Coconut chocolate energy balls

This month's theme, for Recipe Redux, was to make a nutritional bite size item to jazz up a lunch box. School is back in session and the lunch boxes are in use! It is important to feed children nutritious snacks and meals to keep them awake and engaged during the long school day. These bite-size energy and high fiber balls will provide nutrients to keep going all day, along with a touch of chocolate!  I hope you enjoy these bites just as much as my friends, family, and I did! You can never go wrong with my favorite couple of coconut and chocolate!

Coconut chocolate energy balls

Servings: 12 balls
Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp wheat germ or flaxseed
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp almond milk
• 1/4 dark chocolate, chips or chopped pieces

Directions: 

*You can do the mixing in a food processor for a cleaner job

1. In a magic bullet or food processor, grind 1/2 cup for a second into a flour consistency.
2. Place foil on a baking sheet, and toast the coconut flakes for 1-2 minutes, until a little brown. Add the toasted coconut to oats.
3. Add wheat germ.
4. In a small bowl, melt coconut oil. Add honey, vanilla extract, and milk. 
5. Add the wet ingredients, slowly into the dry mixture. Add chocolate. 
6. Form small balls.
7. Refrigerate or bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Either option is delightful!

Baked:

Non-baked:

Here are a few more options to add to lunch boxes

(from my blog post last year)

Here are some examples to pack into that lunch box:

-Drinks: water is always the best choice. When it comes to juice boxes there are some good juice boxes out there. Look for no added sugar, 100% natural juice, and one that can provide vitamins and minerals. Ex: Honest tea, Vita Coco Kids, Apple & Eve, Whole foods Fruit Punch

-Yogurt: It is a great choice, but many kid's yogurt is full of sugar. Choose plain yogurt and add your own flavoring, for example: honey, fresh fruit, dried fruit, or make a ranch dip for veggie dippers.

-Fruit: Try to pack fresh fruit as the first choice, but fruit purees and dried fruit are just as good. For example: Del Monte's Fruit Burst Squeezers the fruit puree pouches are easy to pack, contains some veggies as well as fruit, no artificial flavors, no high-fructose corn syrup, and a good source of Vit C.

-Snacks: Whole grain crackers or pretzels, homemade veggie chips, freeze-dried fruits and vegetables (Company: Just Tomatoes, etc.), healthy chips (Brands: Food Should Taste Good, Popchips, Baked Lentil Chips, Beanitos, Sunchips, and Humbles), air-popped popcorn (toss with cinnamon, parmesan cheese, or other flavor add ins), nuts, string cheese (part-skim), and veggie with dip (PB, Greek yogurt ranch mix, or hummus).

-Sandwich: Skip the packaged and make your own with low-sodium deli meats and cheese, tuna, natural peanut butter, no-sugar added jam, grilled chicken, and hummus and veggies. Add sliced veggies, mustard, fruit slices, avocado, and spices to dress up the sandwich. Use 100% whole-grain bread, sandwich thins, wraps, rolls, English muffins, etc.

-Energy bars: Many are filled with sugar! Look for one that has 150 cal or less, less than 10g of sugar, 140mg or less sodium, at least 3g of fiber, and at least 3g of protein.  For example: KIND bars, Quest bars, Lara bars, Cliff kids, Nature Valley, or make your own.

An InLinkz Link-up