No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls

Ummm.  I could've eaten the entire tray of these in one sitting.  And I refuse to reveal how many of them I actually did eat in one sitting.  Suffice it to say, these are good . . .  very. very. good.  And, because they're made of clean, whole ingredients, you can feel good about popping them one after another and maybe saving one or two to stick in the kids' lunches.

Simply throw the following into a bowl and mix:

1 c. dry oatmeal

1/2 c. chocolate chips (I like dark chocolate -- I mean, it's good for you, right?)

1/2 c. peanut butter (if yours is unsalted like ours is, add a pinch of salt to the bowl, too)

1/2 c. ground flaxseed

1/3 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

(*Your most expensive ingredient is the honey, by far.  These balls are very sweet.  You could probably cut the honey by half and still find it sweet enough.)

Form dough into balls and refrigerate until hardened (I'd actually store them in the fridge, too).  Then, pop them like they're going out of style!

Now, just because they're good for you doesn't mean they're low calorie.  In fact, I did the math and found that my 20-ball batch came out to nearly 100 calories per ball.  The recipe I used actually called them "power balls."  I do think they'd be a great food to fuel a workout, but they're probably not meant to be eaten in super-large quantities (which is why I plan to wait a little while until I make a second batch.  I apparently lose all self-control in their presence).  :)

Enjoy!