I just got word that Dinneen Diette, the health and wellness writer for the Eddie's Energy Bars newsletter, has launched her new website: www.EatWithoutGuilt.com

I highly suggest that you head on over there and check it out!  She has a wealth of information on health and wellness, plus, she'll even raid your pantry and see what food choices you are making (this is a local service out of Deham, MA)!

In other news, we're still churning out flavors, too!  Jeanne, our head baker, decided to put almond extract in our double chocolate chip bars, and top them with slivered almonds.  Word in the neighborhood is that it is pretty darn tasty!  We are going to do a little bit more testing before the bar shows up on shelves anytime soon.

Want to sample these new flavors?  Head on over to the Williston Farmer's Market (this is the last week, this Saturday), or the All Sports, Fitness, and Recreation Expo happening October 11-12 at the fairgrounds in Essex, VT.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Michael, Owner
Eddie's Energy Bars

People always ask us if we are going to come out with new flavors.  Well to answer that question, we are testing a couple of flavors as we speak--in fact, Mocha Chip just came out of the oven, literally minutes ago!

We also have a  coconut almond chocolate chip bar that we have been testing at the Williston Farmer's Market on Saturday's.

For the Eddie's fans that are out of state, if you order online, chances are that we will throw in a test bar to see what you think.  I do this because I have learned in college to never turn down free food--haha!

If you wake up in the middle of the night with a flavor in mind, just contact us, and we will be glad to give it a go sometime in the near future.  If it's a hit, you'll see your own bar in stores--how cool is that?

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.

Michael
Eddie's Energy Bars

The event in question happened in Ethics, when she and another guy were arguing about what it means when you sign a traffic ticket. He said that he learned through a trial against him that it was an admission of guilt, and she said that she learned through sleeping with a state trooper and working in a jail for four years that it wasn't. "So I know what I'm talking about." It was at this point that my feelings toward her shifted from mild annoyance and pity to real antagonism.

Last night, in LOPT, what a frigging horrible waste of time, AGAIN, she spent a good deal of class time trying to have a (loud) conversation with the instructor about what she should do to get a job in the legal field, how she could get the biggest salary, how she could tell whether a lawyer she interviewed with was making a high hourly rate. (This was partially the instructor's fault for blathering/bragging/complaining about attorneys' hourly rates to begin with.) I don't feel I need to mention that this has nothing to do with the course, and while it might have been useful to the other students in another context, we're here to learn the difference between hardware and software, dammit, and wrath be to she who detours from that bright course.

I'm feeling a little flourishy this morning. Forgive me.

There's another woman in both of these classes who annoys me even more. I've named her Indian Creek Mom for private-joke reasons. Something about her just grates on me; she reminds me of all the worst qualities of Southern women. Clever and chatty above, catty and evil underneath, and as inauthentic as a plastic flower. She works in retail, or she did until two weeks ago when she was fired; she's middle-aged and obviously trying very hard to resist this; and she has the same expensive, ill-advised taste of all the other birdbrained rich women in this area.

Anyway, Indian Creek Mom laughs at EVERYTHING, everything that might remotely be considered funny, for a long, long time. Things that might not even be smile-worthy, but only acknowledged as "intent to amuse" in your brain, she will laugh aloud at. My kinder side says good for her, laughter is the best medicine, how nice that she can find so much pleasure out of "For the midterm, the silver bullet way to pass is to study," that she laughs for five minutes. My not-so-kind side says "SHUT THE HELL UP YOU TACKY IDIOT."

Last night these two women came together in an explosion of hee-larity. Indian Creek Mom was laughing hysterically at the instructor's "review" for the "midterm", and Shrill Harpy was looking down the aisle of students towards me with her eyes wide open, with an OMG look on her face. She was trying to claim solidarity with the rest of us against the freakish laughter of ICM. I was trying to think of a way to get my sock off my foot and into her mouth without anyone else noticing. Both of us failed.

