RECIPE Energy Balls

No -Bake Choco Covere d Ener KRISTEN THOMAS

late gy Ba lls

My goal was to creats a ball that was not too sweet, had decent nutirent content, with fibre without compromising taste

DRY Ingredients

1& 1/2 cup oats 6 TBSP organic cocunet powder 1/4 cup raw sunflower seed meal 1/4 cup plain or vanilla protein powder

liquid Ingredients

2/3 cup nut butter (almond, sunflower or peanut butter) 1/2 cup date syrup (substitutes: honey, agave or maple syrup)

COATING

1 bar (14g) of dark chocolate or melting chocolate of choice.

Method

1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Combile all liquid ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

3. Combine dry and liquid ingredients and mix thoroughly.

4. Form into a large ball. Place in the fridge for about 30 - 60 minutes to allow douhg to firm up.

5. Once set, take out of the fridge and form into individual balls as best as you can.You might need to press them into a ball shape rather than roll them, or they will crumble. When using syrup it makes it harder to form a perfect ball, but they do stay put after being in the fridge.

6. Put balls back into the fridge.

7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

8. Melt chocolate in the microwave, do not overcook.

9, Remove the balls from the fridge and use two utensils to dip each ball into the chocolate. Once coated, transfer to the cookie sheet.

10.Transfer all to the fridge to set for about 20 minutes.

11. ENJOY!

Makes up to 30 balls.

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IMAGE Vecteezy.com Ra dar Evinr

& ude

You all know the story of the tortoise and the hare…and how it applies to canoeing. Start slowly, be consistent and finish strong.There is absolutely no point in coming out of the blocks like scalded cat at the start of a long distance race.

Well that’s the line of patter I was trying on Evinrude as we drove to our provincial marathon champs, ready for the K2 ballies age group race. moustache had been crinkled (something to do with a mate forcing him to down a flaming Sambucca the night before) and he smelt like he had slept in a veld fire.

But most of all he had been slow out of the blocks to get back to training once Canoeing SA had pulled the rabbit out of the hat and arranged our sport to be one of the first back.

It had been raining and we got to the venue to find it cold, overcast but thankfully windless.We had to go through the Covid protocols and sign in, sanitise and have temperatures taken with the popgun. “I swear she says everyone has a temperature of 35.9” muttered Evinrude “Bet you that temperature gun was made in Wuhan as well.”

There was a pretty decent field of vets and masters K2s entered.As we unloaded our trusty old Foxbat, last used on the Fish, there were quite a few crews swanning around in their SA gear from previous

One of them was a pair that we had a history with. Somehow we often land up in the same batches together, and at the last Dusi they had managed to beat us.This was thanks to a dastardly tactic instructing their seconds not to help us with juice at the top of Inanda dam when they heard we had run our juice and our seconds would not be there.

So it’s a bit like the mood between the EFF and the DA in parliament when we get dumped in the same batch together.

Suddenly our plans for a chilled paddle that would double as badly needed training went out of the window and Evinrude was pawing at the ground like a bull waiting in a pen at rodeo.

After the usual repetition of“Get back! Get back!” at the start, we were off. Our Foxie was quite conspicuous in a batch that was mostly Nelo and Eagle-type boats with fancy understern rudders. We still had tape on the nose from connecting the bridge at Keith’s Flyover.

Evinrude was frothing. I looked back over my shoulder as we produced by far our most aggressive start in our twenty year partnership, and I heard him start singing the guitar intro to “Eye of the Tiger” in time with each paddle stroke. new arch enemies as we came into the first portage.We were forced to wait as we were at the back of the batch and noticed that they were super careful about taking their Nelo Vanquish K2 out so that they didn’t touch the rudder, handling it like a porcelain doll.

That’s when Evinrude hatched the plot. it was clear they wanted to get to each portage first so that they had a full jetty length to get out and gingerly lift their Nelo out of the water.

We loitered on the diamond the whole of the next lap. One of the lawyers (there were quite a few of them in our bunch) advised that our lack of interest in taking up the pull was “actionable”.

But as we came into the next portage Binky and Slinky our enemies turned on the taps to get to the jetty first and Evinrude roared like a lion that had its nuts caught in an electric fence and surged ahead.We came inside them and took up the entire length of jetty that Slinky and Binky had been eyeing and then took our time to get out while they lost their minds.

Evinrude was so pleased with himself.This had broken up the bunch and two boats much faster than us got away, then it was us and way back Slinky and Binky.That was fine according to Evinrude, as long as we beat them.

We were on our own coming into the last portage, having seen Slinky and Binky at the run-can on their own doing their best to catch up.

There was a fat grin on his face as we pulled into the jetty alone. I hopped out nimbly.As I do. Evinrude actually stood up in the back cockpit and leapt like a young Zola Budd onto the jetty, paddle in hand. And the rudder dropped clean off the back of our boat.

There is history here. Our rudder had been mauled on the Fish and going over Cradock weir the blade had bent 90 degrees.We had to spend fifteen minutes on the bank straightening it, and when it was ready to go back in we had lost the nut, bolt and spacer that goes into the rudder assembly. In typical Cradock fashion everyone rallied round to help. Someone had an old lawnmower handle bolt. Someone else had a wingnut. It didn’t quite fit but it was good enough.And we had it to the finish.

That is what had fallen apart now and the rudder blade made pretty bubbles as it sank into the murky brown water at the jetty take-out.

“Bother, said Pooh!” yelled Evinrude –or something to that effect, and he leapt into the deep water to try and find the rudder.

He was still there as Slinky and Binkie came into the portage looking very pleased with themselves and cantered away.

We came last.Thank goodness Covid meant there was no prizegiving or medal ceremonies because Evinrude would have had to be restrained when Slinky and Binkie got onto the podium to get their medals.