Great news, I have yet another snack ball recipe! It’s been a while, right?!

I’m on a big FAT kick right now. Meaning-I’m trying to eat more fat!

I grew up during the low fat craze of the 80’s & 90’s. I remember when the food pyramid told me I needed to eat 6-11 bowls of cereal every day and I was in heaven because at the time I was only eating maybe 3-4 bowls of cereal per day. So I upped my cereal intake and my bagel intake and my red vines licorice intake because, you know, it was all fat free!

I remember when those Snackwell cookies came out and they were fat free and my family and I thought we were just in heaven because, oh hallelujah, they were fat free which meant we could eat the whole box! Of course after a few boxes we also noticed they tasted like cardboard but it seemed like a reasonable price to pay for being allowed to eat unlimited cookies.

And now the experts are all like, psyyyyyyyyyche!!!! (Do you remember that old saying also from the 80’s-90’s?) It turns out fat, the right fat that is, is actually super duper healthy and we need to be eating a lot more of it.

Turns out, fat doesn’t make you fat after all.

On a side note, eating 6-11 bowls of cereal every day will for sure make you fat.

This week I’ve been watching something called The Fat Summit (www.fatsummit.com). I’ve only been able to watch a few of the videos but my takeaways so far are as follows:

• Fat doesn’t make you fat. It actually helps you burn fat.
• Fat we eat is not the same thing as the fat on our bodies.
• Saturated fat should not be feared. In fact, eat eggs and coconut oil, they will make you skinny!
• If you don’t eat fat you will be irritable & uptight and could even commit murder (It happened in a study done with monkeys fed a fat free diet).
• Eat fat with a good mindset. If you are thinking “this is going to make me fat” the whole time you are eating something, it probably will make you fat.
• If you don’t eat enough fat your hormones can get out of whack.
• Fat makes your food taste good.
• Fat makes you stay satisfied for longer and decreases sugar cravings.

And on that note, here is a delicious recipe full of all the right fats!

Superfood Snack Bites

• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted & soaked
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup raw cacao powder + extra for rolling
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (or blueberries, raisins or goji berries)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 2-3 tablespoons water
• 2-3 tablespoons mini dark chocolate chips or cacoa nibs
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

First, soak the dates in water for several hours or overnight. Once that’s been done you are ready to proceed. Mix the chia seeds in 2-3 tablespoons of water and set them aside while they soak up all the water.

In a food processor, blend the almonds & cashews just enough to break them up a little. Then add the shredded coconut, cacao powder & salt and pulse to combine.

Next, add the dates, cherries, chia seeds and almond extract and pulse more to blend. Then add the coconut oil and blend until you reach your desired texture.

Last, stir in the chocolate chips.

Put the mixture in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes to let the coconut oil harden the mixture a little. Just don’t leave it in there for too long or it will get really hard! When you are ready, form the dough into bite size balls and roll each one in cacao powder. Place on a cutting board lined with parchment paper and refrigerate. Store in the refrigerator, eat with wild abandon.

And now of course to the really good stuff. Rocco! We got Rocco a new bed. You know, because he doesn’t have enough comfy places to sleep.

It’s called the Pet Snoozer bed and I got it on Amazon. He loves it and knew exactly how to “do it”.

But of course he still just wants to sleep on the sofa or anywhere there’s a soft blanket!

That’s all I have for today. Bye for now!

Laura