Yummy Carbs & Protein Bites

Carbs and protein, carbs and protein – my new mantra as I try to come up with pre-workout and post work-out bites.

Remember the leftover from yesterday’s tuna balls? Here’s what I did with it (and there’s still enough left for a few more balls).

The mushrooms are stuffed with minced garlic, grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, and ground thyme. I used a mini-muffin pan, which was the perfect size for keeping the mushrooms upright. Before putting everything in the oven, I infused the olive oil with garlic by heating them up in a pan. Don’t forget to spray coat the baking pan with olive oil. It only takes 5 minutes to cook it at 400F. The bell pepper stuffed with tuna and mushroom stalks took 15 minutes, and if you want it softer make it 20-25 minutes.

Baked Tuna Balls

Here’s my version of tuna balls – just 40 calories each, great as snack, for pre-workout or post-workout munch, or perhaps even pasta. I did not have sweet potato so I used regular potato. I also added onions, but will use celery next time just because I always like my tuna salad with celery.

My new diet is challenging my creativity. Eating a complete but small meal of carbs and proteins every three hours, and stick to 1,200-1,400 calories a day. So I am constantly looking for something to eat that is 200 calories, and am pleased with this one. Just need to tweak it some more for my taste buds – too much cilantro I think.

The bread crumbs can be gluten-free. I also wonder if parsley would be better than cilantro.

 

Mix everything together except the corn flakes crumbs

 

I grind corn flakes for the crumb coating, but you can use regular or gluten-free crumbs, too

I use a cookie dough scoop for consistent size, then roll them to coat in cornflakes crumbs

I made 12 balls with a third left, which I kept in the fridge. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy with or without your favorite sauce.

The original recipe is called Sweet Potato & Tuna Balls.