I should PROBABLY start with a recap of my granola-bar-making experience. First of all, I found the recipe on ehow.com, believe it or not. It can be found here. However, I did make a few variations...
In my batch I added:
about 2 1/2 c. rolled or steel cut oats (not quick oats)
about a 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
about a 1/4 c. flax seed meal (optional)...I ground the seeds in my coffee grinder
some cinnamon
about (probably more than) a 1/2 c. Natural peanut butter
about a 1/2 c. water
about 2 tsp. vanilla
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
anndd about a tbsp or two of my new friend AGAVE to sweeten it up a bit.
ANDD, instead of adding in the dried fruit and nuts separately, I bought a yummy pre-mixed mixture of dried apples, sunflower seeds, peanuts, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. that I sometimes put on top of salads. With that mix, I added a bit extra in the chocolate chip department so I wouldn't scare away all those people that are COMPLETELY unhappy with COMPLETELY healthy foods...just enough to lure them in :)
Mixture pre-oven:
Post-oven, cooled and cut into 12ish pieces:
Overall? Not to shabby. I could probably go through all the ingredients and figure out a basic estimate on the calorie count, but I don't really feel like it, so I'm estimating around 300 calories per bar. It sounds like a lot, but nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter and chocolate are all high calorie foods. Don't feel bad, however, because with the exception of the chocolate they are all ingredients that are high in good healthy fats, protein, and nutrients that will digest slower than regular store-bought granola bars and won't spike up the blood sugar and make you as hungry. Next time I might try to make them a bit thinner, and I'll definitely use some precise measurements. So far they've made a great pre-workout treat, or a snack-on-the-run at work when it's busy.
As for the gym aspect of my regime, I made it to the gym yesterday before I went to work and managed to do a whole 45 minutes on the elliptical. I'll admit that making a new playlist and updating some songs definitely helped, but it was satisfying...and I burned 600 calories! Whoa. Thank god for my good ol' heart rate monitor.
Now that we're up to speed, today I had to work from 8-4 so I made a quick almond/OJ/berry/protein smoothie before work, enjoyed a small crepe filled with one egg, pesto and some cheese for an early lunch, a homemade granola bar for late lunch/pre-workout snack, and then managed to make this beautiful egg white omelet filled with baby portobella mushrooms, arugala, avocado, and chevre. I was skeptical combining chevre, avocado and eggs but with a little garlic powder, salt and pepper for seasoning, this beast was awesome. Awe. Some.
The recipe? I actually threw this all together myself! Once I learned how to make an omelet, there was no stoppin' me :)
Today was also a weights day at the gym, and my workout (varied slightly from the other day) is posted below:
Cardio:
*30 minutes on the elliptical (~300 calories)
Weights: (repeated circuit three times)
*Dumbbell frontal raise (10lbsx12 reps)
*Medicine ball twist (10lbsx10 reps on each side)
*Chair Squats (these KILL) (12 reps)
*Hammer Curl (15lbsx10reps)
*Good mornings (10lb weightx 12 reps)
*Tricep Kickbacks (10lbsx12 reps)
*Bent Knee Leg Raises (12 reps)
*Regular bicep curl (10-15lbs x12 reps)
*Inner and Outer Leg Machine at 70lbs (x12 reps)
I'm working tomorrow and Sunday from 730-4. I'll hit up the gym tomorrow for a cardio sesh, and then take Sunday off from the gym (but may do some yoga). Something to look forward to: on Monday, the Fitnessista will be posting some new workouts for the Winter Shape Up 2010 (which she designed) that I'll try out for next week's routine.
G'night all!
Jenna
Hey Jenna! Thanks for the comment on my blog :)
ReplyDeleteYour granola bars look really good. I'm a huge fan of making your own bars at home because they're cheap and usually taste better!