NOTE: This is an older post…I’m not currently on maternity leave 😉
So. I’m on maternity leave.
But I have a problem. I really can’t sit still. We’ve been so blessed with oodles of help and gobs of food. Which has allowed me extra time to “sit still.” But, I just don’t sit still well. Despite my best efforts.
At least 12 times a day, I have to sit still. I’m nursing Austin, and boy does he like to nurse. He’s a little champion at it…regaining his birth weight at day 7…and who knows where we are now with his weight. (I’m tempted daily to bop in to the pediatrician’s office, just to see.) But I have to sit still…for a bit while he nurses. Minutes pass, hours pass…but during this “sit still” time, I still need something to do. While nursing Ryan back in the day, I turned to Alias. (Remember that TV show with Jennifer Garner…I so wanted to be a spy!) I watched all the seasons that were out on DVD at the time. With Charlie, it was catching up on 24. With Tyler, I worked right through…not taking much of a break.
And now with Austin, there’s Vine.
Have you heard of Vine?
It’s a brand new video app extension of Twitter, that allows you to shoot 6 second videos, and stop motion videos too. (These are my favorite.) I believe it’s currently available only for the iPhone. (http://www.vine.co/ for more information.)
So while I sit on the couch with my little buddy, I have discovered and fallen for Vine. (Here is Tyler helping me make dinner on Wednesday afternoon. Direct Twitter link.)
Well, and there’s Pinterest too.
I’ve been meaning to make the energy balls that float around all over Pinterest. And I finally got around to making them for an afternoon snack this week…and of course, I couldn’t help but “vine it”…the “how-to” and the “I think the boys are in love with these…watch” videos.
- vine.co/v/b1Z03OQl19J – click on this “vine branch” to see what happened to yesterday’s batch of Gluten Free Energy Bites. Gone in seconds.
- vine.co/v/bJVeArbYzpz – and this one is the 6 second “How to Make Energy Bites” video from Vine… See, isn’t that easy?!
So back to the energy balls…I used up all the oats I had in the house for the first batch that I made on Wednesday. So when I went to make them yesterday, I needed an alternative.
Gluten Free Rice Krispies….perfect! I dumped them into the bowl first, “broke them down” slightly by crushing them with my hand and then finished mixing up the energy bites.
Hope you enjoy these as much as we did/do!
(Really, I have been enjoying the slower pace of maternity leave and all the cuddles with baby, and even the big boys!)
Gluten Free, No-Bake Energy Bites
Adapted from Food Doodles
Yield – about 20 energy bites
Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Chill Time – 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free rice krispies (or you can usecertified GF quick cooking oats too) Note: If you wish to make a NON-GLUTEN FREE version of this, you can use regular quick cooking oats or regular rice krispies.
- 2/3 cup peanut butter (any nut butter will do)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 cup shredded coconut flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- about 3/4-1 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
- (See the 6 second how-to.)
- Add the rice krispies (or oats) to a bowl, crush lightly with your hand or potato masher.
- Add the peanut butter, honey, coconut flakes and cinnamon and stir together.
- Then add the chocolate chips.
- Chill in the fridge for about an hour. Then form into balls.
- Serve and watch them disappear!
(Now, back to my regularly scheduled “maternity leave.”)
Oh, and…if you do decide to join Vine, search for me…”5dollardinners”…”see you” out on the Vine!
See more easy dessert ideas on our Sweets & Treats Pinterest Board here!
Follow $5 Dinners {Erin Chase}’s board Sweets and Treats on Pinterest.
This recipe is featured on SouthernPlate.com’s Meal Plan Monday #25.
These sound really yummy. I’ll have to make that for my crew.
I understand the whole nursing thing. I have watched a few shows in my many years of nursing. If you want to keep up on baby’s weight between visits, go to Walmart and in the fishing section they sell fish scales. It has a hook on it and I knot a blanket or use a sling. It’s really easy to weigh the baby and gives lb and oz. As ours gets heavier (over 20lbs now), I do have someone hold their hands under the baby as I lift him a few inches off the floor.
My mother kept track of all her babies weights with one of these. All 14 of us, 7 boys and 7 girls.
Your comment brought back a vivid memory of the ritual of the weighing of the baby!
I’m going to make these Energy Balls for my hard-working daughter!
Any idea at all on the calories, fat and fibre count for these? They look delicious!
I have not seen gluten free rice krispies. I never really thought about them having gluten or not. Generally the entire breakfast isle has gluten. Thanks for the information I will have to look for this.
rice is gluten free
If you check the back of the regular rice krispie box it says contains gluten.
I been using generic rice crispies for ages…I always look at the label and it doesnt say anything about wheat or contains gluten…maybe it is because it is the generic one?
It’s because they don’t contain wheat and there is no labeling laws for gluten. It’s the malt in rice crispies that you have to look out for.
My son has been GF for 5 years and here’s a bit of what I’ve learned. Some Chex cereals are gluten-free (their box is labeled). GF Rice Krispies come in a smaller box that looks different from regular ones. Gluten is found in the following:
Wheat
Varieties and derivatives of wheat such as: wheatberries, durum, emmer, semolina, spelt, farina, faro, graham, KAMUT® khorasan wheat, einkorn wheat
Rye
Barley
Triticale
Malt in various forms including: malted barley flour, malted milk or milkshakes, malt extract, malt syrup, malt flavoring, malt vinegar
Brewer’s Yeast
If any of these ingredients is in a food, it is not Gluten Free. If you use ingredients that have come in contact with gluten (butter with a few regular bread crumbs), then an item is not gluten free. We’ve had instances where very kind people have meant to make GF snacks for my son, but haven’t understood these ingredients and therefore have made something unsafe for him to eat.
