Traveling & Granola Bars

I think all of us New Yorkers that have been wishing for sunny, warm weather are rejoicing this week!

I am definitely one of these people, but I could have done without the humidity during my (failed) 7.25 mile tempo run on Tuesday.

GUH. The air was thick and my legs felt like they weighed 1,000 lbs each. This was one of the few times I’ve actually felt like stopping mid-run and calling it a day. But I chalked it up to being an off day, and definitely think I need some time to get used to this sudden summery weather.

Some easy miles with Megan and Maria on Wednesday morning were  just what I needed to recover and feel a bit better, followed by another easy 7 miles this morning.

I almost can’t believe it’s already Memorial weekend, but am super excited for a weekend getaway with some lady friends.

Since I’m anal and type A with a side of crazy control freak, traveling tends to stress me out. Getting used to a different schedule, in-flight anxiety (I’m not the best of flyers), fitting my runs in and not having my go-to foods on-hand can be a little overwhelming! But traveling to a new place, seeing friends and getting a break from everyday life is definitely worth a little Kelly-induced anxiety in my book.

What helps ease my travel-related stress is to get super organized and make sure I’m prepared. So even though I’m not leaving until Friday, I’ve been packing my bag since Sunday with everything I think I’ll need (and made a detailed list, obviously…).

I also like to make sure I have plenty of snacks on-hand in case there is no grocery store near my hotel or I want a cheaper (and healthier!) alternative to room service. So I attempted to make my own granola bars for easy snacks and breakfasts. I used a recipe from Megan’s blog, which was so easy to tweak and just add whatever I wanted.

The goods involved peanuts, oats, sunflower seeds, raisins, dried cherries, nut butters and walnuts, to name a few.

After combining wet and dry ingredients (details in the recipe below!), all you have to do is pack them into a pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

And once lightly browned, you’ve got some delicious granola bars

Delicious Chewy Granola Bars (source)

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2  cup raisins
• 1/3 cup peanuts
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup peanut butter/almond butter mixture
• 5 tbsp melted Earth balance
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ with parchment paper, letting it hang over the sides a bit. Lightly coat pan and parchment paper with cooking spray. Stir together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the Earth balance, agave and corn syrup. Combine the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and nut butter until evenly crumbly. Pour into pan and pack down. Use a piece of parchment or saran wrap to prevent it from sticking to your hands. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

These turned out really crumbly, and while they don’t quite resemble “bars” they are like crack, they’re so good. I think reducing the corn syrup a tad and increasing the amount of oats I used may reduce crumbly-ness for next time.

Question: Does traveling stress you out? Any travel tips or strategies?