Article link: https://www.15min.lt/gyvenimas
Author of this article:
Aistė Turčinavičiūtė
Journalist of the Life section
Snieguolė, who creates these energy balls: desserts can be "sinless"
“How often do you want something tasty, but when you taste it, you feel guilty about the high sugar content?” – Snieguolė asks a question that many people ask.
A few years ago, a woman solved this dilemma for her family by creating “Sotukai” – energy balls in a variety of flavours and enriched with nutrients. Now she is sharing the magic of satiating with other people, turning snacking into a delicious and healthy moment.
Healthy living alongside work
As Snieguolė tells 15min, before she started the “Sotukai” business, she had been following a “safe and stable” path for a long time. After graduating from the then Vilnius Pedagogical University in 1996, she immediately started working as a technology teacher. Later, when the school was reorganised and there were no more classes, she studied English at Šiauliai University and defended her title of methodologist.
“But every 1st of September was a challenge and a huge tension for me. I had a great time with the students, we are still friends, but the whole thing and the frame were a challenge. The phrase of one great twelfth grader at the graduation ceremony stuck with me: ‘You are a great teacher, but you lack brutality’. That’s when the thought came that it was time to change something. We raised 4 sons, and when the youngest graduated from grammar school, so did I”, she says.
When the pandemic and quarantine started, according to Snow White, she allowed herself to “just be and wait for the answer to what I really want to do”. The answer came quite naturally to her – all she had to do was to look back to an area she had been interested in since her youth.
“In addition to my work, I have been involved in a healthy lifestyle since I graduated: I was involved in the Lithuanian Healthy People’s Union, managed a health club, organised healthy lifestyle events at school and summer camps for children, and completed a wide range of yoga and meditation courses and healthy cooking courses myself.
In our family, we have been practising different dietary theories for a long time, and we choose what works and what fits. We are now in the third decade of a family that alternates between vegetarianism, green eating, fruit eating, omnivorous eating, and detox programmes. The inner need to share what I know has brought me to one point – to promote health-promoting plants, also known as superfoods”, reveals Snieguolė.
Nutrition – the key to a healthier life
Her current “Sotukai”, made from a variety of plant-based products, reflects her long search to incorporate as many valuable nutrients as possible into her family’s daily diet. “I’ve felt for a long time that well-being, health and even mood are linked to what we eat. What is clear is that a varied diet gives the body everything it needs for energy and health, without having to look for supplements in pharmacies,” says Snieguolė.
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Although she says it is easy to eat healthy at home, she was faced with a dilemma: what do you do when you are at work, travelling, or don’t have time to cook?
“There is such a great choice of plant-based products nowadays – more than ever before – but when you’re caught up in work and activities, it’s a challenge to eat a full diet every day. Breakfast gluten is a lifesaver, with lots of superfoods that can be deliciously ‘hidden’, but what about when you’re not at home? Looking for ways to pack something valuable and convenient for my family to take to work, study or travel, I created sotukus. When you are hungry and have a sotuk at hand, the chances of eating unhealthy food are greatly reduced,” says the Kelmis woman.
As the woman points out, the idea of “Sotukai” soon paid off. After all, so many people now avoid added sugar, saturated fat, dairy and gluten. What’s more, these energy balls attract shoppers because they are full of valuable calories, vitamin E, potassium, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, calcium, zinc, iron and fibre, which guarantees long-lasting satiety.
Snieguolė, who currently runs a business in Kelmė with a colleague and her husband, offers as many as 9 varieties of “Sotukai” to customers. From matcha and cashews in dates, to lingonberries and gingerbread in almonds, to sea buckthorn and quince in apricots, there is something for everyone in this variety. Just a few balls per snack are enough to make you feel full and satisfied.
“Knowing that my Sotukai contribute to the health, well-being and mood of my eaters inspires me to create and share,” she smiles.