Could be my Grandma’s Pre-Workout Recipe: Golden Milk Balls

Turmeric has made an appearance on this blog several times now {Plant Plate Special, Yellow Quinoa} and I’m not sure if it is a result of having a Persian grandmother whose fingers have been stained a glistening turmeric yellow for as long as I can remember or if I’m just a food blogging statistic in a new wave of turmeric spiced food and drinks {ie: chickpeas and golden milk lattes}.

Either way, when I reconnected with my brilliant dietitian friend Brigitte from BZ Nutrition we decided to get together in the kitchen {normal people meet for coffee or a drink, BTW…} and do something ballsy and somehow turmeric made yet another debut.

The result? A portable and nutrient dense pre-workout snack that is hip, tasty and appealing from the inside out.  Finding foods that work for you before exercise can be a challenge and keep in mind that different foods work for different people.  In general, my rule is eat a balanced meal ~2-3 hours before working out, or a snack ~30-60 minutes before exercise.  These snacks should be low-ish in fiber and  well tolerated {don’t want you running to the bathroom after 5 minutes on the treadmill}, they should be energy dense to provide adequate calories {food=fuel} and they should provide essential nutrients {yea, you can eat a bag of pretzels, but where’s the nutritional value in that?}.  Some ideas to try: a banana and tablespoon of creamy peanut butter, 1-2 rice cakes with hummus or plain yogurt with 1-2 dates.  Or…. If my Persian grandmother was to ever have a pre-work snack {she’s a champion walker in the LA area, BTW}, she would use her turmeric stained fingers to make this Golden Milk Ball thing {recipe below}…

Directions:

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor until all ingredients are well combined {see photo above}
• Form mixture into 1-inch balls and then roll in the shredded coconut until well coated
• Lay balls out on a flat baking sheet and refrigerate for ~20 minutes until they are firm and set
• Enjoy 🙂 and store in the refrigerator