Homemade Granola Bars

I mentioned in my morning post that I am working on eating less processed goods and more WHOLE, REAL foods.  Generally speaking, I do pretty well with this.  I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, good lean meats, and fresh baked breads in my daily diet.  BUT, one area that I am particularly weak on is bars.  I LOVE bars of all kind.  Ever since I started running and using them as pre-run fuel, it was true love.

Welp, while I’m all about balance, my obsession with bars has gotten a little out of balance.  For me, it isn’t eating the BARS that is bad, it’s the processed nature of such bars.  So — something I am working on this week is creating my own bars that I can snack on, hopefully finding that I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not getting the prepacked variety.

I want to start with some of my favorite recipe inspirations for you guys, via my favorite bloggers and pinterest.

Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars from Fannetastic Anne 🙂

These take 5 minutes to prep, have PB as a primary ingredient, and are stocked with seeds. My kinda bar 😉

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Granola Bars Fannetastic Anne 🙂

Oatmeal and dark chocolate?  I need this in my life.

Almond Energy Bars via Carrots’n’cake

These just LOOK beautiful and crunchy!

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I’m drooling. . .

And these are just a few of my favorites, friends.  The options out there are ENDLESS.  I started working on some baked goods last night via some free continental breakfast oats — and will be working through out the week trying to perfect my own little recipe 🙂 ❤  The ingredients I’ve been using so far include:

  • Peanut butter (duhh)
  • Rolled oats
  • Brown sugar and maple oats
  • Trail mix (raisins, M&Ms)
  • Applecause

These are my must have’s basically, but I’m looking to add more seeds and crunchy goodies moving forward!  Hopefully by next week I’ll have a recipe to share with you guys 🙂

Question of the Afternoon:  Ever make  bars yourself?

A Perfect Weekend and Plan For The Week

Happy Last Day of March Everyone 🙂

I gotta tell you, yes it’s always a bummer to wake up and start Monday morning — looking back on an amazing weekend tends to ease the pain just a bit.

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Ashley’s Perfect Weekend

Friday Night:

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The worlds BEST tortilla chips: Whole Foods homemade

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Good cold beer

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and a night with my BF, Leonardo.

{JK honey — but seriously.  Leo, call me}

Saturday:

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20,000 feet plus on the slopes

A relaxing early evening in hotel including snacks + hot tub.

Then an evening out with friends until far too l ate with good food, good drinks, and good company.

{sorry I didn’t get pictures.  i was too busy enjoying the evening. . . happens sometimes}

Sunday

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A perfect ski breakfast with lots of healthy fats, carbs and protein.

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A quick circuit workout followed by a few more hours on the slopes

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Tons of walks in the sunshine with the pup

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An evening with another good friend, Will.

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More peanut butter

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Lots of coconut water + lemon to rehydrate

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a homemade pizza night with the hubby

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With the final cap of the weekend being some experimenting in the kitchen.

This really was my perfect weekend, and yes I may have played and worked hard {and payed for it}, but my goodness it was an amazing weekend.

Zach and I went to bed right around 10 PM last night so by the time my alarm went off this morning, all of the rust from the weekend felt like it had been washed off.  Yes, I allowed myself to sleep in after an indulgent weekend.  BUT I did get in a good 20 minute yoga session, and have plans for an AWESOME outdoor run tonight to enjoy the weather.

Plan for the Week

I ended last week feeling strong and confident, and want to roll that into this week as well.  Here’s my plan to do JUST that :).

  • Monday: AM yoga + PM run
  • Tuesday: AM Strength session
  • Wednesday:  Speed work run
  • Thursday: Walk with the Pup
  • Friday: Hill/Interval treadmill run
  • Saturday/Sunday: SKI one day/Run one day

As always, I leave room for flexibility because, you know, life happens :).

Goals

I have a couple goals this week.

  • HYDRATE!  Never be without water and constantly be sipping.   This is always difficult for me — for whatever reason.  I get full easily and when I drink a ton of water, I get a “water baby” and am miserable until it goes away {a water baby is that slushy belly you get after drinking lots of water}.  With that said, I KNOW I feel better overall when I drink water, so I’m going to stick to it.
  • LESS PROCESSED FOODS:  I have gotten back into a bar kick lately.  Now, I’m not damning bars, but let’s just say the processed nature of most grocery store bars scare me.  So, I know I need to chill out a bit.  My plan for the week is to eat more real, natural foods — less prepackaged foods with ingredients I am not familiar with.  I’m starting this plan off with homemade granola bars that I’ll be sharing with you all soon 🙂
  • Continue the walks with Gus as much as possible! Gus and I both enjoyed our evening walks, and I want to keep this trend up as long as the weather is cooperating.  It’s great for digestion after dinner and just fresh air 🙂

alright my friends, that’s all I’ve got for you today :).  Hope you had a GREAT weekend and have a great Monday to start the week!

Question of the Morning: TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOUR WEEKENDS!  Did you run/race?  See friends? Tell me 🙂 ❤

Silent Sunday

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  • Another morning on the slopes
  • Solid continental breakfast via The Village in Breckenridge
  • A quick circuit workout and not so sure about another ski day on sore legs
  • Couldn’t get enough PB today: PB stuffed pretzels = the ultimate afternoon snack
  • Lots of lemon water, served fancy style
  • Hung out with Will Ferral this afternoon
  • Gus and I enjoyed lots of walks to enjoy the sunshine
  • Homemade pizza night!
  • Continental breakfast contributed to my dessert tonight