To reflect the Buddhist Symbolism of sweetness of kindness and unity, here is a simple recipe for Banana and Coconut Bliss Balls – a no-bake, high fibre snack that’s naturally sweet and energy-boosting.
Skills Check
Follow a recipe; follow food safety & hygiene rules; mashing; weighing, mixing, forming and shaping.
Equipment
Fork, large bowl, weighing scales, chopping board, small plate.
Ingredients (makes approx. 12 balls):
- 2 ripe bananas
- 80g (1 cup) oats
- 40g (½ cup) shredded coconut (plus extra for rolling)
- 2 tablespoons raisins or chopped dried fruit
Method
- Mash bananas in a bowl.
- Mix in oats, coconut, and dried fruit.
- Using your hands, form into bite-sized balls.
- Coat in coconut by rolling each ball in a small plate of the extra coconut.
- Chill in fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
So thinking about Banana & Coconut Bliss balls ...
Oats provide starchy carbohydrate, which gives us slow-release energy, and are a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.
Bananas are a nutritious and filling fruit, providing an excellent source of potassium (good for blood pressure regulation) and vitamin B6, as well as being a source of fibre.
Nutritional Information
| Energy | 297kJ / 71kcal | 4% | |
| Med | Fat | 2.7g | 4% |
| High | Saturates | 1.9g | 10% |
| Med | Sugars | 5.1g | 6% |
| Low | Salt | 0g | 0% |
per ball
% of an adult's reference intake
Typical values per 100ml: Energy 1001kJ / 239kcal
Notes
A traffic light system is used on nutrition labels to make it easier to see which foods and drinks are lower in calories, fat, sugar and salt. Try and choose more ‘greens’ and ‘ambers’ and fewer ‘reds’, and stick to smaller portions of ‘reds’.
Just because a recipe or a food has a red traffic light doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat it. Understanding why a food or recipe might have a red light can be helpful. For example oily fish is high in total fat and so any recipe containing oily fish is likely to be ‘red’ for fat. But it is recommended that we eat oily fish at least once a week because the type of fat it contains is beneficial for our health.
% Reference Intakes are also shown. Reference Intakes are guidelines about the approximate amount of particular nutrients and energy required for a healthy diet (based on an average-sized woman doing an average amount of physical activity). Most children will require less than these Reference Intakes. The contribution of one serving of a food or drink to the Reference Intake for each nutrient is expressed as a percentage.
