In the beginning of my "experiment" I still bought candy or cookies, I just bought fewer of them. DH complained but for the most part he fell in line.
Now that we are a little deeper in I have replaced more of our junk. The one thing that DH bitches about more than anything else is candy and desserts. I have the ingredients to make a pie or cookies, but to go to all the effort just to keep a "sometimes" food on hand? Well I am not really doing that. Once in a while is one thing, but I would so much rather spend my time being sneaky getting veggies into my kids tummies.
Then I got an idea for a "candy" that I wouldn't mind keeping around the house. This is one that contains no refined sugar and has a good amount of raw nuts, a healthy source of protein and nuts. Also, I convinced Thing 1 that helping me to make them would be more fun than watching the Backyardagins! Really, this are just tiny home made Larabars (love those things!)
Almond-Date Truffles
1/2 cup Raw Organic Almonds
8 oz Organic Mejool Dates
Unsweetened Shredded Organic Coconut for dusting
Of course my recipe calls for organic everything, but you guys are adults and know that you can substitute roasted for raw and conventional for organic. But I am shooting for as organic as possible.
In your food processor run the almonds until they are well chopped.
Then add your dates, make sure you remove all the pits before pulsing. Date pits are not good eats. Run your dates and almonds together until they form a coarse crumb. You can then either measure out the mix, or eyeball it. But either way form the crumbs into balls by pressing into your hands. Then take the balls and roll them in a shallow dish of the organic unsweetened shredded coconut. Or you could get your 3 year old to do that part for you. And although he got coconut everywhere, he did a pretty good job and I didn't have to intervene and do it for him.
So everyone is happy with this recipe. DH is happy to have something sweet in the house. Thing 1 thinks he is getting candy. Mommy is happy that these are whole foods, no refined sugar or icky ingredients. Only...Thing 2 is kind of pissed. He is a little too young for nuts, so I think he feels a little left out. Oh well, you can't please all the people all the time.
Enjoy!
Now that we are a little deeper in I have replaced more of our junk. The one thing that DH bitches about more than anything else is candy and desserts. I have the ingredients to make a pie or cookies, but to go to all the effort just to keep a "sometimes" food on hand? Well I am not really doing that. Once in a while is one thing, but I would so much rather spend my time being sneaky getting veggies into my kids tummies.
Then I got an idea for a "candy" that I wouldn't mind keeping around the house. This is one that contains no refined sugar and has a good amount of raw nuts, a healthy source of protein and nuts. Also, I convinced Thing 1 that helping me to make them would be more fun than watching the Backyardagins! Really, this are just tiny home made Larabars (love those things!)
Almond-Date Truffles
1/2 cup Raw Organic Almonds
8 oz Organic Mejool Dates
Unsweetened Shredded Organic Coconut for dusting
Of course my recipe calls for organic everything, but you guys are adults and know that you can substitute roasted for raw and conventional for organic. But I am shooting for as organic as possible.
In your food processor run the almonds until they are well chopped.
Then add your dates, make sure you remove all the pits before pulsing. Date pits are not good eats. Run your dates and almonds together until they form a coarse crumb. You can then either measure out the mix, or eyeball it. But either way form the crumbs into balls by pressing into your hands. Then take the balls and roll them in a shallow dish of the organic unsweetened shredded coconut. Or you could get your 3 year old to do that part for you. And although he got coconut everywhere, he did a pretty good job and I didn't have to intervene and do it for him.So everyone is happy with this recipe. DH is happy to have something sweet in the house. Thing 1 thinks he is getting candy. Mommy is happy that these are whole foods, no refined sugar or icky ingredients. Only...Thing 2 is kind of pissed. He is a little too young for nuts, so I think he feels a little left out. Oh well, you can't please all the people all the time.
Enjoy!
I love this recipe idea! Please tell me, did you use raw or dried dates?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am particularly proud of this one. I used dried dates. But I made sure to look for plump and unctious dates. if they are old or overdried it will be harder to form the balls.
ReplyDeleteFresh dates? I don't think I have ever seen fresh dates...
for a grown-up treat, you can infuse the dates with some brandy or bourbon, or whatever you prefer...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would toast the almonds before putting them in. The toasting just brings out some great flavors.
ReplyDeleteMost (if not all) dates sold in the U.S. are allowed to remain on the palm tree after ripening so they can "sun dry" on the tree. Although dates naturally contain little moisture, the sun drying concentrates the sugars which is why it's done. If you were to find dates that have not been allowed to sun dry on the tree, I would imagine they wouldn't be as sweet as other dates and would probably not work as well in this recipe.
ReplyDeleteIn my family, we stuff whole dates with whole almonds, walnut halves, or pecan halves. Then we roll them in granulated sugar. I'm going to try it with unsweetened coconut instead of sugar next time. My family's version doesn't use up much sugar but no sugar would be even better. And I LOVE coconut!