The Recipe for Success

My training load was pretty hefty this past week. I spent just over 27 hours pedaling, and did over 21,000 kJ's of work. To put that in perspective, to maintain my weight, I could eat an additional 3,000 cups of spinach, or if I wanted my caloric replacement to be of less volume, and more cost effective, a lot of these bars.

I enjoy cooking, and especially enjoy experimenting with food on the bike. Putting in this many miles, I'm shooting for something calorically dense, tasty, and easy to get down while pedaling. Sure, I could gnaw on commercial bars, which I do, but there is a certain satisfaction in the experimentation and tweaking, until you get just the right combination. Something you can call your own.

With my training load this high, my metabolism has been through the roof. My mouth has resembled something more like a human garbage disposal as of late. Needless to say, I've had plenty of time to test and tweak my recipe. Here it is. Try it and let me know what you think.

My Bar Recipe
Start off with these dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl:

Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Chopped Almonds (or similar nut)
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Dried Fruit (I use Craisins)
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
A handful of Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Cereal (I like Kashi GoLean Crisp - something that is not just a flake, and has some crunch is ideal)

Mix these dry ingredients, and then add these wet ingredients and mix in well.

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Skim Milk
2 Eggs
1 Cup Nutella**
3 Tablespoons Honey or Agave Nectar

Now that you have mixed these ingredients, you should have a thick, sticky blob in the bowl. Get a baking sheet, and coat it in olive oil. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. Press the contents in the bowl into one big bar on the baking sheet. (I dont always press it the width of the sheet, but rather to the desired thickness of the bar, or about 1/4".

Stick the big bar in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The finished product should be of Clif Bar consistency, but more moist. After taking the bar out, let it cool, and cut the big bar into smaller jersey pocket sized squares. I wrap the squares in tin foil, and stick them in the refrigerator until I am ready to ride.


**Nutella can be substituted for almond, or peanut butter. Organic seems to be the best, as it is less viscous, and makes the bars more moist. In my opinion, the Nutella version tastes the best.