In other cranky news, I have an update on the truly thrilling situation with my leaking window. The guy stayed at our house and fixed the exterior on Monday, and in doing so he put a huge and wandering set of cracks in the large, half-circular window that's above our regular-shaped window. (I've always thought of these as "sunrise" windows, the ones with a little bracket of wood looking like sunbeams, but I don't know what they're actually called.) The community association damn well better replace that, because it will leak even worse than the rotted wood, I'm betting. Since the interior work was going to take another day, me and the workman and his supervisor set up another appointment for 8 AM today. BF decided to stay home for this one, because it was likely to be an all-day affair and he said he didn't mind (since before the game shipped, I'd been handling all this house stuff for a year, so I think he wanted to make it up to me a little).

9:00 came, and still no fixer-guy. BF called the community association around 9:15, and the guy I'd set up the appt with wasn't there. BF left a message, also mentioning the window. No calls for almost three hours, and then he was told that because of the window, they decided not to send the fixer-guy who'd done the exterior, but instead had hired another contractor, and they were trying "frantically" to find out what had happened, why they hadn't showed up.

How strange that the first fixer-guy didn't show up at 8:00, or 9:00, presumably before the association even knew about the window. Even stranger that they didn't notify us that they were hiring someone else to do the job. Stranger still that this association actually continues to be in business.

And finally, boy, what a bang-up philosophical post this is, I have discovered the best energy bar in the world. Clif. I have tried only the Blueberry Crisp, but that was enough to make me a devotee. I also found out what the name of the crummy white-labeled bar was: Balance Gold. I tried another one yesterday (Caramel something) and I thought I would get repetitive stress disorder from all the chewing I had to do to get it down. Blech.

I wrote a terrific (IMHO) review of Capote that I haven't posted yet because I'm trying to just do one post per day, or less. But I keep having stuff to say every day. I might post it this afternoon anyway. Laterz.

Enjoy!

1. The maintenance guy came this morning to look at our window. As soon as he walked into our house he took off his cap, shook his head, and said "I hate these windows." It turns out that our house, in fact our entire community, is very shoddily built, and he's had to replace three of these windows for this exact problem so far. Well, not the windows themselves, but the area above the window. Whatever. The point is, he's at our house right now replacing the exterior rotted part, and on Thursday he's coming back to replace the interior part. Drywall work will be involved, which means we'll need to repaint that area. Yay.

I also found out from this guy that this is the crummiest property management company he's ever worked for. Double yay. When I repeated all this to BF, he said "So we won't be sharing this with any prospective buyers, will we?" Of course, the more I've lived in this house over the past two years, the more I've noticed the various bad things about it - the screens don't actually fit in the window frames, but rather over them, leaving gaps on either side; it's quite poorly insulated, and the thermostat reads weirdly and the H/C system acts slowly, so you're always hotter or colder than you've set the thing to be and you can't change it quickly without turning it off entirely; nails move in and out of the walls as the house settles, popping round bits of drywall to the floor and screwing up the paint; the windows are beautiful but impossible to clean without a 20-foot ladder; and the plumbing under the sink goes directly into the wall rather than connecting on the outside. It's too hard to explain why this last is such a pain in the ass, but it will probably mean that replacing our sink will be more expensive than it should be. I really want an old-fashioned house, built to last, made of bricks and wood. Of course I am not stupid and know that there are probably even more problems with decent 30-year-old houses than there are with shitty five-year-old houses. Still. At least it would feel solid.

2. Last night I made this recipe. I made my own harissa again, but this time I used dried chipotle peppers instead of the so-mild-they're-flavorless California chiles I picked up in the Goya aisle. This was not a particularly good idea. Chipotle peppers are HOT AS FUCK.  I have come many leagues from how spicy I liked my food four years ago (i.e., not), but this was way overkill.

