pb balls

These are a taste of childhood to me - my parents were into health food in the 70's and 80's way before it was trendy. We didn't eat sugar or bleached four, my mom used ground turkey instead of ground beef, and she convinced us (pretty easily) that plain natural yogurt was "ice cream." Our pizza crusts were whole wheat and our birthday cakes were carob.

So what did we eat for snackies? These puppies!

I asked my mom the other day exactly how she used to make them, and she couldn't remember anything other than peanut butter and raisins. When I saw this recipe in More with Less, I figured they were pretty similar to our childhood ones, and after I tasted just one, I was transported back to hot Florida summers, picking weeds, telling my mom they were flowers, and watching as she put them in water in a pretty vase.

You'll need:

1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. dry milk solids (aka powdered milk)
1 c. uncooked rolled oats (I used old fashioned)
plus I added some raisins

Do this:

Stir with a wooden spoon until it all gets too thick to mix anymore, then dig right in with your hands and mush it all around. Roll into balls. I halved the recipe and it still made 16 little balls. Store 'em in the fridge for a nice hot-weather treat.

Of course you could make these with your kids helping, but I wanted to have them ready before my little guys woke up from their naps. If you have a cranky bambino after naptime, these little numbers will put a big smile on his face! Guaranteed.

What did you used to eat for snacktime as a kid?