Homemade granola bars!!! Please share!!!

Share the bars, or share the recipe ;)?

We have a thread going in the Food section about Cooking From Scratch; there are some links to recipes and ideas there. Soooo many variations out there; I love making them from scratch because you have complete control what goes in them. They're not difficult at all and much better for you without the preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated crap in some of the packaged ones. Give it a try!

Thanks so much, I'm going to check that out now. I love granola bars!

I just printed the recipe for choc/pp mini bars....sounds yum. Gonna try these tonight. I'm super excited!

Mern -- It was a huge change, but it felt great. I was ready to get out of NY! Was there for 9 years, but it never really did feel like home at all. As for my job - I got my Ph.D. in Neuroscience in May of 2010; I study how gonadal hormones (like testosterone and estrogens) affect brain functioning; not just in the "obvious" ways (like sex!) but how they add to or subtract from how your neurons fire and how your brain gets wired :) My doctoral thesis was about how androgens (like testosterone) seem to affect the normal development of the prefrontal cortex (the part of your brain right behind your forehead) in adolescents and adults, and how having a change in the amount can possibly exacerbate conditions like schizophrenia. I don't work with humans, but I feel like my work is really translatable. Soo -- I study hormones and brains! It sounds complex but I just think it's fun. I also consulted on a book this past year, that was a great experience!

And yes, I do miss my boyfriend when he's on swing. Some days he gets to work mornings, or "clopenings" (where he closes one night and then opens at 6:30 the following morning) and I get to see him some afternoons, but he's swing most of the time. Luckily, he always has Sundays off, so Sundays have become "date days." We do our best!

Cassie -- It's getting a lot easier! I've been really forced to cook since I'm the one that usually gets home in time to make dinner, and boyfriend is covered in oil and grease. It was either step up or fall off-track, and I decided to just do it. There have been some crazy nights of OOPS! (in particular the day where I didn't realize that a garlic clove was one piece of the bunch and not the whole giant thing of garlic....The house stunk for days! :D) but there has been more progress than back-tracking! I still usually make 6-ingredient-or-less meals and do lots of grilling (grilling is easy!) but I think that I have a couple of dishes in my repertoire now that I'd feel comfortable serving to guests. They may be simple, but they're good and healthy! I have FitDay to really thank for that - encouragement from Hope, almeeker and many others like yourself were so wonderful for me :) Thank you.

And haha, I felt like a Grumpy McGrump last evening, but I'll take champ! :D

Happy to say that I'm down one more pound today. One to go until I reach last summer's weight. I really have to be more careful next Christmas... it has taken too long to get back to where I like to be. A quiet day of paperwork and a shortage of laundry fairies will provide me with a peaceful, stress free day.. fingers crossed. :) (This is usually when all hell breaks loose, am I right?)

Food & Fitness:

1. Limit calories to 1200 and log everything. yes, yes, 1312
2. Keep BMI under 20. yes, yes, yes
3. Balance pie chart. iffy, yes, yes
4. Trail walk at least twice this week, weather permitting. Still cold. Crazy cold. No, but burned a ton of calories
5. Take multi-vitamin and calcium supplement daily. yes, started putting it on my dinner plate at night, yes, yes (adding flax today)
6. Lose 1 more pound this week. Trying, still trying, YES! [INSERT HAPPY DANCE HERE :D]
7. Floss every day. oops- forgot, yep, yes, in tribute to Beth :D

Personal Goals:

1. Continue with "do something nice each day". Yes, took mom to lunch and to see "The Kings Speech". She's a 1940's movie aficionado. yes, yes (more mom things)
2. Be more patient with people and situations that irritate me. If I get irritated, let it go. I'm getting better, yes, I've been a champ
3. Balance checkbook. Too busy yesterday and today... probably tomorrow, not yet, part of today's paperwork :mad:

I remember my daughter asking me look at her wienus last year... scary until I found out what it was...


almeeker,

I think you and I together would be hysterical! We just have to think of a way to break through the 20 or so inches of ice on top of the 20 or so inches of snow on our lakes right now...
I'm thinking with enough Hot Buttered Rums, we probably wouldn't care! LOL :D

Cassie,

I remember last winter when we were on the quest for the perfect granola bar. :) Wow, we've come a long way in a year! I'm really proud that we have stuck with it. It's kind of like "Survivor" in a way. A lot of our "originals" have dropped away. But here we are. Suppose we'll be here when we're 80? LOL Two weeks until your one year mark... Maybe we've finally found something that works long-term!