I also appear to have relatively sensitive skin when it comes to capsaicin. The first time I cut open a regular jalapeno pepper, my fingers burned for the rest of the day. Alton Brown explained that putting your hands in a bowl of milk may cool the burn substantially - since there's a compound in milk which bonds with capsaicin, which is why you should ALWAYS drink milk instead of water if you've overdone it with the Guatemalan insanity peppers - and this seemed to help me then. Since that day I've used rubber gloves whenever I cut up spicy peppers, but last night I forgot when I did the first pepper. And I only had soy milk in the house, and I couldn't find out if the same compound is present in soy milk. Still, I sat with my hands in a bowl of soy milk for several hours last night to try and stop the burning. I don't know if anyone reading has ever experienced this, but it feels like the affected area of your skin is at any moment going to burst into a tiny flame, flake off into ash and float away. It's difficult to concentrate on anything else, especially when you are stupid and use the inside of your thumbnail to scrape out the seeds and innards of the chipotle pepper. Ow.

The spaghetti was actually quite delicious, in my opinion, despite being near-inedibly spicy. I actually threw away the leftovers, which I almost never do.  The intensity of the flavor of the oil-cured olives and the texture of the greens (I used chard instead of kale, because chard is my BFF) went well with it all. Next time I hope to use harissa that's a little more reasonable-tasting.

3. Whenever I think about Obama winning the presidency, the possibility makes me cautiously happy, but I can't shake the feeling that his victory speech is going to look a little like this. He's too good to be true, you know?

4.  I went to that same vinyasa I/II class I did a couple of Sundays ago, and it was terrific. I even felt a little Kundalini at the beginning of class. We did so much warrior and lunge work that my legs hurt a little today - it's actually the sockets that hurt, where my legs meet my hips, all the way around the upper thigh. Not joints, but sockets, like the sockets on a Barbie. The instructor, Denise, is wonderful, and this time she was a little more down-to-earth than before, so I liked her even better. I felt miles better, a lot less stressed and more ready to deal with what happened next, a feeling that's carried over to today.

5. This whole scheduled post thing is terrific, but I still kept checking Wordpress over the weekend to see if anyone had commented or if there were new posts to read on my blog surfer. Wish I could stop being so obsessive and do my damn homework. Blog surfer is how I read new posts from the bloggers I like, mostly, and I've discovered that if you edit an old post, it shows up higher in the queue, just as if it's a new post. Since I was planning to edit my Sunday posts to add links, for the convenience of posterity, I feel bad about this quirk of the system. Oh well.

6. I got two supportive comments on my combative The Day the Earth Stood Still post. W00t!

7. I think I had other things to say but I've forgotten them. I hope you're all well.

Update: I remembered!

8. I'm experimenting with various energy bars for the sake of the days when I don't get home until 10 PM, and because I'm seeking out some portable food to bring with me to Yogaville. I am trying to avoid those that have the awful thick texture and criminal taste of Power Bars. I had an Odwalla bar this morning and it was okay. Yesterday I had a bar whose brand I don't actually remember, but it had a white wrapper and was of the flavor "cookie dough". Yeah, it tasted like a Power Bar. If anyone knows some good ones, let me know. Lowest sugar level possible.

9. BF and I watched Casino Royale - the 60's one with Peter Sellers - and boy, was it a rocket from the past. I am actually rather ashamed of Mike Myers for pirating a good deal of this film in order to make Austin Powers. BF and I agreed that as a film it...uh...lacked, but we also wondered when America was going to start being a fun place to live again, the kind of place that could have created this movie. The colors were so bright, the girls were so pretty, there was dancing and music and profligate silliness. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

I really, really loved the Wiel Pistachi-Oh! bars when I first tasted them.  The ingredients all sounded so simple and healthy, unlike so many of the crazy, chemical loaded energy bars that can be found out there.  However, the price tag is a little high to consume them on a regular basis.  Upon mentioning this to a friend, she remarked bluntly, "well, why don't you make your own?"

Why didn't I think of that?

So, here is my imitation recipe, at a fraction of the cost per bar.  They are a little softer than the store-bought ones, but I kind of prefer that.  It may be due to the fact that they are fresher, too.  If you wanted, you could try a higher nut-to-date ratio.  If you're looking to carry them around, throw one in a Tupperware container, and you've suddenly reduced the waste that you would have created buying individually wrapped bars too.  Or, if need be, wrap in plastic wrap, but you will risk crushing your bar.  I think this would also make a good pie filling/tart filling/date square filling or other additive to baked goods.  You could try cooking the bars a little, but I didn't notice any spectacular difference to them when I did this.

