QUINOA SHOTS, anybody??

I know exactly what you're thinking.. "Quinoa shots? Wait, WHAT?!" Yes, yes, and yes. Today I bring you this recipe that combines Quinoa seeds and shot glasses. But no, it doesn't involve any type of alcohol, unfortunately. Or fortunately, since I'm trying to promote a healthy lifestyle here.

Anyway, the reason why I've decided to try this recipe is because I realized that I have a really strong sweet tooth at night, right after dinner. It won't happen during the day, just at night time. I know I'm not the only person with this "problem" because it is a known fact that one way or another our bodies crave sugar. Either because we're feeling stressed, or undergoing some hormonal process (a.k.a PMS), even when we're anxious, it's the way our bodies have to "treat" themselves. Wright or wrong, it's something that happens and the least thing you want is to munch a snickers bar right before bed, allowing all those glucose molecules to freely travel through your bloodstream to end up stored as fat.
So, I'm on a quest to find relatively healthy (and I say relatively because I haven't found a 100% healthy recipe YET) recipes to calm down my inner sugar-monster without throwing away all the gains and improvements that I've achieved during the day.

This is the first recipe I'm trying and so far...so good. It has the right amount of crunchiness, sweetness and healthiness needed to satisfy my cravings without feeling guilty. It's a little bit high on carbs due to the quinoa (I'm not a big fan of carbs at night but quinoa is gooood) and fats, but HEY they are healthy fats that come from the peanut and hazelnut butter + coconut oil.
To sum it up I would say I rather eat one of this homemade shots/cups made out of healthy stuff rather than any other store bought candy/chocolate. Enough said, let's go to the important part... The recipe!

Ingredients

- 1 cup puffed quinoa (*)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky but you can use creamy)
- 1/4 cup Justin's hazelnut butter (please, PLEASE do not use Nutella, it's LOADED with sugar)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl add the puffed quinoa.
2. In a saucepan add the peanut butter, hazelnut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup if using. Stir continuously over low heat until everything is melted.
3. Pour the mix over the quinoa and stir until everything is incorporated and you can see the quinoa fully coated.
4. Let cool and then drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture to shot glasses or muffing liners if you prefer.
5. Take them to the freezer for an hour to set. After that, you can store the in the refrigerator.
6. Enjoy!


(*) You can purchase puffed quinoa, but if you prefefr to make your own like I did, simply heat a pot over a medium heat. Oce the pot is hot, pour a small amount of quinoa in the pot and start moving gently so that the quinoa swirls around and it doesn't burn. (It's like making popcorn). The quinoa pops in a very quiet way compared to the corn kernels, so be careful not to overheat them!

Easy, right? Oh and BTW, I used shot glasses just because I didn't have any muffing liners haha, but feel free to do things like normal people would do and pop the mixture onto muffing liners, that's totally fine, although the shot glasses are totally FUN! ;-)


Hope you liked this recipe, you can also follow me on Instagram: @flor.loda for more recipes and fitness stuff!

Have a nice one!

Big hugs,

Flor.-

(recipe adapted from kriscarr.com)