Carrot Cake Date Balls
Sequoia National Park in California. We found a scenic spot to refuel.
Carrot Cake Date Balls
Food and my Fitness Journey
I feel comfortable in my fitness journey. I eat food I love and feel nutritionally satisfied. I am comfortable in the size of clothing I wear, and I have good energy to participate in my favorite sports. There is always things I could continue to improve on, but it is also important to be in a place that has good balance within my life. I can look at my body and love it today for what it allows me to do.
Work & Play: I love creating and working in my business, but it is important to my mental and physical health to run, hike, travel and explore new trails. Finding time for the “play” in my life has been important in my fitness journey.
Good people: Surrounding myself with people that are supportive to me and others has been highly important to my success. It is a passion of mine to want to see others gain confidence in their fitness journey. If learning from what I do helps, then the time I spend documenting this is well worth it. I want every person to feel happy in their own skin.
My daily diet is full of simple real food, that is easy to put together.
Stocking my fridge and pantry: I learned to develop a grocery list that allowed me to make a variety of food that all followed my nutritional guidelines. I keep my meals simple. It is just a matter of mixing different veggies, fats and proteins together in ways that fuel me well.
What is always on my grocery list:
sweet potatoes
spring mix lettuce
fresh spinach
tiny tomatoes
fresh jalapeños
purple onions
fresh garlic
carrots
purple cabbage
mushrooms
eggs
cheese
canned beans like black, garbanzo, and kidney
quinoa
avocado and olive oil
variety of my favorite cheeses. Habanero cheese and Dubliner are my two favorites. I like blocked cheese because the shredded cheese has additives. Sometimes I try other kinds.
coconut or almond milk creamer for my morning coffee
flavored sparkling water
nuts
medjool dates
Ezekiel bread
all natural sugar free peanut butter
frozen fruit to make jelly
monk sugar
maple syrup
lean meat
canned white albacore tuna
herbs, sea salt
Sharing food that follows my healthy food guidelines with my friends and family makes me happy. I developed these carrot cake date balls to share with friends. These travel well for a day on the trails, and are great snacks to keep in the fridge. It is fun to make specialty date treats, but I am also happy with just a simple date when I have a sweet tooth!
I can’t wait to share these with friends!
Now which new trail should we go explore? Are you going to come join us?
Leave me comments on trails I need to check out!
Love you! ~ Michele
RECIPE CARROT CAKE DATE BALLS:
Date, carrot and nut mixture.
20-25 Medjool dates
1 1/2 cup lightly chopped walnuts
6 tablespoons coconut or almond flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 small grated carrots
fine shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened)
monk sugar to taste
Directions:
Shred carrots and set aside
in Vita-mix or food processor add nuts, cinnamon, ginger, pie spice and cinnamon. Quickly chop into small pieces and pour into a bowl.
Add Medjool dates and vanilla extract to food processor. Blend until roughly smooth. Add the shredded carrots and pulse a couple more times. Pour into bowl with the nut spice mixture. Sprinkle in Monk sugar to taste. I used approximately 1/4 of a cup of Monk sugar on this batch.
Mix the two together. If the “batter” seams too dry to hold together blend a few more dates to mix in. If it seems to wet add some more chopped nuts or almond flour. Dates vary in size and moistness so you may need to adjust.
Form into balls and roll in finely shredded no sugar coconuts flakes.
Refrigerate, serve and enjoy!
I keep dates in the fridge. They will hold up in a hydration pack without refrigeration for a day on the trail. If you have a cooler it works better. Having them cold taste good!