run Colorado

I got to spend the entire day in Denver today!  In civilization!!!  In the land of manicures, rush hour traffic, Chipotle, and hairdressers!  Get this: for dinner, I didn't eat anything with BBQ sauce.  I ate Mexican food!

I am on cloud nine.

This called for some cooking.

Unfortunately, my mom and I arrived to a barren refrigerator.  I know I've mentioned before that she usually has the kitchen of a goddess: you name it... any spice, any rare Asian food ingredient, basically anything you can think of, and the woman has it.

The one time I feel like baking, and she doesn't have any eggs.

We spent the afternoon running errands (a.k.a. shopping), which included a visit to the Boulder Running Company.  About 5 months ago, I was the exercise queen.  I was about to takeoff to Argentina and wanted to arrive as slim as possible.  I lived off of protein shakes and salads for about two months.(Obviously, this is not the case anymore.)

However, browsing through running shoes and warmup outfits and power bars this afternoon got me in the running spirit again.  My mom is a retired (read: injured) runner, and even she felt the runner's buzz after we left Boulder Running Company.

Back to my original story... when I realized I couldn't possibly bake anything without eggs, I decided to turn to my bucket list.  In the healthy mood that I was (yes, all this after scarfing a giant burrito for dinner...) I decided to scratch off energy bars from my list.

I should interrupt myself here by throwing out a photo credit to my brother, Jake.  He is an incredible photographer, as you can see.  He walked into the kitchen just as I was snapping photos of these energy bars with my cell phone, and offered to help (with his $800 camera. Thank youuu, brother!).  He was also very approving of the recipe.

I'm paying him in energy bars.

The recipe is super easy and only took me about ten minutes to throw together.  These energy bars would taste great frozen; I've already got half of my batch foil-wrapped and put away for next week.

Now go outside and get running!  My mom and I are starting on Sunday, at an elevation of 9,500+ feet... you can do it!!

Peanut butter energy bars

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cup honey

2 scoops protein powder (optional)

3 cups whole grain cereal (I used this...but you could also just use plain dry oatmeal)

handful of dry oatmeal (for topping)

1.  Heat peanut butter and honey over medium heat, stirring until just mixed. 

2.  Add whole grain cereal (or oatmeal) and mix entirely. 

3.  Pour into 9x9" ungreased pan.  Top with a sprinkle of dried oatmeal, and let cool.  Cut into medium sized squares.  Store refrigerated for up to a week and a half, or frozen up to a month.