Date and Nut Energy Bars

note- all ingredients were measured before any sort of chopping.

- 3 cups of pitted date

- 1 cup cashews

- 3/4 cup shelled pistachios

- 2 tsp cinnamon or 1tsp cinnamon and 1tsp allspice

- about 2 tbsp of lemon juice (add a little less if the mixture looks too moist already)

1.) Put the dates in a large bowl, and cover with hot water.  You could, if you wanted, chop them first, but this recipe will work without chopping.

2.) Chop up the cashews and pistachios very fine.

3.) Drain the dates once they are softened, mash up, add the nuts, and mix well.  Add in the spices and lemon juice, and mix well again.

4.) Spread so that it's a little less than, or about a centimeter thick in a tray, preferably lined with wax or parchment paper, so that you can remove the bars easier later.  My tray I used was some obscure size, maybe 10 by 6, or 11 by 7 (I'm aware that those aren't metric units...), but I think an eight inch square tray would work.  Let sit several hours, then score, remove bars from tray, flip them over, and stack them up like you were curing soap, so that all sides dry a bit.

Sorry for the mediocre pics.  I didn't feel like worring about good photography that day, for some reason.

1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
4 cups wheat and barley nugget cereal (like Grape Nuts)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:

Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with foil and coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the remaining ingredients; mix well, then spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Let cool, then cut into bars and serve, or cover until ready to serve.

Notes: Margarine over foil may taste better than a cooking spray. Also, haven't used the optional almonds. Makes 24 bars.

Source:
My friend Brian's mom used to make these for him, and I insisted on obtaining the recipe.

Diet Drinks- The 1 calorie drinks may not be helping you much. These drinks are loaded with aspartame( artificial sweetener) which is under scrutiny over health issues. Apart from this when we have a low calorie drink, we think we have the liberty to have some extra calories. People tend to eat more consciously because they feel they can. If you really want to have a healthy drink then sip on plain water, lemon water, buttermilk. These are digestive and healthy options to diet drinks.
Fruit Juice- It is commonly thought that having fruit juice is a great way to lose weight. With many varieties of packed juices available in the market we prefer having juice instead of fruit. However the fact is that, it is healthier to eat the fruit instead of having it's juice. Here's why? You will consume calories of about 4-5 oranges without any fibre in a glass of orange juice as compared to having one orange in whole. So go whole fruit, it's low calorie and healthy.
Energy Bars- The low fat energy bars are sold as diet foods. These bars are loaded with aspartame and give you a sugar high instantly only to bring your sugar levels crashing down. This sudden drop in sugar levels can leave you hungry and lethargic. Energy bars are good for athletes...they may not work likewise for you.
Cottage Cheese( Paneer) -If you are snacking on paneer when thoes hunger pangs strike then cosider the calories too. 1 cup of paneer made out of full cream milk has 265 calories. However if you go for the low fat variety then the calories go down by half.
Popcorn- Popcorn is a great source of protein and carbohydrates. It is a wonderful low calorie snack, only if you keep it that. 1 cup of salted popcorn has about 30kcal. Adding a little butter to it makes it 130kcal per cup. So maybe munching on those butter pop corns at the movies is not a good idea.
Salads- Low calorie and salads quite synonymous, don't you think?. However the dressing can make all the difference. A thousand island dressing has 59 calories and 47 fat calories. A simple mayonnaise dressing has 50 calories and 44 calories from fat. Also adding fried potatoes or bread croutons to the salad increases the calorie content. So if you are the salad lover then go in for salads with healthier dressing such as curd dressing which has only 90 calories.
Soups- Come winter and nothing is better than a bowl of hot piping soup. However with the convenience catching up, all you need to do is to mix a packet of soup powder in water and your soup is ready in minutes. The convenient calories are no way behind.You will be surprised to know that your bowl of cream of tomato soup ( packet) has 128 calories which as compared to home made clear tomato soup has only 20 calories. Soups are a wonderful way to nourish but keep it clear if you are looking at losing weight.

