Edamame. That is all.

Since converting to a plant based diet in early January 2015, I have discovered so many new foods.  Instead of craving sugary, sweet snacks I now look forward to eating a variety of vegetables....yes, vegetables!

One of my favourite snacks is edamame.  Edamame are soy beans in the pod, usually available as a side dish in any sushi restaurant.  Not that I had ever eaten them when we went to get sushi. 

Now I cannot get enough of them!  I buy them at our local supermarket (in the frozen section), throw them in some boiling water for a few minutes.  They are already cooked so it's just about warming them through.  Then I squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice and add some cracked black pepper. 

Only the soy beans inside should be eaten as the pods are stringy and tough. 

They are a favourite for our kids too - such an easy and healthy snack for the whole family. So look out for them next time you are at the supermarket and pick up a bag (or 20). 

Date, oatmeal and walnut balls

Lately I have been only eating three meals a day - and it is really hard some days, especially when I have gone for a run in the morning.  Plus I need something for my daughter to snack on in between her dance classes on a Saturday morning.  We had a meltdown last week when the hunger monster overtook all sense and reason (and that was just me!). 

So I decided to jump on the ol' bandwagon and make some raw balls.  I know that most people, who converted to this way of living waaaaay before me, use fancier ingredients like medjool dates and organic produce. 

I have made these using the garden variety, available at the supermarket ingredients.  It's more economical - which is really important for us because kids can be expensive! 

So, these are around 80 calories per ball.  The exact calories will differ each time because you may need to add more dates (for example) to get the mixture more 'wet' so that the balls combine well and don't fall apart. 

So I put around 24 dates (just the normal kind), 1/3 cup of walnuts and 1/3 cup of quick oats (oats that have been ground up a little so that they cook a little faster) in the blender and blended until the mixture came together. 

Then I the mixture into little balls (this time I made 15, normally I would make 12) and put them in the fridge to set hard.

You could vary the ingredients - try almonds instead of walnuts or try adding some coconut. 

Enjoy!