Adding Nutrient Density without Adding Labels

If you have a child who loves sweets, one of the best thing you can do is get them into the kitchen and create a delicious, nutrient-dense recipe that tastes as close as possible to the food they keep asking for. Doing this instead of labelling foods as “good/healthy” or “bad/unhealthy” reduces the chance of our kids developing a negative relationship with food. 

Here’s a real-life example from our home. Timbits (aka donut holes) are served in the dressing room after Rhett’s hockey practices/games. Rhett takes his and enjoys it. I don’t tell him he can’t have it because it is too sugary or “isn’t healthy”. But I also don’t dwell on it. He eats it, and we move on. But since he really likes them, he often asks for more. So I decided it would be fun to make our own version. If you saw my “Energy Ball Snowmen” a few weeks ago, then you have seen this recipe. The energy ball underneath the coconut was born out of my experiment to make a something that Rhett could enjoy as much as he enjoys TimBits. And it worked! Here is a the recipe!

Ingredients
1 banana
1.5 cups pumpkin seeds
1 cup pitted dates
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup hemp hearts
2 scoops Healthy Height chocolate protein powder
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened is fine)

Directions
1) Add all ingredients to a food processor in the order listed above. Combine on low for 1-2 minutes and then on high until all ingredients are blended well.
2) Use a large spoon and your fingers to roll the batter into balls about 1-1.5″ in diameter. Place them on a sheet of parchment paper.
3) Pour 1 cup of shredded coconut into a bowl. Roll each energy ball in the coconut and then place it back onto the parchment paper and into a container in the fridge or freezer.

I use Healthy Height in our energy balls, smoothies, muffins, and more to add more nutrient density. If you are interested in having this too you can use the code NOELLE25 for 25% off.