As a plant - aholic, it gives me time to check out every new bud, flower, leaf, petal, grass, nut and seed pod that I don't know (as my family will attest to!) as well as enjoying the landscape and taking time to use my camera.
I am building up my leg strength to tackle bigger walks but 5 - 10 kms at the moment is enough to let me know that I am really enjoying this exercise. Besides, take a small flask of coffee or tea, one of my 'Hiking Energy Bars' and you can imagine walking in the steps of Hannibal!
A while ago, I was given a list of ingredients to make a batch of something called 'Cocaine Bars'. I made them up using very scant measurements but they were too sweet for my palate. So I have taken some of these ingredients and swapped them for something a bit healthier, nuttier and chewier and come up with this recipe. Still a tiny bit sweet, but that's the reward for getting your butt out on the track!
It makes about 16 bars. Once cold, I cover them in baking paper, put them in a sealed container and freeze them. Before I head out for a walk, I slip one into my back pack for a mid hike snack and that keeps me going.
Hiking Energy Bars
Ingredients
You can use a mixture of the following dried fruit - my combination was the following but you can mix this depending on what you have in the pantry.
50g dried cranberries
20g prunes, pitted
50g sultanas
100g dates, pitted
pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts - I found a bag of mixed and used 100g total
50g flaked almonds
20g macadamia nuts
2 tbls malt extract (not essential)
2 tbls honey
150 g apricot jam - or use your favourite jam
100g soft brown sugar
50g whole almonds
100g rolled oats
3 tbls cinnamon
2 tbls cocoa powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
100g shredded coconut
220g unsalted butter.
1. Heat oven to 170 degrees fan forced.
2. Combine dried ingredients in a big bowl and then add them to food processor and process until they are well combined. Don't over blitz them because you want some texture.
3. Melt butter in a pan, add honey, jam, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Add butter and spices to the mixed dried ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Grease and line a large baking tin with baking paper and tip in all the mixture. Lightly press down to level the top and bake in the oven for 20 -25 minutes until brown. Be careful not to over cook.
6. Cool in tin then cut into individual sizes that you prefer. Wrap in baking paper and place in a sealed container in the freezer.
You can use a mixture of the following dried fruit - my combination was the following but you can mix this depending on what you have in the pantry.
50g dried cranberries
20g prunes, pitted
50g sultanas
100g dates, pitted
pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts - I found a bag of mixed and used 100g total
50g flaked almonds
20g macadamia nuts
2 tbls malt extract (not essential)
2 tbls honey
150 g apricot jam - or use your favourite jam
100g soft brown sugar
50g whole almonds
100g rolled oats
3 tbls cinnamon
2 tbls cocoa powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
100g shredded coconut
220g unsalted butter.
1. Heat oven to 170 degrees fan forced.
2. Combine dried ingredients in a big bowl and then add them to food processor and process until they are well combined. Don't over blitz them because you want some texture.
3. Melt butter in a pan, add honey, jam, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Add butter and spices to the mixed dried ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Grease and line a large baking tin with baking paper and tip in all the mixture. Lightly press down to level the top and bake in the oven for 20 -25 minutes until brown. Be careful not to over cook.
6. Cool in tin then cut into individual sizes that you prefer. Wrap in baking paper and place in a sealed container in the freezer.
This sounds terrific - can't wait to try it. And to do some longer walks but now Tony is running it is harder to get him to do the longer walks, regularly anyway. If you were still here we could have got into it :) xx
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