Welcome to the Harmony Strength blog. My mission in creating Harmony Strength was to help simplify life for my clients. I'm hoping that this blog can help you do that!
If you know me at all, you know I love to experiment in the kitchen. I'm always trying new recipes and snacks, sometimes to disastrous ends. You never know what's going to happen. Every so often I like to have some friends over to try out making healthy snacks for our kids. Here are a few recipes we've tried recently - and the full and honest reviews. None of these were disastrous, which was great! Try these recipes yourself and let me know what you think!
(Pictured -- clockwise from top: Salted caramel energy balls, cheese crackers, chocolate hummus, flourless chocolate brownies, healthy chocolate oatmeal muffins)
Salted Caramel No-Bake Energy Balls (contains nut butter)
Of course we called these Salty Balls. I think these were universally liked - and my son took one to school for a snack for the next several days after I made these, so I'm calling it a win. Careful - chia seeds tend to stick in your teeth after eating these! Also, I realized after we'd consumed them all that we forgot to put the caramel sauce on them. They're delicious without it, so I'm calling it not necessary - even though the sauce is really good, and now I'm going to make more Salty Balls just so I can dip them in the sauce.
https://brendid.com/salted-caramel-no-bake-energy-balls/#wprm-recipe-container-1144
Healthy Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins (sweetened with honey & bananas)
These muffins were ah-maz-ing. My daughter loved them. I loved them. My son doesn't love muffins, so he didn't love them. They're sweetened with honey and bananas, and are really easy to make. I put 5 chocolate chips on top of each muffin, which was enough for my sweet-tooth daughter. And I didn't bother with the oats for the tops of the muffins because I'm lazy like that.
https://brendid.com/healthy-chocolate-oatmeal-muffins/#wprm-recipe-container-7694
Skinny Texas Cowboy Cookies (can contain nuts/ seeds) (sweetened with honey)
These cookies turned out to be winners- you can definitely taste the coconut, so if you're not a coconut fan, I'd skip these, but I thought they were really good, and the kids didn't seem to notice that they're a lot less sweet-tasting than average cookies. I sent them in to school with their lunches and they thought they were getting away with something with a lunch dessert!
We didn't use any peanut butter chips, because we didn't have any, and substituted pumpkin seeds for the pecans. They gave the cookie a nice crunch AND made it nut-free!
I'd recommend using whole wheat pastry flour, instead of whole wheat flour. It has a better taste and consistency than regular whole wheat flour.
https://thefoodcharlatan.com/skinny-texas-cowboy-cookies-recipe/
Chocolate Hummus (contains nut butter) (sweetened with semisweet dark chocolate, maple syrup)
Definitely necessary to do this in a food processor to get the hummus smooth enough! My family was just okay with this. I think it would be a great high protein option for dipping fruit or putting on ice cream, but my kids didn't like the texture and were "meh" about the taste. I enjoyed eating it myself, though! I dip pretzels in it for a snack.
https://recipesfromapantry.com/chocolate-hummus/
Flourless Avocado Brownies (contains nut butter) (sweetened with whatever sweetener you prefer!)
We didn't actually make these at the snack-making party, but my great friend Sarah R. brought them (and the recipe) and they were super yummy! The kids really liked them too. They're denser than a regular brownie, and not as sweet, which is nice.
https://thecastawaykitchen.com/2017/04/flourless-avocado-brownies-paleo-keto-low-carb-grain-free/
Cheese Crackers
On my continuing quest to find a good savory home-made treat, we made these little guys. Maggie did an excellent job of rolling them out nice and thin, and these cheese crackers were definitely crispy and delicious, but they also definitely could be made healthier. I have another recipe I'm going to experiment with next, containing less butter and whole wheat flour. Stay tuned!
https://brendid.com/healthy-snack-idea-homemade-cheese-crackers-recipe/