I feel like a fraud when I call stuff like this baking or cooking when little to no actual baking or cooking is done. So, I will call this no-bake, because it isn’t technically raw as the pumpkin is cooked and this is one of the many reasons I loathe food/dietary labels on things! Its far too confusing and messy… anyways, these pumpkin chocolate energy balls are fantastic, filled with good-for-you ingredients and a little chocolate too because that is how I roll (pun intended).
Speaking of labels and how much I loathe them, in regards to my own diet, I must admit that I am attempting a paleo-ish diet on myself. Why oh why would I do that?! I am a lover of all sorts of grains, legumes and wheat to be honest, but sadly my digestive system and how I have been feeling lately is not such a huge fan. So I have decided to attempt to heal my own gut and that means no grains in addition to some other fun dietary restrictions (see dairy and legumes). Funnily enough, when I prescribe this type of diet to clients, I always think of how easy it is to follow, but really, its tough for a lot of people to follow. I am learning very quickly how to batch cook, making tons of use of my crock pot and dutch oven and then throwing together meals based on what protein I have along with tons of veggies.
I promise to speak much more on how this all plays out in the coming weeks and months, but I am 100% committed to doing this and doing it right. The reason I say paleo-ish, is because as much as I will try to eat paleo, there will undoubtedly be times when I mess up. Maybe, I have a piece of sheep/goat cheese, or some quinoa or rice every now and then, I am not sure. Which is why I don’t want to put myself in a box and say that I am going paleo or 100% gluten free or anything like that. Its also psychological, once I know that I can’t have something, it becomes the forbidden fruit and its all I can think about. So, paleo-ish is my new jam and I am quite looking forward to trying out lots of new recipes along the way.
Now, obviously these pumpkin balls are not paleo, as they contain rolled oats, but I made these longggggg before I decided to try out this whole paleo-ish diet. I am sure, you could omit the oats and replace them with nuts, but I don’t know how this would affect the consistency as they are wet due to the pumpkin, however, it may work.
And you know its fall when pumpkin starts making the rounds all over the place and I for one see no objection to this. I absolutely love pumpkin and all types of squash (favourites being butternut, spaghetti and kabocha). I am already dreaming of all the ways I can use spaghetti squash in my new paleo-ish diet, yum!
Stay tuned for an informative post coming soon on why my gut needs to be healed, how I am doing it specifically and also how I am feeling along the way. This is a topic I feel soooo passionate about as I have always suffered in some way with my own digestion issues and I know that many others are living with it as well. I know that food can be used as medicine and can absolutely heal you, so stay tuned on what is to come next!
Now lets hit pause on hunger and eat some pumpkin chocolate energy balls along the way.
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 1/3 cup cashews
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp. hemp hearts
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 6 medjool dates
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves and nutmeg
- pinch of ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp of sea salt
- 5 tbsp. rolled oats (use gluten free if necessary)
- 2 tbsp. chocolate chips
- Add all of the above into your food processor until the mixture comes together.
- Refrigerate this for about 20 minutes so they can harden a bit.
- Add the rolled oats to the mixture and pulse until they are combined.
- Move the mixture to a medium sized bowl and add the chocolate chips.
- Roll into balls and keep them in the fridge.
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