Quinoa crack balls

I kind of like these random Saturday posts. It gives me a chance to blabber about all the weird things I think/see/do throughout the week and don’t get a chance to share. Ready for this week’s?

-October is breast cancer awareness month which pretty much everyone knows unless you’ve been living under a rock, right? I think it’s great that companies contribute to the cause in all the different ways they do but, I was incredibly annoyed and bothered by Delta’s approach while flying this week. They spend money (or make their flight attendants spend it, not sure how it works) on pink uniforms and then contribute 100% of the profits if you choose to buy a $2 Minute Maid pink lemonade on one of their flights this month. There are 2 things that bother me here: 1. wouldn’t that money for the pink outfit be better spent if it was just directly contributed to fighting the disease instead of outfitting flight attendants? 2. why are they picking a drink whose second ingredient is HFCS (water being the first), and contains a whopping 13% juice as their “representative” item for donations? Isn’t that quite a hypocritical statement? Let’s fight cancer/disease by encouraging people to put crap in their bodies. Good intentions, bad execution Delta.

-After much back and forth, the blue dress made it’s appearance Thursday night in an event to honor my grandfather for his life’s work in the brick industry.

Very proud of you Grandpa.

-At said event, the Trump organization was also honored for it’s contributions to NYC’s buildings. Accepting the award was the executive vice president, Andrew Weiss. I’m still shocked by the fact that someone with the charisma of at best a snail, holds such a prominent (public) position within that organization. I’m also perplexed by the fact that he looked like he hadn’t brushed his hair in about 3 years. Interesting choice Don.

-I will continuously order and attempt to like dirty grey goose martinis with extra olives every.single.time I’m at a fancy event. They always taste the same though, disgusting. A little too reminiscent of the high school days drinking vodka straight from the bottle before going to some party in the woods.

-Immersion blenders scare the hell out of me.

I feel like I’m going into a fight every time I use it. Luckily, I won this one with minimal battle wounds.

-Yesterday, I told someone I hadn’t really been sick in almost 2 years. Today, I have a sore throat and can’t stop sneezing. That “knock on wood” shit doesn’t work.

-I’ve never done crack, but I’m imagining the addictiveness of these quinoa balls to be quite similar.

If you liked these, I highly suggest making these crack balls, as I’m calling them. Similar ingredients and flavor but with quinoa and all it’s complete protein glory.

Quinoa Crack Balls

Yield:  Makes 12 balls

• 1/3 cup quinoa
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons dried cherries
• 1/8 cup almonds
• 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon almond butter

Directions:

Rinse quinoa. Combine water and quinoa in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook covered until water is fully absorbed (you want it on the dry side.) While quinoa is cooking, combine cherries and almonds in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to small bowl. Once quinoa is cooked, spread out on baking sheet or another flat surface to let it cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, add to bowl with almond/cherry mixture. Add maple syrup, almond butter and chocolate chips and fold together. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Roll quinoa mixture into balls and place on sheet (this is a messy process, embrace it by licking your fingers at the end .) Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, until quinoa becomes golden and crispy on the outside. Let balls cool on baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.

Tell me something random from your week.

What are your thoughts on the pink themed stuff for breast cancer awareness?  Good branding or stupid use of resources?

Tagged as: almonds, cherries, chocolate, quinoa, snacks