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| Savory Sweet Potato Energy Ball |
My goal was to find an easily digestible snack that is moderately low on the glycemic level yet will provide enough energy to help fuel endurance rides. I also wanted something that was savory as there is a lot of sweet options out there already. I wanted to stay away from nuts as the other snacks I plan to consume already have a variety of nuts in them—I'm concerned that too many nuts may cause digestive issues at some point over a 12-hour race.
My body has always done well with the sweet potato, I'll often eat one the night before or even for breakfast on race day. Sweet Potatoes are a great food for athletes as they are rich in nutrients and are the "best source of beta carotene (more than any other fruit or vegetable). According to resources I've found through google . . .
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| (I confess, I ate a chunk right out of the microwave.) |
1 Lg. Sweet Potato
A couple shakes of Sea Salt
A couple shakes of Dried Basil
1/4 cup or so of Old Fashioned Oats--I recommend grinding them up in the food processor
- Wash and peel the sweet potato
- Poke the potato with a fork, or knife, whatever you prefer
- Microwave on high for 5 minutes, test softness. You'll want the potato nice and soft so that it is easily mashed with a fork.
- Add See Salt, Dried Basil, and ground oats.
- Mash all of it with a fork.
- Roll into bite size balls.
I used little paper cups for each ball and then tossed them in a ziploc bag. However, the energy balls were very moist and stuck to the paper. It became a little messy. I'll need to look into an alternative, perhaps foil or plastic. I am very happy with the nutrition they provided on the trail and they were very easy to consume, going down well with a swig of water.
Make the night before or morning of your ride. For a 10-12 hour race, I recommend storing them in a cooler if possible. However, I was still eating them 6 hours after removing them from refrigeration and had no digestive issues.
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