RECIPE - Energy bars (Bars to Conquer Cancer?)

Hi again everyone,

As promised in my last post, here's a post about nutrition!  Below is a video on how to make the energy bars that Lisa and I use to get through our training without bonking or burning out.  Hope you give them a shot, they're dead simple and really tasty!

Homemade Vegan Energy Bars
(Adapted from Global Cycling Network)

Ingredients:

• Sunflower oil - 1/2 cup (any light flavoured oil is fine, I might try coconut oil next)
• Brown sugar - 1 cup
• Light corn syrup - 2 tbsp
• Peanut butter - 1 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
• Sunflower seeds (any nut or seed really) - 2 tbsp
• Flaked almonds - 1/2 cup
• Sultana raisins - 1/2 cup
• Chopped pitted dates - 1/2 cup
• Unsweetened dried coconut - 1/4 cup
• Thick cut oats/oatmeal - 2 1/2 cups (225g if you have a scale)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C or 350F or gas mark 4
• Over low heat, mix the oil, brown sugar, syrup, peanut butter and vanilla in a pan until melted
• Once mixture is mixed, add in sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins, dates, and coconut.  Stir everything together again until evenly mixed 
• Gradually add oats in a few additions to the mixture to stop from clumping
• Transfer mixture to a 8x8 square baking tin lined with parchment. 
• Press down firmly with a metal fork. 
• Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they don't get over done. 
• Leave to cool completely in the tin before you take them out and cut them (They'll just flop around and fall apart if you try when they're still warm).
• Cut up and enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in!  You haven't donated yet, please do! I can't do this without you!

Drinking VS. eating your calories

While doing any kind of extended strenuous exercise, you need to keep calories coming in as you burn them off.  If you dont, you're going to "bonk", "hit the wall", or in plain English... run out of energy.  That being said, the average person can put forth a pretty high effort before needing to refuel (glycogen versus fat for energy, but that's another post to itself) ... hydration is another story completely however .  You have to stay hydrated otherwise your body stops being able to function properly as a whole and you get into REAL trouble.

If you need to have calories coming in, does it really matter what state they're in?

Well besides having texture differences for variety's sake, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wants to eat everything through a straw.  Aside from a texture point of view, how your body deals with calories differs from eating and drinking.  If you end up drinking  finish this thought (finish this thought)

Energy and calories from drinking hydration mixes tends to be more quickly absorbed, but is also quicker to be used.  Whereas the energy taken from solids foods is more slowly released over time.  Think of a cherry bomb versus a sparkler if you need a visual representation.  Liquids are quick but not long lasting, solids are a little slower to react, but will last much longer.  There are also factors to take into account such as gastric emptying rate.  Which is the rate at that the food or fluids that you've taken in empty out of your stomach and enter your small intestine where it all gets absorbed. 

If I need calories in order not to bonk, why don't I just make super dense drink mixes?

Why don't you just take twelve scoops of Gatorade in one water bottle and just slam that back? Well depending on how easy something is to take in and absorb the better.  The higher the caloric density, the harder your body has to work at it.  So your small intestine has to take moisture out of your body in order to help process those calories.  Which means you're going to dehydrate so you can hydrate.  Seems a little counter intuitive doesn't it? Besides that, if you're dehydrated to begin with and then become more dehydrated you could be setting yourself up for some gastrointestinal fun.

That my dear reader is exactly what you DON'T want to be dealing with on a long distance run or cycle.

TL:DR! - yes it really does matter if you eat or drink your calories on the road.

Just a quick note today.. working on the weekend :(

Things I've learned today.

1. Canada is an unstoppable force when hockey is involved
2. Using nothing but my legs I can achieve over 60 Km/h on my bike.
3. In a dead all-out sprint I can clear ten meters per second.
4. Naps are the best thing after an intense workout.

