Mark: Hey Liam, you want a powerball (granola treat)?
Liam: Sure. I’ll eat it in the vacant lot with my brother.
Mark: Hey, take one to Burke.
Liam: Okay. Oh — I’ll throw this wrapper away here so Burke doesn’t litter in the field.
Mark: Good idea.
Liam: (re-entering the kitchen after having left) Oh, I almost forgot something. (He opens the kitchen drawer and removes a book of matches.)
Mark: Whoa buddy. What’s that?
Liam: Matches.
Mark: (listening with raised eyebrows)
Liam: For a fire.
Mark: Nope.
Liam: Burke and I need to start a small fire in the field. Just a small one.
Mark: (shaking his head)
Liam: A really small one.
Mark: Every big fire starts out as a small one. You cannot EVER have matches without my permission, understand?
Liam: (meekly) yes.
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The source of intervention and, in this instance, fire prevention: powerballs.
makes 40-48 balls prep time: 15 min
- 1 c. peanut butter (if you use natural or organic pb, use “no stir”)
- 1 c. honey*
- 3 c. old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 c. ground flaxseed
- 1 c. chocolate chips
- 1 c. any combination of nuts and soft dried fruit
Mix the peanut butter and honey together until smooth. Gradually add in the oats and flaxseed. Add the chocolate chips and fruit/nut combo. Mix gently in a stand mixer or mush together with your hands (kids prefer the latter.). Use a small spoon or a cookie-dough scoop for size, and roll them into small balls. Use paper mini-muffin cups for presentation. Layer them in an airtight container using wax-paper. Eat them immediately, or put them in the refrigerator (my favorite) or freezer to limit stickiness.
*Using a cup of honey is too sweet for my taste; I’ll definitely limit it next time. But, I’m not sure yet how that will affect the consistency.
Enjoy!
Comments
Hey Bethany,
Well I tried the powerballs recipe and they are DELICIOUS! I put a cup of agave nectar instead of honey and I don’t think they are as sweet as they would be with honey. I think you would need the full cup to help with consistency.
Anyways, they are so good – thanks for sharing!
good tip, cheryl. thanks for the heads up.
Ari: I hope you enjoy them.
Alexis: Yes, both boys have dogtags with all their/our info on them. I posted about it last spring sometime if you want a more detailed run-down.
Patti: At home. And loving it. Although we do plan to keep praying/listening and re-evaluate each school year. For now, it suits our family well.
Kathryn: It probably is a good thing you didn’t have brothers. It would have stressed you out.
Thad: Growing up with four brothers, I experienced similar rendevouxs with the fire dept. They do make for fun stories.
Pam: good advice.
Having had a son or two or three with slight pyromania problems, I can relate. May I suggest you put all matches, lighters, etc. a little more out of reach? I had one start a fire in an open flame heater in a bathroom using toilet paper-no matches were required. (No fire department either!)
I can so see Mark’s expressions-you have such a gift for putting your thoughts on paper.
I’m the only one of the three boys in my home of origin who did not start a fire requiring the assistance of the local fire department to extinguish. That I can say that was a matter of sheer luck.
From the tales I hear, my childhood would have looked totally different if I had a brother… I was stressed enough trying to prevent my sister from cutting the hair off a troll doll.
Thanks for sharing these fun stories.
I like how he was so concerned about the littering and so casual about the fire.
Hey, I’ve been wondering. What does school look like at your house? Home, or away? Or some of both?
Mmm, sounds yummy. I think it’s funny that you were preventing fires and on my last post I showed a pic of us starting one in our driveway :) And by the way, does your child have on dog tags in the top pic?! Just wondering!
The first to see this! Ha! Thanks, I’ve been wanting this recipe.