but I didn't get any pictures. 

During the last 2 days of January I didn't have to buy anything. I had oatmeal and coffee for breakfast.  For lunch I had leftovers from the Mexican dinner that I didn't get pictures of.  And, for dinner I had:

Baked spaghetti with garlic bread.

In total, I spent $121.66 this month on food and supplies, which is a HUGE decrease in what I had been spending.  And, I stayed well within my $4/day goal. 

I learned a lot doing this.  I will be shopping grocery ads rather than doing all of my shopping at Wal-Mart.  I will also be a lot more conscious of my waste. I am a self-proclaimed food hoarder.  Until I did this little challenge, I had no idea how much of the food I was purchasing was actually being eaten and how much was being shoved into cabinets and eventually tossed.  I can't say that I'll be so extreme as to commit myself to a $4/day food and supply budget in perpetuity, but I can say that I will definitely be forcing myself to adhere to a budget in the future. 

I do have to admit, though, I did hate not having the ability to try new recipes at my leisure.  So, I'm excited for February -- bring on the new recipes!