Recipe – Energy Bars

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Still experimenting with this one here, but if you want quick – if not always well-adhering – energy bars these are good – and tasty!

I decided to come up with an energy bar recipe in order to get a good, energizing snack or pre-meal snack to work into my day.  I tend to eat 400-500 or so calorie meals, just to keep from pigging out, so I tend to have about 2 snacks a day (and yes, I brush my teeth then as well).  This was an experiment in creating a good, solid one.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups oats
  • 1/2 cup rasins
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cups peanut butter.
  • Dash vanilla (1/8 tsp)

Directions:

  1. Mix Oats, rasins in a bowl.
  2. Heat maple syrup, blend in peanut butter and vanilla.
  3. Pour over mix, stir until everything is coated.
  4. Put in pan, cover with saran wrap, push down to pack, chill in refreigerator.
  5. When it’s firm, move to the freezer for about 30 minutes.
  6. Cut into 16 bars.

Each bar has 242 cal, 6 grams protein, 3g fiber, and is about 13% of your fat and 8% of your saturated fat needs.  So they’re good, but I wouldn’t eat more than 1 or 2 a day, or use them if you need a caloric blast while working out.

Now the hard part here is not making them fall apart, so I’m messing with the ingredients   First two times I did it they held together, then they fell apart last time.  I’m debating a bit more maple syrup or leaving out the rasins to get better binding.  Ideas are appreciated!

Taste-wise these are insanely delicious.  Plus when my last batch fell apart, it just became pseudo-granola – which is great, but harder to pace yourself when eating.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

A Call For Artists!

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OK gang, I got a friend who is looking to get some art done for a game project. Now the pay is going to be low-to-paid-in-reputation, so we’re not talking heaps of cash. But he’s a good guy with his own vision, a Kickstarter plan, and an opportunity. So if you’d like to get involved, ping me here!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

The Eulogy for “Too Soon.”

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“Too Soon?” is a common question I’ve seen asked when people make jokes, offcolor commentary, or inappropriate commentary on terrible events.  Sometimes it is hard to know when certain things become appropriate, or what is appropriate, so the question was asked in sarcasm at times, and in sincerity at times.  This would extend, to an extent, to politics.

After watching reactions to the bombing in Boston and the horrible kidnapping case in Cleveland, I’ve seen commentary . . . well I can’t say degenerate.  It’s as if “Too Soon” is gone, especially in the case of politics.

People were quick to work on their narratives in the Boston incident, and still are, even if it seems the case didn’t fit any popular political narrative – and is still ongoing.  Now with the Cleveland incident, it seems there was zero time between the announcement and inappropriate comments, and blatant politicization in comments I read on the internet.  True, we’ve had many a politician who would exploit the latest incidents for gain, but it seems that behavior is now completely normalized.

I miss “Too Soon.”  We’re in danger of becoming as bad as our worst politicians and pundits.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.