Fuel Bites
They told me, "you'll be so busy at your wedding day that you'll forget to eat."
As if.
Eating is my favorite. I started with Flatbread pizza, then moved on to Ceres Street grub, then was found late night in a 5 gallon bucket of leftovers. None of this is an exaggeration. I most certainly did NOT forget to eat on my wedding day.
Then they told me,
"You'll be so busy chasing around your baby that you'll forget to eat."
Well, okay. I might give them this one. It's not so much that I "forget"...it's more like everything else gets in the way. I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off a lot of the time. I wake up and want to do ALL THE THINGS. And that includes working out. I always feel so much better when I start my day with some sweat. But I really can't exercise with food in my belly. So I'll hold off on breakfast, and then sometimes by the time I get around to it, I realize I've been awake for 4 hours...with NO FOOD. I slipped into a bad habit of waking up, nursing the babe, feeding the babe solids while slamming coffee, accomplishing about 6,000 other tasks while slamming more coffee, putting the babe down for a nap, working out, THEN eating breakfast. It was a total disaster for my blood sugar regulation and my energy. Eventually I crashed.
Now I'm a lot more conscientious about getting some fuel into my system at the start of the day. Sometimes that means a full breakfast right out of the gate, or sometimes—if I know I am going to exercise soon—that means getting a source of calories and slow burning fat into my body so my tank isn't running on empty.
These Fuel Bites do just that.
They are based on the original recipe for Phat Fudge from Mary Shenouda. I've just pared down the ingredient list a bit, and given some other options.
Fuel Bites are also really, really great for that midday slump that typically sends you reaching for caffeine or sugar, or at nighttime when you're raiding the cupboards for snacks.
There's lots of room to play with this recipe, so I'm sharing a basic template below:
BASE FUEL BITE INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup nut or seed butter (tahini, smooth almond butter, cashew butter, walnut butter, sunflower seed butter)
1/2 cup fat (coconut oil, grass-fed ghee, or a combination of the 2, I use a combo)
1-2 tablespoons sweetener (raw local honey, real maple syrup, molasses), I like mine less sweet, so use 1 T.
CHOOSE YOUR FLAVOR ADD-INS:
Mocha Fuel Bites
2 Tablespoons cacao powder
2 tsp fine coffee grounds
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
Cinnamon Fuel Bites
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
(I love using molasses as the sweetener for this combo.)
Optional protein add-in:
1 tablespoon gelatin or collagen powder - I use this brand (use code FUNK for 20% off)
INSTRUCTIONS
Melt the coconut oil/ghee over LOW heat in a saucepan. Whisk in nut butter until smooth. Turn off heat. Whisk in sweetener and any other liquid ingredients, then add dry ingredients.
Mixture should be thin. Pour into silicone trays—I use these and fill them up about halfway. (You could also use ice cube trays, I'm sure.) Place in freezer and allow to solidify, about 1-2 hours. Remove from tray, and store in freezer in plastic baggy or container. These MUST be kept in freezer, or else they will melt, especially in the summer heat.
This recipe makes 15 when using suggested trays. The mocha variety (using tahini, coconut oil and ghee, 1 tablespoon honey, and adding gelatin protein) contains about 120 calories, 12 grams fat, 2 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram sugar per bite. Eat 1-2 bites pre-workout or anytime your brain and body need FUEL.
Fuel Bites are just one of the 100+ recipes included in my 21 day nutrition program, Eat to Achieve.