Recipe: Red Lentil Rice Cakes

Recipe: Skratch Labs Portables - Red Lentil Rice Cakes

(Original recipe from Feed Zone Portables by Biju Thomas & Allen Lim)
Makes: 15 servings
Time: 30 minutes

Keep in mind, these rice cakes are NOT going to be strongly flavoured! These cakes are meant to be lightly flavoured in order to give you fuel and not cause you any stomach troubles along the way.  As listed in the Portables "Rules to ride by"

"Bold flavours are taken best sitting down.  When making ride or workout foods, use mild ingredients and keep seasoning light.  The same dishes can be more bold when cooking for boxed lunches or at home.  The opposite is true for salt."
-- Thomas, Biju, and Allen Lim. Feed Zone Portables: A Cookbook of On-The-Go Food for Athletes. Boulder, Colorado: VeloPress, 2013. Print. Page 53.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup uncooked red lentils
• 2 Cups uncooked sticky rice (Calrose, arborio, or any sushi rice should work here)
• 4 1/2 Cups water
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper
• 1 Teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon tomato paste
• 1/4 Cup plain Greek yogurt
• Coarse salt and pepper to taste

Optional Additions:

• 1/2 Cup diced tomato
• Add this to the pan with the onion and pepper so the moisture cooks off and the tomato breaks down
• 1 Teaspoon chopped scallion / green onion
• 1 Tablespoon minced flat leaf parsley or cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Tabasco (or other mild pepper sauce)

 Methods:

1. Rinse the lentils and rice in cold water, and drain completely.
2. Combine the lentils, rice, water, and a dash of salt into a pot / rice cooker and let cook.
3. Bring saute pan to med-high heat with a little bit of oil to coat the bottom
4. Lightly cook the onion and pepper (about 5 minutes)
5. Sprinkle in the paprika and stir, if needed add a little more oil to keep everything from sticking
6. Stir in the tomato paste, turn heat to low, and add the yogurt
7. Mix thoroughly then remove from heat and set aside 
8. Once rice and lentils are done, add to sautéed veg mixture and toss in any additional ingredients
9. Adjust salt and pepper to taste
10. Spread evenly in a 9" x 12" baking pan (I used 9x13 and it was just as fine)
11. Let the mixture set up for a bit, and then cut into squares and wrap!

Nutritional Info:

Energy: 150 cal

Fat: 1g

Sodium: 110mg 

Carbs: 30g

Fiber: 2g

Protein: 5g

Water: 67%

New recipe: Date and coconut energy balls (aka EPIC BALLS)

Date and coconut energy balls (aka EPIC BALLS)

Credit : (Original recipe from: Megan @ Detoxinista)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pecans, or other nut/seed of choice (I was going to use cashews, but decided against it)
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut 
• 2 cups soft medjool dates (For the love of all things good, MAKE SURE THEY'RE PITTED!)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (If you have REAL vanilla, use it!)

Method:

• In a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the walnuts and coconut until crumbly.

Pre-processing

Post-processing

• Add in the dates, coconut oil, vanilla and sea salt and process again until a sticky, uniform batter is formed.

See these pits? These will do a fantastic job of RUINING your equipment
and making your recipes taste like crud.. So take 'em out... Trust me on this one.

Blended down sticky noms! Time to starting scooping!

• Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons, pressing down onto a cutting board to pack the together.
• Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in the freezer to set
• Store the balls in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for an even longer shelf life.

Voila!  Enjoy!
(Original recipe from: Megan @ Detoxinista

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Curse you Mac software!

Sorry for the lack of updates guys... Unfortunately I'm working on a crazy tight deadline for a project at work.  So the whole 'personal life' thing has fallen off the radar.

To top it all off, I FINALLY got an opportunity to install iMovie so I can edit my recipe video... and it says I can't install it due to my operating system version!  ARGH!!! I've got another recipe post coming up though soon though.  I might stick to no videos for now until I can get an editing app sorted out.

<sigh> Back soon!