Oatmeal Balls Archives - Becoming Elli

Here are some healthy snacks that I enjoy:

Hummus with sugar snap peas. You can use any vegetable or combination of vegetables you want but I love a snack of sugar snap peas with hummus. Fantastic!

A handful of nuts. This works but if you’re too hungry, it’s easy to eat more nuts than you probably want to eat in one sitting.

Apple with peanut butter. Really, this is perfect. If you avoid peanuts, switch the peanut butter to almond butter.

Celery with peanut butter. I know you have to be careful with peanut butter because it is high in calories but it does taste good.

Cheese stick. Yes, just like the ones you used to give your 10 year old child.

Plain yogurt with berries. If you give plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt a chance, you’ll learn to like it. You can also add some granola to this.

Hard boiled egg

Even better, deviled eggs!

A few of my famous oatmeal balls. See the recipe I shared earlier.

Tuna salad wrapped in romaine lettuce.

Cottage cheese, if you eat dairy. You could add some fruit to this.

Pumpkin seeds

Shrimp cocktail. I sometimes buy just a few shrimp at the grocery store and then enjoy them as a snack.

Sardines! Just eat them right out of the can if you want.

Sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese. I buy these from my local grocer.

Dark chocolate with a cup of tea

A small serving of oatmeal

Some baked beans. These actually make a good snack. Avoid brands that are high in sugar.

Soup: heat a bowl and enjoy!

Kind bars. I love these things and they’re what I buy if I have to grab something at a store for a snack.

These are just some ideas. What have I missed?

I created these as a snack for someone who has food allergies, avoids sugar, and wants protein mixed in with carbs. He uses them as an energy snack. Chris and I tried them on a long run and they work pretty well. Because the balls are small, they’re easy to carry for a run and they’re easy to eat while on the trail.

These oatmeal balls are easy to make and pretty tasty, considering there’s not much in them. They are dairy free and sugar free. If you use gluten free oats, they would also be gluten free.

I don’t use sugar or sweeteners and with the banana, I don’t think you need it but if you wanted it sweeter, you could add some honey or whatever you want to use.

You could easily doctor these up with raisins or chocolate chips or nuts but I haven’t tried that yet. If you want to increase the fat, use whole eggs instead of the egg whites.

The recipe can be doubled or tripled and the amounts are flexible. If you don’t have much apple sauce, increase the egg whites.

I used these oatmeal balls last summer as a running snack. They’re small enough that you can pop them in your mouth and have a tasty bite of energy.

So, here you go. Here’s the basic recipe. Remember that you can expand this by simply increasing the ingredients. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Oats, apple, egg whites, applesauce, and bananas

Ingredients

2 bananas (the riper the better)

1 cup natural applesauce

½ cup egg whites

½ tsp cinnamon (you can definitely increase this)

2 to 3 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oatmeal (not instant and not steel cut)

1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced

Apples

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Note: foil won’t work. The balls stick to the oatmeal. I suspect it’s because there’s no fat in them.

Mash the bananas with a mixer. Add the applesauce, egg whites, and cinnamon and blend well.

Mixing ingredients

Add 2 cups of oatmeal. If the mixture is very wet, add the final cup.

Mix in the diced apple.

Drop small balls onto the cookie sheets. I use a small melon baller but spoons would work. There’s no leavening ingredients in this so the balls will not expand.

Bake each tray for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven when the balls look darker or golden brown.

Slide each oatmeal ball onto a cooling rack.

These freeze well. Leave out some to eat over the next day or two but freeze the rest. These balls have no preservatives in them and only last two or three days.

Finished product

Tag: Oatmeal Balls

Healthy Snacks

Here are some healthy snacks that I enjoy:

High Energy, Easy to Make Protein Oatmeal Balls

Ingredients

Directions