Energy Bars Take Two

Last week, I went on a training trip with my team to Austin, Texas.

Training trip = (Sleep + Eat + Row + Eat + Sleep + Eat + Row + Eat) * (Numbers of days in trip)

It was exhausting, but really, really fun. We also made a lot of great strides as a team, both physically and technically. While I'm glad to be back home with D, I'm also really glad we took the trip.

As you can see, I ate a lot during my training. Most mornings before practice, I ate a bar, because they were easy to eat, kept me going through practice, and were light enough that I could do the warmup run without getting cramps.

For a while I've been trying to find bars that give me energy and make me feel good. I tried a lot of different bars, from the FiberOne bars, to Clif bars to Nutrigrain. Finally I settled on Larabars. I really like that they only have a few relatively simple ingredients, they fill me up, and I can exercise right after eating them.

Wholesome, delicious ingredients.

I don't like how expensive they are, how difficult they are to find, or that I didn't make them myself! So I started to look for recipes. There were a lot of recipes for homemade Larabars, but lack of food processor basically took all of those out of the equations.

Before we left on our training trip, I tried to make a batch of energy bars. The recipe I used claimed to not taste as healthy as the input ingredients. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case--they tasted awful. I rarely throw away food, but these were that bad. Granted, I think I burned them a little bit, but there wasn't much goodness to begin with.

Over the course of the trip, I looked for more recipes, and found two that I liked. One of them is called "oatmeal crispies" and is basically oats, flour, butter and sugar baked into bar shape. I may try these in the future, but the other recipe sounded more like what I wanted: oats, nut butter and honey, with a whole bunch of yummy add ins.

It was really, really snowy here.

So today, D and I ventured through the snow in search of missing ingredients. We came home, mixed these up, and immediately devoured way too many of them. They're incredible!!! The rest I have wrapped up in my fridge ready to take to practice or as an afternoon snack. I'd also like to try making different versions of these.

Below, I have the general version of the recipe, which you can customize to taste however you want. I've also included our version at the very bottom (because it's that delicious) and the version I'd like to try next!

We both had these for dessert, that's how good they are.

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Customizable Energy Bars
adapted from (never_home)maker
makes approximately 20 bars


Ingredients:

1.5c nut butter

1c honey (or other liquid sweetener, like sugar syrup or agave)

1t vanilla

0.75c water 

2.5c quick cooking grains
0.5c powder (e.g. protein/cocoa/milk)
1c coconut flakes (you could probably replace this with more grains)
1.5c nuts (chopped) and seeds
1.5c dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc.
2c fresh fruit, chopped into small pieces
1c crunchy, salty stuff

Dinner in the Microwave: part 2

It's finals week(s) so time is stretched pretty thin right now. Of course, the solution is not to take a blogging break, but to make dinner in the microwave instead!

This is a delicious, protein-packed meal, perfect for two. To make it vegetarian, leave out the chicken, and grate 1-2oz. of cheddar, mozzarella or jack cheese on top of each serving.

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Protein-Packed Microwave Dinner
serves 2


Ingredients:
1c quinoa
2c water
1 15-oz can beans (I used black beans)
6oz. leftover chicken (preferably still cold from the fridge)

Directions:
1. Microwave the quinoa and water in a large, microwave safe container with a loose-fitting lid or plastic wrap for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into small pieces. Rinse and drain the beans. Mix together in a microwave safe container.
3. When the quinoa has finished, take it out of the microwave and put the chicken and beans in for 2.5 minutes.
4. When the chicken/beans are done, put the quinoa back into the microwave for an additional 5 minutes. Set the table while you're waiting.
5. When the quinoa is done, let it sit for 2 more minutes; if your chicken/beans aren't hot enough, put them back in the microwave during this time.
6. Serve with some freshly grated cheese and some sort of spice. (I used Italian seasoning and romano cheese... yum!)
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It turns out, quinoa is much easier (and faster) to make in the microwave than rice.