It’s vacation time for me which means I’ve been getting my fill of indulgent, delicious foods.

This vacation has been spent savoring all the decadent foods that Southern California has to offer.  But in 2 tiny days, I will have to leave this beautiful place and head to home sweet home (we better leave out the ‘sweet’ for a little bit.)

Soon, there will need to be a little less food overindulgence and a little more gym overindulgence.

Soon, I’ll be tipping my healthy balance scale away from scones, chocolate covered             , and banana pancakes and back towards squats, crunches, burpees.

When that looming day arrives signaling the end of this perfect trip, instead of focusing on what I shouldn’t be eating, I know it’ll be much healthier for me to focus on what I can eat.  Because the problem isn’t what I’m eating -because I’m eating plenty (plenty)- it’s about what I’m not eating.

And when I begin to fill my plate with fruits, veggies, lean meats, greens and trail mix energy bites, it’ll seem like I’m not even missing out.

But for two more delicious days, watching what I’m eating will be very close to the bottom of my worry list.

Therefore, I’m having pizza for lunch…on a gluten free crust.  Oh baby.

Trail Mix Energy Bites
makes 20 balls

Slightly adapted from Edible Perspective

1 1/2 large bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil
2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, gluten free
1/4 buckwheat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
2 Tbsp ground flax meal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1/3 cup raisins, packed
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp raw buckwheat groats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash bananas until smooth. To the mashed bananas, mash in vanilla extract, coconut oil, and milk. In a separate bowl, mix oats, buckwheat flour, almond meal, flax seed, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir. Mix in the buckwheat groats, raisins, almonds, and sunflower seeds.
Roll the dough into small balls and place on a nonstick baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the outside of the cookies are golden brown and the insides are still soft.

Cool cookies on a cooling rack.  Enjoy!