It's all about The Dirt:

Gu and gels make me hungry and jittery. Fancy sports drinks make me feel sick. Bars (unless homemade) taste like candy and have too much crap in them.

Here are 3 creative ideas to refuel and replenish burned nutrients as we roll away:

Sport Tea

This award winning tea is nutritious, tasty and energizing. It’s a daily replenishment of vitamin C, electrolytes and an energy boost with Siberian Eleuthero root, which is a potent superfood used by Olympic athletes. It has a blend of black and green teas, along with ginger, maté, vitamin C and natural flavorings. It is a decaf equivalent, so if you’re sensitive to caffeine like me, your heart rate isn’t 10 beats higher from it. It has a great citrus flavor with no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and replenishes potassium and trace minerals that are depleted during physical and mental stress. It sustains me through a short or long ride, and prevents dehydration after an intensely, hot ride. The best part about the brewing is that I just put the individual tea bag with water in my bottle and if I refill it, the tea bag makes more!

Black Mission Figs

Long known in the Mediterranean for their healing properties, figs are delicious fresh or as dried storehouses of nutrition. A fruit particularly rich in minerals, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper and manganese, figs are a great source of energy. High levels of potassium in figs can help control blood pressure, and figs are also a particularly alkaline food, steering the body away from an acidic pH level. Foods like meat, dairy and processed foods are acidic and must be offset by alkaline foods such as figs.*

Curry Cashews

Lower in fat and higher in protein than most nuts, cashews have a slightly sweet flavor. Plentiful in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that has protective effects against heart disease and cancer, cashews contain many minerals including copper, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. They also are a good source of biotin and the amino acid tryptophan, the primary building block of serotonin—the feel-good neurotransmitter.* This is a bonus on top of the endorphins! Then you add the antioxidants in curry to them, and it reduces joint inflammation and protects against cancer and tumor formation. Some people think nuts give you “gut rot” on the bike because of the fat and protein, but they do contain carbs as well. Experiment and try them on a ride to see how they feel. You can buy curry cashews in the bulk section of some natural foods stores.

Ride and replenish…

Part II coming soon.

*Info taken from “An A-Z Guide to Healing Foods: A Shopper’s Companion” by Elise Marie Collins

(Bike plate photo)
(Fig photo)
(Curry cashews photo)

Pronounced “na nye mo”. Nanaimo Bars are a Canadian confection named after the British Columbia town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. This Canadian, decadent food treasure was loaded with sugar, so I made some refinements to highlight the healthy qualities. The result was a bite worth savoring, along with the “kid factor” of finger-face painting and creating an enjoyment of cooking to pass onto generations. Yes, we can cook healthy and have tons of fun!

Base
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 tsp. stevia
- 5 tbsp. of organic raw cacao powder
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup organic Honey grahams, crumbled
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Filling
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 3 tbsp. Dr. Oetker organic
vanilla pudding mix
- 1/4 cup coconut milk

Topping
- 4 oz. semisweet organic chocolate chips
- 4 oz. Dagoba unsweetened chocolate
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil

Base: Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in sugar and cacao until smooth.
Whisk egg with vanilla and stir into butter mixture. Remove from heat.
Stir in crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press evenly over bottom of greased
9″ square or rectangular pan. Chill until set, at least 20 min.

Filling: Smooth coconut oil with wooden spoon until light. Beat in vanilla pudding mix and coconut milk. Spread over chilled base and let set in fridge.

Topping: Melt chocolate and coconut oil together; stir until smooth. Spread in even layer over chilled filling. Store in fridge until chocolate topping begins to harden. Score topping into bars. Cut before totally solid, use a hot knife, wipe clean between cuts. Store in fridge or freeze for up to 2 months.

Chia seeds are one of my superfoods. As part of my ongoing dig to find foods rather that pills to nourish our bodies, I’m always searching for nutrient dense bites. Make every bite, sip and thought count.

To give you a history of where these power-packed seeds came from, it goes back to the ancient Aztec warriors 3000 years ago. They prized chia as endurance promoting, eating it in bread and drinking it in water before running long distances. It is said that a single tablespoon sustained the warriors for an entire day.

A member of the mint family, chia is native to Central America and it comes from the Salvia hispanica plant. Because of its high fiber content, chia seeds absorb more than ten times its weight in water, making it an excellent source of hydration. The soluble formula forms a gel that slows down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, binds it to toxins in the digestive system, and helps get rid of waste.

Chia is also especially rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which are known to reduce inflammation and help prevent risk factors associated with chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and arthritis. They have high-ORAC antioxidants like quercetin, myrecetin, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid, are also rich in calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc and many trace minerals. And chia seeds are even a biologically-complete protein, making it the perfect survival food.

Whenever anything has been labeled a “superfood”, the “superprice” marketing goes with it. These are native seeds to our area, why do they need to be $16.99/lb.? Because they can be. But I stumbled upon another healthy blogger heathereatsalmondbutter.com, and came up with a great, inexpensive source that’s now my personal choice: ChiaSeedsDirect.com. For a 2# bag, it’s $24.99 with free shipping.

The way I use chia is making my Muddy Morning Slurry for almost every breakfast. It’s warm, hydrating and filling. It sustains me on a 3 hour ride without burping the whole way. I usually give myself about 1-2 hours to digest, and then its all fuel. I do not have the endurance without them, so I can personally see the power that they contain.

Here are some other ideas:

Banana Chia Coconut
1 banana, 1 tbsp. chia seeds, 2 tbsp. shredded coconut, 1 tbsp. Raw cacao powder. Peel banana and roll it in the coconut, chia seeds and cacao powder. Slice into pieces and enjoy.

Chia Pancakes
3 tbsp. chia seeds, Reinventing Pancakes recipe, and fresh organic berries.
Prepare pancake recipe, adding in chia seeds and half of berries. Mix together, heat skillet and add butter or coconut oil. Flip when golden on one side and top with the rest of fruit.

Chia Fizz
6 fresh mint leaves, ½ lime unpeeled and cut into 3 wedges, 1 tsp. of agave (or stevia to taste), 1 tbsp. of chia seeds, 8 oz. Seltzer or natural sparkling water.
In a large glass, rub mint leaves together, toss them in and squeeze lime wedges. Add agave or stevia, chia, seltzer and stir. Chill in fridge for 10 minutes to allow chia seeds to gel. Garnish with remaining lime and mint, stir and serve. This makes an excellent recovery drink after a hot weather ride. It’s hydrating, cooling and refreshing.

As I say to my kids, just try them and if you like, then you’re one step closer to eating healthier. Will you try? And I’d love to hear some other ideas!

Info and recipe sources:
Greens+ Omega 3 Chia Seeds
July/August ‘09 edition of Clean Eating

(photo credit)

A variation from Fresh Cracked Pepper

• 1 cup walnuts

• 2 tsp. raw cacao powder

• 1/2 cup shaved coconut

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

• 1/4 cup melted coconut spread (or butter)

• 1 tbsp. raw agave nectar

• 2 tbsp. chia seeds

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup raw or toasted sesame seeds (you can buy ‘em pre-toasted or do it yourself: keep an eye, they burn fast!)

Chop the walnuts in blender and toast the sesame seeds (we kept them raw). In a bowl, add remaining ingredients and stir until it’s a dough-like consistency. Shape into 3/4″ round balls, and then roll into sesame seeds. Chill or freeze for up to a month, but if you’re like us, they won’t last that long.

These make a great snack on a bike ride, hike or snowshoe. It’s a cool weather snack though…they will melt and be mushy in warm temps.

My little helpers/tasters. One for the plate, one for me…one for the plate, one for me…