Have fun, and create your own. They are tasty!

Energy Bars
Makes about 20 servings

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pitted dried dates
1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk (I used about 1/3 cup soy milk instead.)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place all ingredients except the syrup and eggs in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the syrup and eggs and pulse until the mixture is well combined. It will resemble a coarse paste.

Transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until just done, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 squares.

Nutritional Analysis (per serving):
Calories: 133
Total Fat: 5 grams
Saturated Fat: 0.6 grams
Protein 5 grams
Carbohydrates 20 grams
Fiber 2.5 grams

I dont know if it happens to you, but sometimes I dont have time to make breakfast at all or I want a healthy snack for later on during my day when I am on the go. And yes I do buy energy bars, but its really hard to find one that I like. Most of them are filled with nuts, and sometimes I want something lower-fat. And others have sugar in them, which again is a thing I dont like. So I decided, what a better idea than to make you own adjusted-to-your-taste energy bars from scratch! So I did! These ones are with goji berries, that are like raisins but much healthier, as they are high in protein which is something I need, specially because this bar doesnt have any nuts in it. They other basic ingredient is dried apple crisps, that add a fruity taste and extra crunch! And of course, they are sugar-free!

I'm not really one for the energy goos and gels. Preferring instead the taste and texture of real food, I tend to pack my workout bag with things of the grainy-granola variety, as opposed to packages full of something resembling McDonalds' birthday cake icing. However, even with these proclivities, during my race yesterday I did pound back a pack of Chocolate Outrage Guu midway through my 24 mile bike. With its quick delivery of energy with zero digestive problems, I will definitely lean on these in future race days. But for everyday use (training and running errands when it doesn't matter if I have to stop for a bathroom break), these are much more satisfying.

Racing, whether in a 5k or an Ironman, peels back the layers of culture and associations that surround our eating and drinking. It strips food down to fuel, and liquid to its hydrating properties. It makes you aware of things most people don't give 2 cents of their thoughts to, like sodium, carb and protein intake. In short, it can drive you crazy, thinking of your body as a machine to be tweaked and oiled.

Training for that compulsive finish line is a trial of mind and body. It is an ever-building procession of cells and attitudes and obsessions that carry you into the days ahead. As I stood there in the water my mind went strangely blank, and I felt my animal nature rise beneath my skin. For just shy of three hours, my tastes, memories and to-do lists were buried under the power of being that well-fueled machine. I was muscle and sinew and units of energy, and it felt truly euphoric.

If you are sick of seeing plates full of nothing but novelty, reward or diet-induced contraband, go and register for a race. Suddenly everything you eat and drink will feel more plump, juicy and satisfying. Like an intravenous running from the earth straight into your blood stream, you will feel miraculously connected and newly powerful.

Peanut Ginger Squares

1 cup raw or roasted peanuts

1 T minced fresh ginger or 1tsp powdered (this can be adjusted, depending on how much you like ginger)

2 T sesame seeds

1 cup raisins

2 T ground or whole flax seeds

2 T honey

optional pinch salt if the peanuts are unsalted

1. Grind all ingredients, except for the honey, in a food processor until fairly fine but still having some texture. Avoid processing to the point of creamy peanut butter.
2. Add honey and process just long enough for it to blend in.
3. Press into a square about 3/4-inch thick on a plate or square pan and refrigerate for about an hour or more.
4. Done! Cut into 2-inch squares.

Makes 8-12 bars

*

As a working girl, I have been recently introduced to the confusing variety of snack bars, or whatever the official name is. And it’s confusing because, since we’re eating them, that means we’re probably trying to be healthy, which means, WHICH BAR TO DO YOU BUY?!

There are the infamously girly Luna Bars, the powerful hunkly man Clif bars, and those Ashevillesque hippie bars, Ozwalies (I know I’m saying that wrong). I personally have been a long-time (2-month) fan of the Luna bars. I quickly became accustomed to the somewhat chalky vitamin taste that spans across the brands of most all health bars, and am now able to appreciate the differences between the flavors.