I am out of rice krispies, I am not GF but I am wondering if other cereals crushed would work, like honey nut chex or cheerios, i have a bunch of those around. I might need to try this later.
These are awesome. I am 6 weeks pregnant and craving sweets. These hit the spot. I also added chia seeds to mine.. I even made some without coconut and put them in my husbands lunch, he liked them until I told him they were healthy lol..
i make these all the time, and vary the recipe depending what i have…
i skip the chocolate chips and add unsweetened cocoa powder or carob chips (helps with fat and calories but you still get the chocolate taste and eliminates the dairy), i also add (about 1/4 cup) ground flax seed (for some more nutrition).
i only use 1 cup of oats and 1/2 cup of PB, and will sometimes add raisins if i’m feeling crazy! haha!
also, a good tip, if you put in the fridge for 30 min (or more) they roll much easier.
whats awesome about these is that they are so customizable with what you have in your pantry, and are great bite size snacks….and i make my vegan.
i have never made with cinnamon, so i will try that next!
i have learned if i bring them to work i need to leave some at home because they get eaten up in no time!!! (and they are all used to ordering out fat, unhealthy stuff, so im glad they are getting SOMETHING healthy once in a while! 🙂
EnjoyLife brand chocolate chips are dairy free. soy free, nut free.
I’ve been searching comments to see if anyone mentions sweetened vs unsweetened coconut. I try to only buy unsweetened but the texture is a fine shred (ground?) rather than nice fluffy shreds of the sweetened coconut from regular grocery stores.
Yes, plain rice is gluten free. However, Rice Krispies or other puffed rice cereals often have malted barley syrup or other sweeteners that are NOT GF.
Apparently even yeast can be a problem depending on what it is grown on, and that is not ever on the ingredient list. GF is tricky, but scratch baking avoids a lot of the hidden ingredient issues.
Looks like good! easy way to do no bake… thanks for sharing this tips..
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Is there a good substitute for the coconut? I’m not a huge fan.
Never mind. I’m a goober.
Never mind. I’m a goober. I see it’s either coconut or oats
When we made these we simply omitted the coconut because we didn’t have any and my husband isn’t a big fan of it anyway. It was still insanely delicious and took great willpower to not eat it all at once.
Never mind. I’m a goober. I see it’s either coconut or oats
These look super! We are akways making weird power ball treats and these will be a nice departure from my standard of dates-nuts-coconut-chocolate.
I am slowly but surely exploring the possibility of going gluten free. My fiance and I could both benefit, health-wise, but are finding it difficult to transition. This recipe is DEFINITELY going on my list of things to try next week!
These look super! We are akways making weird power ball treats and these will be a nice departure from my standard of dates-nuts-coconut-chocolate.
Adding a little coconut oil to the energy balls helps with shelf life and adds some nutritious fatty acids as well!
I don’t know what happened or why… but, I recently (and suddenly) have been plagued with Celiac food allergy disease. Go figure. I was eating everything just fine, for like… forever. Then, suddenly, my body says “No!”. So, I just found out that gluten-free recipes are the new way I have to go.
Thanks for posting so many great recipes. You’ll have me cooking for months! Yum!
Yum! These look so good! Thank You for the recipe, I just may have to try these myself =)
$5 Dinners, 6 Second Recipes.
Those look INSANE. Will there be any in Cincy?
Asking for a friend.
I make something very similar, using what we call Rice Bubbles which are the same as Rice Crispy’s I think, but instead of using chocolate bits, I use diced dates, and replace the honey with Malted Barley Syrup which we love, and it’s completely Vegan…
Just a suggestion…
Sounds yummy! But oats are not gluten free 🙁
Quick oats are not gluten free because of the processing they go thru, but old fashioned oats or even steel cut are. My girl has celiacs so we have now found we can do oats, some peoples body reacts to the protein in the oats while others don’t.. good luck.
hello! these are delicious! I just made them and want to know if they are to be kept in the fridge or left out? 😉 Thanks!
I like to add chia seeds, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds to mine, for extra protein and brain food!
Lol! I clicked on the link to this recipe tonight while watching, for the umpteenth time…”alias”!! We are going thru all 5 seasons 😉 we had a good laugh when I read your post!! Can’t wait to try the recipe now!
I have seen these all over and want to try them but I have a nut allergy. Any suggestions for substitutions that would make these just as tasty as every says they are???
Sunflower seed butter is a good swap!
Hey all,
I calculated some nutrition info. These are the ingredients I used:
Great Value Quick Oats
Planters Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
Kroger Clover Honey
Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flakes
McCormick Ground Cinnamon
Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Mini Morsels
Per ball–
Calories: 151
Carbs: 16.5 g
Sugar: 10 g
Fat: 9.4 g
Protein: 3 g
Overall, I’d say there’s a little too much sugar for these to be considered healthy (women should not consume more than 25 g per day), but they’re really delicious, and if you’re in a hurry, these are great.
You can cut some of the sugar by getting unsweetened peanut butter, and darker chocolate (or use less chips), and maybe a puffed rice cereal without (or with less) sugar… but would they be as tasty? 🙂
what can the coconut be substituted with — we are allergic
Just made these. Quick easy and delicious. Thank you
I would love to have this to share with others. Thank you very much!!
These were so yummy! And better gluten free. Thank you.
I’ll try to make gluten free recipes in my kitchen! Tks!
I love it! Thank you very much!
Oh my Gosh! Tks for this post. I loved and I’ll try to eat these foods.
I always get too lazy to finish rolling them all up into balls…much easier to just flatten and cut into bars.