Written by A Wild Dove | Photographed by Vicky Nikolaeva
As Halloween approaches, we mamas are constantly stuck in the conundrum of how to satisfy our children’s sweet tooth while promoting mindful eating, wellness and health. The constant sugar highs and lows around this holiday is simply too much to bare for their bodies, their minds and frankly, our sanity! Thankfully, Karolina Palmer, founder of Freaky Health Chocolate set out to create just that, a line of health-driven chocolate bars that we and our little ones are obsessed with. In each delicious bar, you’ll find adaptogenic herbs used to modulate our body’s hormonal response to stress, plants that can strengthen our nervous systems and a wild variety of cacao to add a dose of sweetness. So a few Saturdays ago, we asked Karolina to lead some mini’s in a Freaky Health Chocolate workshop to teach them how to make delicious energy balls packed with nutrients and a variety of antioxidants. In her own words, Kristina take us through the beauty in the mess of creating that perfect Halloween lunchbox treat that is sweet, protein-packed, and school safe.
““I love gently encouraging kids to get messy with food,” says Palmer. “Often the message is “Don’t play with your food!” and so it’s fun to then say, “Go ahead! Touch, squish, smear, feel! It often takes a bit of time to feel comfortable but once they do, they are so into it.””
As the children squished their way around a table at Freshmade NYC, mamas sipped on juices by Juice Press while Karolina explained what exactly was going into the energy balls and how each ingredient worked off the next one. “These kids loved talking about the different textures of the ingredients,” she said. “The sun butter was sticky but once we added the other ingredients it got easier to work with. They were so excited to see the alchemy of putting together ingredients. The fun was seeing them taste the finished product and say, ‘I love the chocolate chunks!’ It gave them an idea of how the final product can be somewhat different when all the raw ingredients are combined.”
Check out the recipe for Karolina’s Freaky Health Chocolate Healthy Energy Balls, featuring sun butter (you can substitute any nut butter) as well as pumpkin seeds for zinc and immunity. Additionally, the Freaky Health Chocolate bars included are free of processed sugar and sweetened with mulberries, which is loaded with antioxidants. If you or your little needs a dose of sweetness, add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey:
Freaky Health Chocolate Healthy Energy Balls
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1/3 cup coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup sun butter
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 Freaky Health Chocolate bar, broken up
DIRECTIONS
Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like.
Store, refrigerated, for two weeks.