Nuts Over Chocolate is so yummy. There’s one with cranberries and nuts, one called Blueberry Frost, which has spooky ghost-colored frosting all on one side. There are probably at least 20 different flavors, each bar costing anywhere from $1-2.

So, in an effort to provide some clarity to myself and others, I will post some nutritional information for the bars, which should help me decide which one’s the best, if any. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all have a whole ton of sugar to hide the Extreme Nutrients.

I found this comprehensive chart that includes several different “energy bars,” but does not include that Aussie bar, Ozwalie. Oh well. Here it is:

Energy Bars Comparison Chart
Energy Bars	Vegan	Price per Bar	Weight (g)	Calories	**Carbs (g / %)	*Sugars (g / %)	Fiber (g)	**Protein (g / %)	**Fat (g / %)	NA (mg)	K (mg)
Bear Valley		$1.13	106.4	420	59 56%	28 27%	9	17 16%	13 29%	90
Builders Bar		$1.66	68	270	30 44%	19 28%	4	20 30%	8 26%	260	250
Clif Bar	Y	$1.13	68	250	51 82%	10-16 21%	3-8	5-12 8-19%	2 7%	80	293
Clif Nectar	Y	$1.69	45	170	29 68%	18 42%	3-6	3 7%	6 29%	0	270
Elev8 Me		$2.01	66	220	32 58%	28 50%	4	18 33%	4 16%	30
Larabar	Y	$1.25	48	190	24 51%	17 36%	4	5 11%	9 42%	0	240
Luna Bar	Y	$1.17	48	180	24 53%	13 25%	1	10 22%	5 25%	125	105
Nutiva Original		$1.57	40	210	11 21%	5 10%	5	9 17%	14 62%	5
Organic Veg. Bar	Y*	$2.25	68	300	34 45%	19 25%	5	14 19%	12 43%	115
ProBar	Y	$2.50	80	350	50 57%	14 16%	6.5	8 9%	8 40%	19
Raw Revolution	Y	$1.36	64	273	31 45%	19 28%	3	7 10%	14 46%	1% DV

**percentages represent calories derived from each macro-nutrient catagory (i.e. carbs, protein, fat)
*sugar percentage is percent of total calories.
Note: values listed may vary depending on flavor, vegan rating may depend on flavor.Data compiled by Prolithic Sports from product labels and manufacturer’s websites. We attempt to keep this page current and accurate but errors happen.

http://www.prolithic.com/hpages/efoods/barcomp.html

*Picture I took on my walk home from work* 6/2/08

Buenas!
Este final de semana foi bem divertido e bem diferente do normal. Mas de um modo geral foi jóia, haha.

Mostrando os frutos deste (com início no outro fds tb), temos aqui um grupinho de quatro fotos que gostei bastante, bem interessantes de foto-montagem.

Espero que gostem também.

Basta clicar para ampliar.

Abraços.

[gallery]

I am happy to announce that Eddie's Energy Bars is sponsoring team American Mojo, a unicycling team that hails from New England, with two members residing right here in Vermont. They recently participated in the New York City five boro ride. Mark, Eric, and Bill were three of six unicyclists in a sea of 30,000 bikers!

Team American Mojo will be riding in the Ride the Lobster race in Nova Scotia June 16-20 powered by Eddie's Energy Bars.

Below are a couple of pictures taken by their great supporter, Dawn DiCecco (As you can see in these pictures the wrappers are empty! Well, Mark is anxiously waiting to eat his):

There's only one problem with getting into fitness: inevitable weakening in the face of the supplement craze. As I watch my fellow triathlon trainees squeezing gels into their mouths, it's easy to give in to the notion that I need the stuff. I continually have to remind myself that real food should be enough for any body. Beyond the protein (powder) shakes that help me meet my protein requirements minus much meat, there's no creatine, glutamine, ecdysterone, 5-HTP, or anything else I can't pronounce or made up of more numbers than letters in this body.

