By Joyce
Months before our epic John Muir Trail hike last summer, I experimented with making homemade energy bars; the goal being to bring along tasty nutrient rich snacks that could fuel us on our calorie burning days. I scoured all the energy bar recipes on the web and closely inspected the ingredients lists on the huge array of protein/power/nutrition/ raw bars sold at my local food coop. I was most interested in what manufacturers were using as binders to hold bars together. After my research and experiments, I found what worked best for me was using a combination of dried dates or apricots, chia seeds, honey, nut butters, apple sauce and coconut oil. Because I favor raw foods, I used a dehydrator instead of an oven to retain the most nutrition, and preserve the energy bars. Be assured that the chewy texture was not compromised from being dehydrated.
As we prepared for our hike, I brought along samples of my energy bars for my hiking partners to try out on our training hikes which helped me refine my recipes. Although I wasn’t scientific about calculating their carbohydrate, protein and fat ratios, they were definitely satisfying. I can attest that once we were on the John Muir Trail, these energy bars did fuel me up all the mountain passes and kept me going on long mileage days. They traveled well in high heat, held their shape and performed admirably on a caloric level, so much so that we ate far fewer of them than anticipated. Whether you are hiking or not, it’s handy to have these bars around as snacks or additions to lunches.
The following recipes, although all yummy, are listed in order of popularity. Use my recipes as a guideline for proportions but make substitutions for different protein powders, nuts, seeds or dried fruit if you have a different preference. Store them in glass sealed containers or, if traveling, you can vaccuum pack or keep them in Ziploc plastic bags.
Sprouted Buckwheat & Carob Energy Bar
The sprouted buckwheat offers a nice crunchy texture and Carob satisfies chocolate lovers.
1 cup dried dates (soaked)
1 cup almond meal
1 cup whey protein powder
1 cup walnuts
2 cups sprouted buckwheat groats
½ cup Chia seeds (soak ½ cup chia seeds in 1 cup water)
¼ cup carob powder
½ cup cacao nibs
¼-1/2 cup honey
pinch salt
Instructions
Sprout your buckwheat groats. I place my grouts in a colander to sprout so it is easy to rinse.
Soak ½ cup chia seeds in 1 cup water. Wait ½ hr.
In Cuisine art, pulse walnuts into small chunks. Put aside
In Cuisine art, pulse soaked dates into a paste.
In mixing bowl, mix together all of the above ingredients until they all stick together. Transfer and flatten mixture to ½”-5/8” on dehydrator trays covered with either parchment or non-stick dehydrator sheets on them. Use a pizza cutter to cut energy bars into a grid of whatever dimensions you prefer, but don’t cut all the way through so you can easily flip it later. Set temperature on dehydrator to 115
Read more here: DailySelfCure
October 4, 2013
Social Climbers
Joyce Uncategorized
By Joyce
Friends and neighbors, Claudia and Jackie, joined me today for stair climbing on this fine, and increasingly rare, sunny morning at the concrete stairs tucked in at intersection of S. Cooper St. and Waters Ave. S. in Upper Rainier Beach. There’s nothing better, in between breaths, than talking about books, gardening and local beautification efforts to take my attention off this demanding, sweaty form of exercise. All of us carried backpacks with varying poundage (5lbs – 20lbs) of rice or other bulk foods to make it more of a load bearing exercise. As middle-aged women, we need to keep building lean muscle mass since women tend to lose 5 -7 pounds of muscle a year if not doing weight-bearing exercise. And besides building strong bones, weight-bearing exercise keeps your metabolism fired up because having more muscle generates more metabolic activity, which burns fat. At fifty-four years old, I’m all for it.
I would have never imagined that I would voluntarily walk up and down stairs carrying weight, but after my backpacking trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains this past summer, I can’t think of a better way to stay in shape and partake in my local landscape. While descending the stairs, one is treated to wide screen views of Lake Washington, a performance stage for precipitation and light. Mist, rain and fog can seem so miserable when exercising indoors but can actually be the very elements to invigorate the senses when experiencing them outdoors.
Finally, what gets me out of bed so I can climb the stairs, three mornings a week at 8AM, is I feel stronger and better for the effort. If I feel stronger, I feel more self-confident. If I feel more self-confident then I doubt myself less. If I doubt myself less, I feel better about my life. If I accomplish nothing else than climbing stairs in a day then I have indeed done a good amount of cardiovascular work.
All the work, all the sweat, is so worth it, and so much more bearable if I have company. There’s no denying it – I am a social climber.
Please join me on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8AM at the intersection of S. Cooper St. and Waters Ave. S. If you want to do load-bearing exercise, use a backpack with a waist belt so the weight is well distributed. Increase load gradually.
Read more here: DailySelfCure
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