Lizzie,

Feel free to post some goals. We usually start a fresh list each Monday. Any goals from now until Monday? :)


Hush puppies and granola bars!!! You guys are killing me this morning! They both sound so good! Better eat my steel cut oats, ground flax and blueberries before I get tempted by something else! (A Hot Buttered Rum doesn't sound bad, either! ;) )

weight:
~ food wise stick with my plan m 83%, t 83%, w 83%
~ log all foods i've eaten m yes, t yes, w yes
~ do cardio 6 days m no, t yes, w yes, t yes
~ do strength training 6 daysm yes, t yes, w yes, t yes
~ get 90 oz of water in m yes, t yes, w yes
~ continue to not emotionally eat. be real with what i'm feeling at the moment & talk to someone, write it down, come here & vent, but don't stuff my feelings down with food. m yes, t yes, w yes
~ be honest to myself when weighing myself. m yes, t yes, w yes

non weight goals:
~ put effort in every day in what i'm wearing & how i look.m yes, t yes, w yes, t yes
~ get back to my routine in organizing my housem yes t no
~ write in my fitday journal at least three times.YES ~ GOAL REACHED

quinn ~ you are very correct we need to find what works for us & stick to that. woo hooo on the loss!!!! that's awesome!!!!! sounds like you had a nice productive day.

jacqueline ~ glad that things are settling down for you! sounds like a lot of changes, but good ones.

almeeker ~ great job making your larger goals. great job.

rose ~ ((hugs)) sorry that you are not feeling any better. groin injuries hurt & can take awhile to heal. its to bad you haven't been sleeping well. hope your day picks up & you start feeling better. thanks rose. now i have to try have to try on my lengha (indian top & skirt) as i was also asked to be in the fashion show...lol.

rhoda ~ good job on getting to the gym. thanks for that little tip on oatmeal. i love oatmeal woo hoo!!!!!!!

cassie ~ mmm that lunch sounds good. i love chinese...lol. hope you can get out for a run in some warmer weather.

aspikes ~ you already planned ahead for eating out so you should be good to go. that's a great way to plan for it.

finally was able to walk to work today. it was cold -31 C again, but i was bundled up for it snow pants, toque, gloves etc. last night busy had cubs & then a quick dance practice. tonight back to dance class. going home for lunch today & hope to get some cleaning done then. it's not that my place is dirty, but just stuff out & not put away at the moment.

hi guys,
last night I stayed completely w/in my point allowance and that included 1 drink! I never got to work out, but that is fine w/ me as I work out most days.

Stacey, congrats on meeting all of your goals so far this week!!

Quinn, I have the same question that Mambo asked--as a mostly vegetarian, how do you balance your carbs w/ your protein? I eat a lot of veggie foods and it can make my carbs very high, even if they are mostly carbs from my oats in the AM and the veggies/fruits throughout the rest of the day.

today has been great so far food wise. I have been eating the same breakfast for a month now and still can't get enough of it! I soak oat bran in milk over night and add cinn, ginger, and cacao nibs, then in the AM I add canned pumpkin or butternut squash, protein powder, and a packet of splenda. it's delish, even though people think that it is really wierd!

julia ~ thanks. i'm not toally meeting all my goals this week, but getting there. i need to be more organized at home. maybe i need to break that into smaller goals. your breakfast sounds so yummy. that's awesome that you are enjoying it.