Hannah: Protein Balls

I am halfway into Jamie Eason's 12 week Life Fit Trainer. It has been an amazing experience so far and I'm finally getting my strong muscles back! (I've been without them for about a year.)
One bad habit I have is when I'm training, I tend to under eat. I hate to admit it but lately it's really been hindering my workouts. I am simply not getting enough good protein and I haven't been eating five small meals every three hours each day like I'm supposed to. I've been eating three small meals a day and my energy level is plummeting. I even felt like I was going to pass out or blackout during my leg workouts. No bueno! I haven't made these protein balls in a while because I have been very bad and haven't had a meal prep day in a couple weeks. It can be very difficult for me to eat every three hours when I am working because I'm a surgical assistant for a Periodontist and sometimes I can be in surgery for four hours or so. If I take a couple of these in my lunch box to work I can easily pop one in my mouth and resume my work schedule without any setbacks. These are absolutely mouthwatering and I'm happy to be incorporating them back into my diet because I truly believe they will boost my energy throughout the day, as well as with my workouts.

**I would like to start by stating this recipe is inspired by Jamie Eason's Turkey Balls on bodybuilding.com (my favorite website!) and I simply alter a few ingredients here and there based off of what I have growing in the garden or sitting in the fridge.

This time around I was very fortunate that my mom came across such a great deal on ground chicken. We bought ten pounds which meant I could make five times the amount called in the basic recipe. I'll show you what I did and then post the original recipe at the end because I'm sure most of you won't be as crazy as I was and make ten thousand balls at a time.



Not only was the ground chicken a really great deal, but it is from my
favorite meat provider. Denmark Foods is a couple miles from my house
so they always ship great quality meat to the Fry's down the street.
Also, I'm Danish. So anything with the name "Denmark" is
automatically exceptional.

  The original recipe calls for two pounds of ground turkey or chicken. When I had made this recipe before I had used turkey. For me, I just go for whatever meat is on sale. Obviously this time it was the chicken. I have not yet made this recipe vegetarian friendly but the next time I make these I will definitely do so and share my experience.



I also found some delicious cage free eggs for a
great deal! Win!


I had to use 15 egg whites. Holy crap. I know how truly beneficial egg yolks are and I do not like leaving the yolks out so I used 13 egg whites and 2 whole eggs. I'll eventually try this recipe without separating any eggs whatsoever but I wanted to make sure I didn't mess it up so I will slowly work my way up there and find out what ratios truly work. If you do separate your eggs... PLEASE don't throw away the egg yolks. Those babies are like nectar from the gods. Save them and make a hair mask or a face mask, if anything. I'm giving mine to my mom and she's making a quiche. :) 




I used three cups of chopped up swiss chard and one cup of
chopped up green onions.

 The original recipe also called for celery and onion which I have used in the past but I really didn't want to go back to the store (that's what happens when you don't make shopping lists), so I decided to use up whatever we had at home already. My mom had saved the stems from the swiss chard she grows and it only made sense that they would serve as a great substitute for celery. We also have lovely green onions growing in the backyard so they would do just fine as well. As I was chopping up the veggies I realized it just didn't seem like enough due to the large quantity of meat I was using so I went out into the garden to see what else I could find.




I used one cup of chopped parsley
and one cup of chopped kale.

 
Oh the joys of living at home..... and having a mom who gardens full time.;) I picked up some fresh curly kale and some parsley. Last summer I had kidney stones and discovered I also have a lung disease so I quickly found that parsley is one of the best herbs to promote good organ function (especially those darn kidneys). I try to put fresh parsley in everything I cook, juice, and blend.



Look at how pretty those veggies look!

 I ran back into the kitchen, finished chopping everything up, threw the veggies in and then poured my oats. I buy my oats in bulk at Sprouts. I use old fashioned rolled oats with this recipe. You'll need just one cup. I used five. The oats are what make this recipe so filling!

















Be kind to your soil and don't throw those egg shells away: compost them!

 Separating the eggs can be a tricky business. I am a crazy baker and I've separated many eggs in my time. You want to be safe and separate each egg individually before adding the egg to the rest of the ingredients. It only takes one bad egg to ruin your batch so take your time and do them one by one. Trust me.




Now is the time to preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. One of my biggest pet peeves about recipes is that the very first thing they tell you to do is preheat your oven. I live in Phoenix and it is almost June. No way am I going to heat up my house like a fool. It only takes six minutes (or so) to preheat your oven to this temperature. Do it right before you mix your ingredients. Oh yeah, this is also the time when I spray my muffin pans, that way the oil doesn't sit and collect like a pool on the bottom. Gross.

Mix it all up until your hands are numb from the cold (yeah don't forget-- this meat was thawing in the fridge!) I also added three cloves of minced garlic, one tablespoon of fresh cayenne pepper, one tablespoon of freshly ground mustard seed, and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Cinnamon is my FAVORITE spice to mix with meat. Oh my goodness. Do it. Even though the original recipe doesn't call for it, do it. It smells divine and tastes like a parade in your mouth!



Look at how cool my shirt is.

Bake these tasty suckers for forty minutes.... they will look lovely, golden, and very juicy. Oh yeah, and the cinnamon will be calling your name.

You can't tell, but I'm drooling right now. I sampled one of these balls because I wanted to make sure this blog was even worth posting and OH MY GOSH. Swiss chard all the way. I will definitely use it more often when it is in season again (sorry folks, I don't mean to tease you-- swiss chard is practically done until it starts to cool off).

Like I said before, I love this recipe because you can have fun with it and try different substitutions. When I bake, I am a crazy perfectionist but when I cook, I just use the recipe as more of a guideline. It is really hard to mess these up.

Since I have made 72 of these chicken balls, I'm freezing them and I'll take them out throughout the weeks to let them thaw as needed. I made mine slightly larger than I did last time so I will only eat one, whereas before I ate two smaller sized balls.

Try it for yourself- and I'll let you know when I make a vegetarian version.

Here is the original recipe from bodybuilding.com:

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground turkey (or chicken)
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp chipotle pepper spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp garlic powder (2 cloves minced)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 celery stalks (finely chopped)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray muffin pan with canola or olive oil.
3. Mix all your ingredients together in one large bowl.
4. Roll the mixture into balls and place in muffin pan. Muffins should be about the size of a racquetball.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 muffin

Amount per serving

Calories 182

Total Fat 8g

Total Carb 4.6g

Protein 22.2g

I'd love to hear what veggies you use, and what you think about the recipe as well!

Happy clean eating!