Introduction: Lightning Ballz
I was preparing for a canoe trip on the John Day river I wanted to enjoy the journey and not spend lots of time on the logistics of cooking a meal every few hours. I packed a homemade travel food that I've invented, called Lightning Ballz™. They're made of all natural dried grains and fruit, bound with a nut butter. I packed a hundred of them, in three flavors, so I could be playing on the river at sunrise instead of cooking, scrubbing pans and packing stoves.
Delicious dried grains, fruits and nut butters in 50 calorie bites, Lightning Ballz are portable good nutrition for easy digestion.
Step 1: Lightning Ballz™ Makes Travel Safer
Eating healthy and proper sanitation makes travel safer. My idea was to design a travel food that can be eaten without heating, refrigeration, utensils or even having to sanitize your hands. When I am stuck in an airport, I know I don’t have to eat something that will possibly ruin my trip if I pack Lightning Ballz™ in my luggage. Plus, it saves me a lot of money on the cost of expensive airport food!
Step 2: Lightning Ballz™ Makes Good Nutrition Easy
Good nutrition can taste good too. My grand-children found where “Papa” kept his Lightning Ballz™ and they raided my stash. We are proud of the nutrition. This is natural food made from whole grains and dried fruit in 50 calorie bites, each with about one gram of fiber and protein .They're a perfect balance; too much protein will dehydrate you, and too little fiber will upset your natural digestion.
Step 3: Lightning Ballz™ Makes Balancing Calories, Fiber and Protein Easy
In contrast, the fast food “wrap” is not something you can leave in your trunk for days and still safely eat it. There are granola bars, nutrition bars, gels, vegetable juice, energy drinks, all designed to eat on the go, but some of these are junk food in disguise. I have eaten my share of granola and nutrition bars. They are difficult to eat for a long time. Some are loaded with chemicals, salt, sugar, and corn syrup. Eating healthy while traveling is not easy. I have trouble understanding the trend to serve giant unhealthy portions. The Macho Nacho with 1100 Calories, 63 Grams of Fat, and 2640 MG of Sodium is one of the reasons for the obesity problem in our country.
Step 4: What We Leave Out Is Important.
What we leave out is almost as important as what we put in them. Because they are such a low
moisture content using dried grains and fruits we don’t have to worry about them going bad by
putting a lot of preservatives in them. We do it natures way.
The packaging is almost as important as the product. Being able to eat one and seal the
container allows you to take one bite and keep control of your caloric intake. You don’t have
to eat an entire hamburger, chicken breast, tuna sandwich or banana when you need just a 50
calorie bite.
Step 5: How We Make Them.
Recipe by weight
Quick Oats 150 G
Puffed Millet 20 G
Dried Cranberries 75 G
Dried Raisins 75G
Smooth Peanut Butter 155 G
Brown rice Syrup 145
Vanilla 5G
Yield 38-40 Lightning Ballz