Anywho, Erik was in South Carolina all weekend with his cycling team, so I was free to entertain myself however I fancied. Saturday I spent the rainy morning crafting (more on that in my next post), went for a run with Lucy, and just as I was leaving to head to a yoga class the weather turned nice and the sun came out. I figured there would be a large turnout in the alignment-based class that I was taking, as it was a benefit class for a local non-profit. As it turns out, I was the only one in the class. The instructor was okay with it though, so I had a 90 minute private lesson with a great instructor who had the most lovely French accent. We put our mats side by side and down dogged like nobody's business. It was great :)
But really, how could you not have a great time in a place like this:
Photo from namasteyall
Carrboro Yoga is by far my most favorite of all the local studios I have practiced at. Just walking into the Paper Lantern Room puts a huge smile on my face. The studio is on the top floor of an old cotton mill that was built all the way back in 1898. It is now known as the Carr Mill Mall and is full of cute shops, restaurants, and one of the most popular places in Carrboro, The Weaver St. Market. The smell of the studio is earthy and rustic, and I believe it comes from the original hardwood floors which still remain. Large bright windows fill the studio with natural light... I really can't say enough good things about this space!
After my yoga class, I came home and whipped up a salad to take to the raw vegan potluck I was attending that evening. One of the very first people I met when I moved to NC had a party at her house to celebrate her Golden Birthday. I had not seen her in so long and I had such a wonderful time at the party. She had all kinds of unusual teas for us to drink, there was delicious raw vegan food, and I met so many interesting people. We even created together a large mandala with crayons, colored pencils, and markers. It was so beautiful when it was finished. I said goodnight to the party around 1am since I knew I would be getting up semi-early the next morning for another fun-filled day...
Sunday morning one of our good friends (who is an intern-minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church we recently started attending) was giving a sermon. Many of our friends showed up to hear him, which that alone was pretty sweet - being able to sit with our friends in the very same Church we spend every Sunday morning in as of recent! After Church we all went out for brunch in Carrboro. It really was the perfect Sunday morning, eating good food and drinking mimosas with several of my favorite people on a beautiful spring morning... Wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way!
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| Melissa and I, I love this little lady! |
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| Leslie and Robin, two sweet chickies! |
I am so glad I did, these little "balls of energy" turned out great. I paid for it today though, when at 7:00 this morning I had nothing to put in my lunch besides some fruit, PB and celery, and a six month old jar of frozen "mystery ingredients" that slightly resembled Chana Masala and rice. I will never really know for sure what it was, I skipped the jar of the unknown and snacked my way through lunch. Anyway, enough with the rambling, let me now show you my balls...
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| Left row: Cherry Date Almond bites. Right row: Chocolate Walnut Date bites |
Like little balls of heaven... They taste exactly like a Lara Bar, which happens to be one of my favorite snack bars. Only these are little round balls, which I think are so much cuter :)
Recipe here: Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites
For the first batch I used pitted dates, dried cherries, raw almonds, and shredded unsweetened coconut
For the second batch I used pitted dates, raw almonds, organic dark chocolate bar chunks, walnuts, and coconut.
Essentially you just process all of the ingredients in a food processor, and once it becomes thick and sticky roll them into little balls and refrigerate or pop in the freezer.
I can't decide which one I love more, they both rock. I ate so much of the "batter" as I was making them I officially declared it my dinner.
One of the reasons I had been looking forward to making these was that they gave me a chance to use my new food processor that had just arrived on Friday. For as much time as I spend in the kitchen, I am almost embarrassed to say that this is my first real food processor. I have a vita-mix which has served me well, but a blender and a food processor are just not the same thing. After I had cleared up some space on our kitchen counter last weekend by relocating the coffee maker to the back corner of a kitchen cabinet (we are coffee-free now, yay!) I decided that nothing would look better in that space than this sweet little green machine:
I did buy the mini-prep processor thinking that it would really be big enough for what I was needing it for, but I soon realized it really wasn't. I had a hard time fitting everything into it for the energy balls, which is primarily why I made them in two batches. This thing will work great for other things like sauces, but I think I am eventually going to need a regular sized processor for recipes such as these.
Not to worry, even in small batches these little treats turned out delicious, and will be the perfect between meal snack at work, or quick fuel before my morning run.
Feeling happy, energized, and thankful for having such a lovely weekend surrounded by some of my most favorite people. That being said, the highlight of the weekend was Erik walked in the door on Sunday evening, I gave him a big hug and kiss, we shared our weekend experiences with each other, and I served him a plate of energy balls for dinner... ;)
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