I need a little energy right now. We got rain (yay!) last night, but it came in the form of a thunderstorm or two and managed to keep me awake for awhile. Had a busy day and should go to bed but instead I’ll share a new recipe. 
One of the things I had to do today was give another wellness presentation at a company here in town. I always try to bring a little treat and today I experimented a little. I tweaked the previous energy balls that I’ve made and swapped the oatmeal for quinoa.
Quinoa is definitely a superfood. It is a whole grain, but does not contain gluten, which can sometimes wreak havoc on people’s digestive tracts. It also packs a protein punch, and has plenty of fiber. Plus it’s easy to make.
I boiled two cups of water and then added one cup of quinoa. Once it started boiling again, I turned the heat down and just let it sit for about 12 minutes. Stir and you’re done.
My recipe today was even simpler than energy balls. Two cups of cooked quinoa stirred with one cup of chunky natural peanut butter, one tablespoon of honey, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and one tablespoon of chia seeds.
They were a little mushy, and I probably could have added more peanut butter and honey as they weren’t very sweet, but they still tasted good. And you can’t beat the nutrition info- definitely beat out the cookies and lemonade that they hauled in after my presentation.
I don’t really feel like going over all the meals, except Hubby made an excellent steak last night that we paired with some grilled potatoes. I made sure to watch my portion and gave him some of mine. It was tough though, since it was so good!
Wanted to quick mention a product that a patient told me about- Lifeway Kefir. The kefir that I have had in the past has been pretty darn disgusting. This was actually refreshing. It had a light raspberry flavor to it and it wasn’t too bitter or sour. I just drank it down like milk.
Of course you can’t find this in our little town, although maybe there is hope with the new SuperWalmart?? I had to pick this up at a Hy-Vee in their natural foods section.
Kefir is very similar to yogurt- they both have very good-for-you probiotics in them that help regulate digestion. Kefir slightly tops out yogurt because it has different strains of bacteria in it that helps it penetrate further into the digestive tract, all the way to the colon. It basically helps clean house throughout.
Since Tyler is taking an antibiotic for his strep he had last week, I make sure to give him yogurt or kefir every day to help recolonize his digestive tract. Sometimes kids will have loose stools while on antibiotics but he hasn’t had any problems at all.
Minus the fact that he hates taking the medicine… not a fan of bubble gum flavor. Suppose they make a cheese-flavored antibiotic?
That’s all for tonight… be back Sunday!
