Create Your Own Adventure Bites Recipe

Hello everyone! It’s me, Crystal, your favourite Nutritionist! Today I’m going to be showing you a quick and easy snack you can make that will ensure you can spend the most of these beautiful days outside enjoying the sun and not slaving away in the kitchen.

If you’re like me, and grew up in the 80’s, then you probably remember those Create Your Own Adventure books where you decide where the story goes. I always loved those books because every time I read it, it was a new and different story. So today I’ve taken that book premise and made it edible! Introducing the Create Your Own Adventure Bites! Ta da!

These bites take about 10 minutes to make and they don’t require any appliances, which means you can even make them in the park, if that’s what strikes your fancy.

What you need:

    1 1/2 cups rolled oats
    2 Tbsp chia seeds or flaxseeds or hemp seeds
    1/2 cup nut or seed butter of choice
    3 Tbsp maple syrup or honey (or to taste)
    1 tsp vanilla or almond or peppermint extract (or any other flavour that is calling out to you)
    1/2 cup add ins

Add in Ideas:

    raw cacao powder (for a healthy chocolatey ball)
    almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachios, really any nut you’d like or a combo of nuts, oh my!
    pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
    unsweetened shredded coconut
    dried fruit
    anything else you can think of

For my bites I’m using hemp seeds, cashew and almond nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts and chopped cashews.

Once you’ve got all your ingredients it’s time to mix the dry stuff together in one bowl and the wet stuff together in another bowl.

Now stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. This part is easiest if you ditch the spoon and use your hands.

Once it’s all mixed together it should be sticky but not too sticky. You should be able to mould the mixture into balls. This recipes makes about 20 one inch bites.

These bites are a great snack to help keep your energy up throughout the day. Throw a few in your bag and get on with your busy summer day! But don’t forget, energy is calories so be smart about how many of these delicious bites you consume at once.

Nutrition Information:

Oats contain carbohydrates, which gives your body energy but they are also packed with soluble fibre that helps lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. Keeping you from getting Hangry!

Chia seeds and flaxseeds also contain fibre which helps keep you regular. As well as containing Omega 3 fatty acids, essential to a healthy cell membrane.

Hemp seeds are a complete protein, meaning they contain all 9 essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of your DNA.

Nuts and nut butters and seeds and seed butters are packed full of healthy fats and protein as well. Fats help you stay full longer. Make sure to buy quality nuts and nut butters. Look out for added sugar and oils. A good nut or seed butter should have one ingredient – the nut or seed on the label.

Maple syrup or honey is a great source of fuel for your body. For all of you confused about what your body uses to make energy, here’s the simple answer – carbs. That’s right. Your body uses carbohydrates to make energy, not protein. Not protein?! And just to be clear, carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, etc. It’s not a dirty word you need to be afraid of. We’ll discuss this further in another post.

Raw Cacao is another amazing source of fibre as well as antioxidants, iron and magnesium! Raw cacao powder is ground from cacao beans. It’s healthy because it doesn’t contain added sugar.