Friday, December 27, 2013

The Post-Holiday Recharge

Holidays can be stressful and exhausting. If you’re feeling tired and tense after all the festivities, it’s time to fuel up with healthy, natural goodness to boost energy and brighten your mood.

Over the years, Inside Storey has posted several of Stephanie Tourles’ recipes. She is author of Raw EnergyHands-On Healing RemediesOrganic Body Care Recipes, and the upcoming Raw Energy in a Glass (December 2014). Stephanie is a licensed holistic aesthetician and certified aromatherapist, and she is extensively trained in the nutritional sciences. 

Below is a collection of Stephanie’s energy-boosting recipes from past posts. I encourage you to start the New Year off recharged with one of  her energizing snacks. Keep them all for yourself or offer them as a healthy alternative at New Year gatherings, football parties, or any casual get-together.

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Herbal Energy Balls
Good things come in small packages, and these little guys do just that. These toothsome snacks are full of vigor-building nutrients and antioxidants. The gently stimulating herbs and spices combine with sweet, creamy, tart flavors to provide sustained energy in one bite-size snack. Herbalists recommend taking Siberian ginseng on a regular basis to increase stamina and endurance and restore vitality.

Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened coconut, finely shredded
1 cup raw almond butter
¾ cup unsweetened dried cranberries
½ cup raw honey
2 tablespoons Siberian ginseng root (eleuthero) powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt

Instructions
  1. Set aside ½ cup of the coconut in a shallow bowl for coating.
  2. Put the remaining ½ cup coconut, almond butter, cranberries, honey, ginseng, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir well to blend. Use hands instead of a spoon to really knead the ingredients into a cohesive ball.
  3. Pinch off pieces of the dough and form into balls about 1¼ inches in diameter. Roll each ball in the reserved coconut to coat.
  4. For the best flavor and consistency, allow the balls to set for 24 hours before eating. Store the balls in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator, and consume within 2 to 3 weeks. They may be individually wrapped, using waxed paper or plastic wrap, and taken with you to enjoy as portable energy bites.
Yield: About 20 balls

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Chewy Cherry Charger Balls
With tangy, sweet, energizing goodness, these balls are chock-full of peppy spices, including a small bit of cayenne pepper. You’ll barely taste the heat, but you’ll feel the zip and the increase in circulation that it provides.

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup dried, pitted cherries, sweetened with apple juice or unsweetened
1 cup raw almond butter
3 Tbsp raw agave nectar or raw honey
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt

Instructions
  1. Grind the almonds to a medium texture in a food processor or nut and seed grinder. The almonds should look similar to very coarsely ground Parmesan cheese.
  2. Put the almond meal, cherries, almond butter, agave, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt in a medium bowl. Using a large spoon or your hands, thoroughly mix the ingredients until a cohesive dough is formed.
  3. Pinch off pieces of the dough, and form into balls about 1¼ inches in diameter. Set aside.
  4. For the best flavor and consistency, allow the balls to set for 24 hours before eating. Store the balls in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator, and consume within 2 or 3 weeks. They may be individually wrapped, using waxed paper or plastic wrap, and taken with you to enjoy as portable energy bites.
Yield: About 24 balls

A good source of antioxidants, vitamins B and E, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, silicon, manganese, iron, healthful fat, natural sugars, protein, and fiber.

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Power Balls
These soft, sticky balls are too gooey to make good portable energy snacks; they are best eaten straight out of the refrigerator while still firm, chilled, and relatively dry.

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
½ cup crystallized gingerroot pieces
½ cup raw honey
2 tablespoons bee pollen
2 tablespoons Siberian ginseng root (eleuthero) powder
Coconut oil, raw and unrefined
½ cup unsweetened coconut, finely shredded

Instructions
  1. Grind the almonds to the consistency of a medium to fine meal in a food processor or nut and seed grinder.
  2. Dice the crystallized ginger into ¼-inch cubes.
  3. Transfer the almond meal and ginger to a medium bowl, and add the honey, pollen, and ginseng. Use your hands to mash all the ingredients together until a cohesive ball is formed. The dough will be very sticky.
  4. Wash and dry your hands after mixing, then oil them well with coconut oil. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into marble-size balls about 1¼ inches in diameter. Set aside on waxed paper.
  5. Put the shredded coconut in a shallow bowl, and roll each ball to coat. For the best flavor and consistency, allow the balls to set for 24 hours before eating. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and consume within 2 or 3 weeks.
Yield: About 22 balls

A good source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, healthful fats, natural sugars, protein, vitamins B and E, and fiber, plus the pungent, warming bite of gingerroot and Siberian ginseng to increase circulation, and bee products — locally harvested, if possible — which promote buzzing vigor.

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Morning Power Shot
This spicy, ginger-flavored lemonade contains gingerroot, a pungent, moderately hot herb that enhances energy by increasing circulation throughout the body. Combined with a pinch of cayenne and vitamin C–rich lemon juice, the blend enlivens the senses, provides a rosy glow to the complexion, warms the body from head to toe, helps relieve indigestion, constipation, and motion sickness, and clears sinus and respiratory congestion.

Ingredients
½ cup purified water
juice of 1 medium lemon (¼–⅓ cup)
2 teaspoons gingerroot, 
peeled, very finely
 minced
2 teaspoons raw honey
pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions
  1. Heat the water to just shy of a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. 
  2. Put the lemon juice, gingerroot, honey, and cayenne in a medium mug and then pour in the hot water. Stir to blend and allow the mixture to steep for 4 to 5 minutes. The longer it steeps, the stronger and more potent the ginger becomes. 
  3. Drink quickly, ginger bits and all, when the juice blend is comfortably warm. Feel the hot energy coursing through your veins! Raring to go now, aren’t you? 

Recipes excertped from Raw Energy © 2009 by Stephanie Tourles. All rights reserved.

1 comment:

Adrienne said...

I made the Chewy Cherry Charger Balls this weekend, and they're delicious! The cinnamon and cayenne provide just the right amount of zing, and the almonds and almond butter are protein/nutrient packed. Thanks for posting!

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