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I’m a very organized person, hardly spontaneous.
Its just that I have a really hard time with uncertainties, and with pressure. And truth is I think it gets worse with age. So I try to plan a week in advance the afternoon schedules with the girls, set to which grandma and grandpa we go on which weekend, organize a babysitter for summer holiday before spring begins, prepare hiking food a day ahead, etc.
While it would be nice if I were a bit more spontaneous, as a mother it is quite helpful being well planned. There are so many things one must remember to coordinate so you kind of forced to be organized (arrange baby sitter for daycare vacations, arrange birthday parties, come to parents talks in daycare, register them to next year, invite a friend for my older girl for the afternoon, send her with the right shoes for gymnastics, send them with a hat and water as they go hiking today, etc.).
On Sundays, which is the only day of the week where I don’t have late evening calls with the US team members, I try to go visit my sister. She lives an hour drive away, and my girls have an awesome time playing with her three girls. On the way back my girls fall asleep in the car, but on the way there I do need a way to keep them occupied for an hour. I am fortunate enough such that my kids do like to ride the car, so usually they will just enjoy looking outside and talking non- stop, however an hour is a long time for kids this age so I always get some “props” to help me out on the way, like paper to draw on, books with interesting pictures, and similar items I can give them as needed. Usually it is also the time when my older girl starts being hungry, so I always prepare a box with cut fresh fruit for her. Sometimes i bring an extra treat, of “Chocolate” truffles. I use “chocolate” as these are really almond and date truffles and not really chocolate, but the cocoa adds a chocolaty flavor. When I make them for me (or other grown ups) I usually omit the cocoa.
If you are worried that my girls will learn to be obsessive as me, don’t you worry, their dad totally balances my organization and planning fetishes, so in average we are normal. I’m talking about a person that managed to lose about 5 cell phones already, goes out with the keys to both cars on a regular basis (leaving me with no keys..), and at work there’s a rumor saying he is the employee who took the largest number of temporary badges ever (temporary badge is what you need to ask security to give you on a day you forgot your own badge).
So while riding the car with me means cut fruit, truffles and wet wipes that follow them, a typical car ride with him is a totally different adventure. Just to give you a clue i’ll quote here a story he told me on one of his rides to the vet with the dog and the girls, on a very rainy winter day. Here it is, in his own words: “I pack them up and go to the car, we go there, it is pouring rain, no parking nearby’ and Fidg must have her pills today. I decide to go out in the rain and run with them. I park, go out of the car, open the back door, take the stroller and open it, go the baby’s chair, open the seat-belt, take the baby, turn around, no stroller, huh? Check the back of the car again, it’s not there’ look around, not there’ maybe I didn’t take it from home? but wait, I just opened it, didn’t I? OK, put the baby back in the baby car seat, tie her seat-belt, going to look for the stroller/ found it 100 meters away, the wind blew it away. I put it back in the car, socked with water obviously, and go back to the parking. Now I see the older one fell asleep. I take the baby and go out of the car, wake up the older one and asking her to walk with me. She yells at me (hard time after day time naps) and wants me to carry her. I look at the stairs in front of us and see there is no way for me to carry both of them plus the dog and decide to do it in stages. I take Fidg and the older one and run up the stairs with them, run back to the car, take the baby and run up the stairs with her. We all walk to the vet’s office together, the rain has quieted down now and the older one is in a good mood again. We finish there and starting to walk back to the car. I notice I don’t have the car keys.. OK then I’ll just call you and ask you to come bring me the other pair of keys. Oh, but I left my phone at home. Hm, need to devise extraction plan..”
And he doesn’t even consider that something weird.
Anyway, back to the truffles: 3 ingredients (2 if you don’t use the cocoa), 5 minutes, and you’ve got yourself a health, easy to make, simple, delicious treat!
I recommend almonds as they go well with the dates, but if you only have walnuts or pecans at home these should work also.
I also recommend to coat some with raw sesame seeds.
The Dishometer Rating:
- 2 cups medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 2 tbs raw cacao power
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until it sticks together like a dough.
- Then pick up a small batch with your hand and roll into a ball.
- That's it!
- Best kept in the fridge
2 תגובות
what food processor do you use? I have vitamix, but it seems that if the food is too solid it does not mix (eg cooked black lentils are impossible to process to a spread…)
Hi Yana,
I have a Kenwood food processor which I use for patties, grinding almonds to flour, sometimes cutting greens etc., whereas I use my Vitamix for ice-creams, smoothies, quick batters, etc.