This is why I have been combing blogs and books, and experimenting with combination after combination of natural ingredients to bring you a collection of only the best homemade energy bars. This is why I will continue to experiment, posting the worthy results under this new series. I hope you appreciate the results: many craisins were harmed in the process.

Most of the popular commercial energy bars are chalk full of weird ingredients, and taste like chalk to boot. Exceptions are Larabars and most Clif Bars, which will cost you a (however chiseled) arm and a leg to consume regularly. Making a whole pan of your own is a matter of less than 5$ and 10 minutes in the kitchen. Stock up on oats, pressed barley, coconut, honey, peanut butter, nuts and dried fruits, and you'll have everything you need on hand to whip up any number of my bars. Keep them on the counter for a week, or wrap 'em in foil and freeze them for that 3-week away hike.

I like to alternate recipes to keep me from getting bored. Some bars are baked, which tend to be lighter and crispier, while the unbaked ones resemble the chewy commercial type. The baked ones are more cookie-like, while the pressed ones tend to be sweeter and more intense.

The unbaked ones (like the recipe I am sharing today) need a lot more sticky binder than you'd expect to keep them from falling apart. Please don't make the mistake I did and try to cut down on the peanut butter! If you're worried about fat issues involved in 1 whole cup of peanut butter, cut the bars into small cubes...that's all you need for a quick jolt on the trails anyway!

These bars are dense and satisfying, perfect mid- or post-workouts over an hour long. (Before a workout you'll want to have some more complex, or slow-burn carbs for sustained energy.) They are sweetened with all-natural ingredients--honey, dried fruit, and natural peanut butter. Honey is made up of fructose and glucose and is a simple, or single-molecule sugar. This means that it enters your bloodstream quickly--translating to more energy bang for your buck.

Athletes take note: carbs (formerly known as sugar) are your friend and fuel. And heck, they're a lot cheaper than filling up your car. Remember that it is also important to consume simple carbs after a workout, when your muscles are needing to restock their glycogen stores. (See this article for more information than you care to read here.)

All that aside, they're just plain tasty and convenient. And they fit perfectly in laptop bags, glove compartments, and even dainty purses.

Whole Grain Energy Chews

1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped

2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped up

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup Red River Cereal or Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal

1/2 cup honey

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350, and toast the oats, almonds, and pumpkin/sunflower seeds on a baking sheet until just golden and fragrant. (Watch carefully, they burn quickly!)
2. Add the fruit and seeds to the oat and nut mixture. Mix well.
3. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add cereal, stir and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 2 minutes.
4. Add peanut butter, honey, salt and vanilla to the pan and return to medium low, stirring often for 7 minutes. The mixture should start to shine and pull away easily from the sides of the pan. Stir constantly to avoid it sticking to the bottom. Do not overheat.
5. Add the warm peanut butter mixture to the oat mixture, and combine thoroughly. Press very firmly into an 8x8 glass or metal pan (place a piece of foil that matches the size of the pan on top and press with your hands.) Leave to rest for at least 2 hours. Cut in 36 small squares and freeze indefinitely, or refrigerate/wrap and keep at room temperature for up to a month. Since the ingredients are all non-perishable, they will likely go stale before they go "bad."

Nutritional information per 1/36th of a pan (one small square, fits perfectly in a bike bag!): 80 calories, 2 grams fat, 13.5 carbohydrates, 1.7 grams dietary fiber, 2.5 grams protein.

adapted from Whole Grain Gourmet

Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars

(2 dozen bars)

• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 8-oz. container vanilla or plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp. fat-free milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
• 3 cups oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 cup diced dried mixed fruit, raisins, or dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350F. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk, and vanilla; mix well.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Add to yogurt mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and fruit (and nuts and chips if you choose to use them).

Spread dough onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan.

Bake 28-32 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

I have been looking for something relatively healthy for my husband to take to work for some time now. He usually skips breakfast (bad!) and I wanted something filling, and relatively healthy that he could eat immediately he got to work when he has his coffee.

