Snacks on the Run {Lime Coconut Energy Balls}

Hello there runners! I hope everyone is off to another fantastic week filled with some great running, and of course lots of good fuel to recover. We celebrated Father’s Day here this past weekend, so a belated happy day to all of you running dads out there setting great examples for your kids! Since we spent time with both my family and my boyfriend’s parents, it was a jam-packed weekend for me with very little time to run or write.

I don’t think anyone will be disappointed, however, since today instead of giving you a nutrition article I’m sharing one of my favorite snack recipes! What good is all of the advice in the world if you don’t know how to actually incorporate it into your daily meals, right? Many times snacks are where people tend to make bad decisions or just reach for a packaged product, so I love having lots of healthy and easy snack recipes in my arsenal to make sure I always have something on hand to refuel after a run.

Energy balls are an excellent recipe to work into your routine. The base recipe usually includes some combination of nuts and dried fruit, making them easily portable as they can last a while without needing to be refrigerated. The fruit of course offers healthy natural sugar to support your running energy needs, just make sure to only use unsweetened dried fruit. Dates are always a great option since they are naturally sweet and also contain magnesium --which we have previously discussed the mineral’s importance for runners’ bodies. Nuts supply fiber, protein, and healthy fats to help your body recover and also fill you up a bit if you are like me and can’t stand to work out or run when you are hangry. ;) Once you have the base recipe, you can customize your add-ins to make an almost infinite number of flavor combinations.

Today I am sharing my most recent flavor pairing that is slightly reminiscent of a mojito. Lemon and lime is always provides a nice brightness to recipes in addition to bringing some vitamin C to the table for immune support. The mint was pretty subtle, so if you like a little more of that flavor you could add a drop of peppermint extract if you like. Feel free to substitute different nuts based on what you have on hand.

Lime Coconut Energy Balls

Makes 25-30

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup raw cashews
• ½ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 12 pitted, chopped Medjool dates (about 1 ½ cups)
• 1 small lime, zest & juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground dried mint (can also sub ½ teaspoon peppermint extract)

Place your nuts in a food processor and pulse until broken down into small pieces.

Next add in the remaining ingredients and blend on high to incorporate everything together. You may have to stop and scrape the sides once or twice. The mixture will still have some small chunks, but the ingredients should be well mixed.

Scoop out into a bowl and use a spoon to measure out even amounts. Roll with your hands into tablespoon-sized balls. You can also spread out into a baking pan and cut into bars if you prefer not to take the time to form the balls.

Toss a few into a container and bring with you on your next trail adventure or to work to snack on before your lunch time run!

Anyone else make something similar? What are your favorite flavor combinations?

For more information about @runningproject please see the latest status report: https://steemit.com/runningproject/@runningproject/the-steem-running-project-9th-status-report-runningproject-has-reached-300-sp

Or a few ways to support your favorite initiative: https://steemit.com/runningproject/@runningproject/the-steem-running-project-how-can-you-help-to-the-runningproject-initiative

The latest gear update here: https://steemit.com/runningproject/@runningproject/use-technical-items-if-possible

Running a 10k: https://steemit.com/runningproject/@runningproject/the-runningproject-daniels-running-formula-10km-training-week-2

And don’t forget to vote for your favorite author of the week: https://steemit.com/runningproject/@runningproject/vote-your-running-author-of-the-week-the-steem-running-project-wk21-by-runningproject 

Posted by @plantstoplanks on behalf of the @runningproject