[shark]

In Squamish we took to having Clif Builders Bars as crag snacks which are yummy and have 20g of protein and worked out about 75p a bar. Unfortunately the cheapest available in the UK are twice the price.

Is there any comparable products below £1 ?

[Paul B]

Clif bars yummy?

I'm sure you can make some at home with some protein, saw dust and glue, they'll taste better!

MyProtein may be a more helpful answer. I buy Nakd bars in bulk online [my UK equivalent to Larabars], the same company make a protein filled equivalent. I can't remember the name but they sponsor Ethan so check his instagram/twitter feed for boxes of swag.

[sidewinder]

10g rather than 20g but tasty imo and 'natural' if you care about that sort of thing
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/trek-protein-bars-16-x-55g/
~75p sometimes even cheaper with offers/codes

[tomtom]

I drink milk instead...

[shark]

I drink milk instead...

You'd never know

[shark]

MyProtein may be a more helpful answer.

Got a bulk purchase at 65p a bar. Hope they taste ok. Ta

[rodma]

MyProtein may be a more helpful answer.

Got a bulk purchase at 65p a bar. Hope they taste ok. Ta

good shout, they don't have them listed as sale items, so I'd have missed that one

[shark]

For anyone else it was the Protein Chox bars - Maple and Pecan x 12 at £9.49 with a further 20% when you use discount code: AMERICAN

[tomtom]

I drink milk instead...

You'd never know

pipe down fatty

[Three Nine]

For anyone else it was the Protein Chox bars - Maple and Pecan x 12 at £9.49 with a further 20% when you use discount code: AMERICAN

15grams of sugar in a bar???

Dieting, Simon style. 

[36chambers]

re: Nakd bars.

My girlfriend and I love these. But since the ingredients are along the lines of 48% cashew nuts, 50% dates, and 2% of something else to make the different flavours (cocoa, coffee, raisins, whatever) all "smooshed" together, we've taken to making our own.

Off the top of my head, £5 for 2kg of dates, £8 for 1kg of cashew nuts. A little more for any additional ingredients you fancy. So loosely £11.00 for 2kg of bars. Or £0.55 per 100g

If you pay £11 for 18 bars (35g each). That's £1.75 per 100g.

Also when you make your own you could always lace it with protein powder, chia seeds, EXTRA ground coffee, anything really.

The obvious catch is finding the most efficient way of smooshing the ingredients together.

[lagerstarfish]

we've had an issue with the shelf life of home made bars in summer - they seem to go mouldy fairly quickly if just kept in a tin, so we end up keeping them in the fridge

other issue is that I just eat it all

[36chambers]

we've had an issue with the shelf life of home made bars in summer - they seem to go mouldy fairly quickly if just kept in a tin, so we end up keeping them in the fridge

other issue is that I just eat it all

We've always kept them in the fridge, although I don't remember consciously making the decision to do so.

Likewise, trying not to eat them all quickly is still a major issue.

[mrjonathanr]

Likewise, trying not to eat them all quickly is still a major issue.

Giving them to Simon could be your solution.

[shurt]

we've had an issue with the shelf life of home made bars in summer - they seem to go mouldy fairly quickly if just kept in a tin, so we end up keeping them in the fridge

other issue is that I just eat it all

We've always kept them in the fridge, although I don't remember consciously making the decision to do so.

Likewise, trying not to eat them all quickly is still a major issue.

I've made these and as you said added protein powder to them using the naked bar percentages as a rough guide. Best way I've found of squishing is getting two bread tins the same size. lining one with cling film, putting the mixture in and covering with more cling film then squish it down with the other tin. put a heavy things in the top tin and leave overnight. me and my 2.5 yr old normally polish them off well before any mould sets in...

[Muenchener]

OK, I'm struggling with the concept here.

Just been to the supermarket & bought dates etc. and a second baking tin. But blending the stuff in a blender isn't giving me any kind of paste that looks like it would consolidate if I squash it, just ever finer loose crumbs. Do I need to add some kind of liquid? Or just squash & hope?

[205Chris]

OK, I'm struggling with the concept here.

Just been to the supermarket & bought dates etc. and a second baking tin. But blending the stuff in a blender isn't giving me any kind of paste that looks like it would consolidate if I squash it, just ever finer loose crumbs. Do I need to add some kind of liquid? Or just squash & hope?

What kind of dates are you using? When I've tried it in the past it's been fine but I've used medjool dates, not sure if different types make a difference.

[Muenchener]

What kind of dates are you using? When I've tried it in the past it's been fine but I've used medjool dates, not sure if different types make a difference.

No idea, the bag just says dates. (Datteln, actually) The whole mass was moister/stickier than it looked when it came out of the blender, we'll see what a night under a 20kg kettlebell achieves. Two bent baking tins probably.

[tomtom]

[205Chris]

What kind of dates are you using? When I've tried it in the past it's been fine but I've used medjool dates, not sure if different types make a difference.

No idea, the bag just says dates. (Datteln, actually) The whole mass was moister/stickier than it looked when it came out of the blender, we'll see what a night under a 20kg kettlebell achieves. Two bent baking tins probably.