I was browsing around the internet the other day (Using stumble) when I came across a site with Multgrain Energy Bars. Reading the recipe, they seemed almost perfect, except for one thing.... they contained peanut butter, and my husband HATES peanut butter with a passion.

But I saved the site, because I was sure I could think of something else to substitute instead, and even if I couldn't, the kids would love them.

When I was in Costco the other week, I found the perfect thing to substitute - Almond butter. He hates peanuts, but doesn't mind almonds, so I bought a jar. It is way more expensive than peanut butter, but if he will eat these then I don't really mind.

This is the recipe taken from the original webpage:

First of all in yarn news:

 I'm wondering if anyone (or perhaps you can suggest, a site/blog) out there is interested in doing a yarn swap?

I find myself in possession of 5 skeins (100 gr./67 yards in each) of this lovely Bulky Lopi in Cordovan ( a rich burgundy shade, as in the throw photo, not purple):

I have no further use for now. I did have other ideas for projects for this yarn when I first purchased (2 bags/ 20 skeins) but decided to make this lovely throw instead:

Leaving me with the remaining 5 skeins (which can't be returned as they were sold as a 10 skein bag/unit price).

Do let me know if any of you have other yarn you might want to swap this for and I will be happy to consider.

Speaking of my WIP's....

 Right now, I am in need of small amounts of 2 of the contrast colors for my Fairly Easy Fair Isle, which I am making in this tweed Lopi as the main color.

I already have a solid red, still need to get a orangey-yellow shade and also a aqua/green shade to go with. The yarn doesn't have to be the exact same type as this Alafoss Lopi but it does have to be a chunky weight in wool.

The two end colors in this photo are close to what I'm looking for, but in a chunky weight yarn. This lite Lopi(as in the above photo) is too thin (I don't want to double up strands either) and unfortunately these shades aren't available in the regular chunky-weight Lopi (go figure)!

I'm guessing that I need about 2-2.5 oz. of EACH contrast color, to complete the pattern section of this cardigan. From what I've been reading on the Internet, everyone who has made this cardigan ended up with quite a bit left from the contrast color yarns they purchased.

 So, if there's anyone out there who would love to move some of their stash (and hopefully also could help with my need for these contrast colors too) it would be great to hear from you! I'm open to considering any yarn you want to swap. The small amount of contrast colors above would only be part of what I'd be interested in.

My new blog: My Poetic Path is turning out to be a wonderful experience for me and I am so encouraged by the number of visitors already stopping by. I'm working on a new poem  to post later today, so hope you will stop in for a visit soon. I am also 'meeting' many other poets who blog, another real plus of this new venture.

I know I've said it again and again but... isn't blogging great!!! Ya gotta do it, to get it, don't ya????!!! 

 I still get people asking me (do you?) 'what's a blog'  ?

Is that amazing or what?    ;)

With spring already here in BC (wow, that's a big difference for mid-March compared to the Canadian Prairies from where we previously lived) thoughts of getting outdoors and more fitness pursuits come to mind.

Wondering if there would be an interest in starting a fitness challenge  progress,weekly log, something like that, that several of us could encourage each other, to keep going and get more fit?

What do you think?

I'd be happy to put something together, here on Veggies... if the interest was there. Kind of like a 'I Knit and I'm Fit' sort of project (knitting optional if this is a go, of course) and starting from now.

Let me know if you'd be interested in participating (leave a comment or email me). Thanks!

It would be entirely up to you what kinds of exercise and times per week, etc you'd want to commit to. More as a way of keeping motivated, keeping a record of progress.

Best of all, giving each other encouragement to go, go go........even when the going gets tough, motivation lags or the weather is not cooperating!!!

 I'll finish off with a recipe for a great 'pick-me-up, before a walk/run treat':

Tahini Terrific No-Bake Energy Bars from NJFV featured in an earlier post.

These delicious, nutritious bars continue to be very popular in terms of the many visitors to this post.

I have yet to find any other energy bars (commercial ones included) that provided more 'get up and go' in every single bite. Do hope you will give them a try.

Bonus, they taste great too and have been kid-approved!!!

Huggs and wishing you a wonderful week, G      :)