Crunchy Granola Bars

Since I went to vote yesterday morning I had so much time before work, it was nice not to be in a rush.  If someone told me I could ever become a morning person, I would have thought they were nuts!

Okay, here’s the question of the day.  Did you have to show your identification to vote yesterday?  I thought I didn’t have to show mine because my neighbor was at the polling place, but Tony didn’t have to show his either, and people at work weren’t asked for identification either.  Isn’t that weird? What’s to prevent me going in and giving my neighbors name and address?

Breakfast yesterday tasted like an egg soufflé on an english muffin.  I scrambled 1/2 cup of egg whites with one small zucchini I shredded.  Topped that on toasted English muffins, each topped with 1/2 an ounce of cheddar cheese and popped it under the broiler in the toaster oven.  On the side were delicious globe grapes.  Breakfast comes in at 435 calories, 10 fat, 59 carbs, 4.7 fiber and 17 protein.

I got busy right when I got to work, so I didn’t end up eating that until around 10:00.  I thought it would give me enough energy for my run at lunch.  Um, turns out it just made me sluggish eating that soon to running.   My walk/run time yesterday:

My blood sugar was good at the end though – 129!

Yep, I had lasagna soup again!   That bread on the side?  I ended up throwing it out.  It was bread I made over the weekend, but I never wrapped it up.  I thought if I toasted it, it would come back to life.  Instead it turned into a rock.    Lunch comes into 354 calories, 16 fat, 34 carbs, 3.6 fiber and 27 protein.

It was rainy, cold and dark when I left the office.  Traffic was so slow.  I am in charge of the mail duties at my office.  The post office I drop our mail off to has a FedEx box right in front so I kill two birds with one stone.  I got to the post office, only to realize the FedEx box is gone.  I asked the mail guy and he said “yep, they took it today.”

So I had to drive across town to the next FedEx facility.  It took me an hour and a twenty minutes to get home last night.  But luckily, since I made the chili before work, dinner was lickity split. 

My bowl:  1 cup of chopped baby spinach, 1/2 cup of spaghetti squash, 1/2 a cup of Dreamfield’s spaghetti, 3/4 cup of the chili and cheddar cheese.  This bowl comes in at 483 calories, 14 fat, 17 carbs, 5.4 fiber and 23 protein.

Raise your hand if you are jealous of my fluorescent lighting!   Ha!

Do you know what my favorite store bought granola bar is?  Nature Valley brand.  I’ve always preferred a crunchy granola bar to a chewy one.  I saw this recipe for granola bars and pinned it immediately.

I hadn’t even read her recipe, but it looked good!  I adapted the recipe of course with what I had on hand.  But I have to tell you, I got no where near the amount she did.  I ended up putting them in an 9×9 square pan and got 9 squares.  I also didn’t realize that she only toasted her dry ingredients, mixed with the wet ingredients then never baked them again – I didn’t want a chewy bar – waaa!  (which, note to self, read the whole damn recipe before beginning!)

Crunchy Granola Bars

(adapted from here) 

Makes 9 granola bars:  345 calories, 14 fat, 51 carbs, 5.3 protein and 8.6 protein.

Heat oven to 350.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup honey roasted peanuts
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Mix the oats, wheat germ, almonds, peanuts together.   In a medium pan, add brown sugar, agave, and honey and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour into oat mixture and mix well.  Once cooled, stir in the dried cranberries and peanut butter chips.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Now, I am not sure if I should have cut these when they were warm (I think I’ll try that next time) but I waited until they were cooled, and some of the corners were crumbly.

My thought is to use these as fuel before working out so I wouldn’t have too much in my stomach, especially the days I work out before work.  Eat half before and half after.  At first the 345 calories was a shock to me, but then I realized I’ve only been eating around 1300 calories a day lately, so it’s not a big deal.  Plus, it’s not 345 calories of wine!

Stats for the Day:

• 1332 calories (café mocha made in the afternoon not pictured)
• 43 cat, 123 carbs, 14 fiber and 69 protein
• 3.1 run at lunch
• average blood sugar 154
• no alcohol

I didn’t go to the gym before work today because I am just about to do my 30 minute stretch – I need it, and haven’t done it in a long time. 

Guess what I got in my email from Groupon yesterday?  A groupon for $48 dollars for six wines scoring above 90 points! 

I just deleted it.  No thank you.

Make it a great day!