Tuesday, Week 2 - Bliss Balls, Milkshakes and Whole Fruit

Today we made bliss balls, milkshakes and handed out heaps of peaches, nectarines and mandarins.  It was a less stress day in terms of washing up and I felt like I had loads more time to get other things done too - I planted some basil, coriander and mint in the veggie garden.  There are so many plants in there now - it's just awesome and it has this wild kind of feel to it, like I'm in a forest fairy world.  I will take some photos and post them up later in the week.

I had four kids with me again today.  It was different in the way we did things today too.  I gave them a bowl each and a packet of dates.  They emptied their dates into the bowls and covered them in hot water.  They sat for 10 minutes.  We emptied the bowl of water and put the soaked dates into the blender.  Adding the rest of the ingredients and blitzing them.

Bliss Balls

1 packet dates
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons chia seeds

After they were blitzed and smooth-ish, the mixture was emptied out into a bowl.  They made balls with the stuff, then rolled them in a bowl of desiccated coconut and put them on a serving plate.

We washed everything up and then everyone came back into the kitchen to help make milkshakes.

Milkshakes

1 litre soy milk
1 banana
1/2 packet frozen berries (we used blueberries and raspberries)

Blitz all the ingredients and then pour into cups.  The frozen berries act like ice in terms of making the drink cold so we didn't add extra ice to the mix.  Unfortunately I have no photos of this part of the day, but it was a lot of fun.  Cleaning up took half as long this afternoon as there were no plates - just cups to wash.  Now... how can I make that a regular occurrence?!

Dates are low in fat but high in fibre so they are good for your digestive system.  They are rich in vitamins A and C and the B vitamins too.  They are high in protein, iron, potassium, calcium manganese, copper and magnesium, which can reduce blood pressure and therefore heart disease.  Dates are also high in sugar, but forgive yourself; they are natural sugars - not the kind you want to eliminate from your diet, like refined and artificial sugars.

Chia seeds also pack a powerful nutritional punch.  They are high in fibre, protein, calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus.  They also have good amounts of the B vitamins, potassium and zinc.  Chia seeds also contain Omega 3 fatty acids which are crucial to brain development and have blood markers which can decrease your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.