Oatmeal on the go
Changing some of your eating habits should not be a monumental task. It is best to begin small, making one substitution at a time. This breakfast is the perfect way to start. It is simple and fun to make. You can have variations to suit your family’s taste. Most importantly, it is a way to start your day packed full of vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber.
I hear the same story over and over again at the drugstore. The person needs to make changes to their eating habits, but “healthy food is too expensive, I’m not going to eat grass, I can’t spend all the time in the kitchen.” I always say the same thing: start small. These oatmeal balls look like nothing, but they can do wonders for you. They are just like my cute pocket-size .380; it seems like a toy, but it packs a punch. They are easy to enjoy on the go. Keep them in your purse, in your coat pocket, even in your car. Whenever you need them, they will get the job done.
One thing to note is that not all kinds of nuts butter are created equal. Peanut butter is the most common and the most affordable. Here is where learning how to read labels comes in handy. Like ammo, you have to be sure of what you are looking for, especially for something pocket-sized. You don’t want anything too heavy to hinder your purpose or something too light that will be useless. Learning how to identify unnecessary culprits is vital to keep things clean and practical.
Identifying added sugars and other artificial ingredients is easy when you already know what to expect on the label. For oatmeal, you should only have oats. For peanut butter, you should only have peanuts and maybe oil. Anything more should raise a red flag and make it easy to pinpoint nasty ingredients in other products. Like it took me a couple of tries to figure out that an eighty-eight gram is enough to blow up someone’s eye socket at close range. His face ended up looking like a colander, but it was a great learning curve for me. The more you practice, and the more you look at labels, the more comfortable you’ll be choosing the best for you.
I sure hope you try this yummy breakfast on the go!
Oatmeal Balls
Ingredients
- 4 cups quick oats
- 1 cup preferred nut butter
- 1 cup honey
Candy bar toppings
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup coconut flakes
- ⅓ cup shave or coarsely chopped almonds
Oatmeal Raisin toppings
- ¼ cup raisins
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
Fruity toppings
- ½ cup dried fruit like berries or apricots
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
Cookies and cream toppings
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup yogurt chips
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the oats, nut butter, and honey.
- Divide the mixture into four equal parts and place into separate bowls.
- Mix the toppings for each flavor into each one of the bowls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Take the bowls out of the fridge. Scoping about a tablespoon at a time, shape them into balls.
- Keep them in zip lock bags or an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