If that doesn't work the other option is to leave it in the fridge over night.

[shurt]

You've got to add liquid  but a very small amount. I use 2 egg cups full of apple juice and this normally does the trick. This was with (using a small cup as a measure) 3 dates, 2 cashew, 1 oats, slug of cacao powder in blender till quite fine. Add juice then blend some more till it falls slowly off the sides of the blender when you stop it. Then into tins, squish etc. A couple of hrs will do in fridge.

[shurt]

Oh, and add protein powder if you want to of course...

[Muenchener]

Well that worked better than expected for a first go. Nakd Gingerbread pretty successfully reproduced. A bit crumbly, not sure if it would survive in harsh conditions (thigh pocket of my alpine trousers) like the real thing does, but in a tupperware box in the sport climbing rucksack it'll be fine.

So off to the crag to see if it fires me up my proj.

[Paul B]

re: Nakd bars.

My girlfriend and I love these. But since the ingredients are along the lines of 48% cashew nuts, 50% dates, and 2% of something else to make the different flavours (cocoa, coffee, raisins, whatever) all "smooshed" together, we've taken to making our own.

Off the top of my head, £5 for 2kg of dates, £8 for 1kg of cashew nuts. A little more for any additional ingredients you fancy. So loosely £11.00 for 2kg of bars. Or £0.55 per 100g

If you pay £11 for 18 bars (35g each). That's £1.75 per 100g.

Also when you make your own you could always lace it with protein powder, chia seeds, EXTRA ground coffee, anything really.

The obvious catch is finding the most efficient way of smooshing the ingredients together.

Yes:
http://www.damyhealth.com/2011/03/how-to-make-homemade-lara-bars/

The main catch for me currently however is time.

[groovedog]

Lidl do these seeded rolls which are fairly tasty. They are in the pick and mix style bakery section.
Could do a lot worse for post crag food.

27g protein
39p / each

Lidl High Protein Rolls

Ingredients:
Water, Linseeds, Wheat Protein, Soya Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Sesame, Soybean Meal, Sunflower Seeds, Wheat Bran, Oat Fiber, Yeast, Salt, Colouring Spice Extracts (Curcuma).

Nutritional Information:

Typical Values per 100g:
Energy 1194kJ/268kcal
Fat 13.4g (Of which saturates 0.4g)
Carbohydrate 8.5g (Of which sugars 0.5g)
Fibre 12.4g
Protein 26.7g
Salt 0.99g

[Stu Littlefair]

Why not spice up your life and have a happy meal instead?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25811308

[galpinos]

Why not spice up your life and have a happy meal instead?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25811308

Well, it worked for you and it seems to be working for Fiend......

[shark]

Why not spice up your life and have a happy meal instead?

Meant to make the point yesterday that as a climber I am much less concerned with glycogen recovery than having enough protein for muscle and stringy bit repair (received wisdom = 1g for every 1kg of body weight per day) but not hung up on the source as I have faith in the bodies ability to synthesize what it needs assuming there is enough quantity. Bars only win over happy meals as they are handier and more pleasant to graze on cold at the crag.   

No doubt Pete H will be along shortly to correct us and put it in a wider social context for our benefit.

[36chambers]

OK, I'm struggling with the concept here.

Just been to the supermarket & bought dates etc. and a second baking tin. But blending the stuff in a blender isn't giving me any kind of paste that looks like it would consolidate if I squash it, just ever finer loose crumbs. Do I need to add some kind of liquid? Or just squash & hope?

I typically start with a 1:1 ratio of dates to cashews, normally 1-2 Kg. Grind the nuts with a nut grinder to get a fine sawdust like texture. The dates are just generic, wrinkly, not-as-juicy-as-fancy-juicy-dates dates, that I chop as fine as I can be bothered.

With a rolling pin, I roll/fold/smoosh the chopped dates over and over, adding handfuls of the ground nuts until all the nuts are completely adopted, creating an isotropic mix of playdough-consistency nakd bar goodness.

Then I split the mix into quarters and add any addition ingredients, via more rolling and folder, to create different flavours. Cocoa and ground coffee is my current favourite.

Finally I split it all up and mould into (~20) bars, possibly around 100g each, and individually wrap them in cling film and throw them in the fridge.

At a casual pace the whole process takes between 30-60 minutes.



I wonder if there's a market for a smoosh machine, that you just pour ingredients into and it outputs energy bars, it could be the new smoothie maker.   

[Muenchener]

Not blending the dates is an interesting idea. I've done two batches so far blending everything together. The first batch - no added liquid, pressed overnight with a 20kg kettlebell - came out quite well. The second - an eggcup of liquid added as somebody suggested, 6kg press - remained playdough but didn't really approach "bar" consistency.

Still, fun to play with. There are some recipes in Steve House's book too, might have another look at those. (I'll ignore the bit where you get to eat half a bar a day washed down with a teacup of lukewarm melted snow)

[sjw]

I've had good results from heating the dates in a pan briefly to form a paste, then adding everything else, rolling into balls and dropping in cacao powder. Bit like a power bon bon.

[shurt]

I blend dates first in a mixer (type with a big blade) when they are finish, add sultanas/raisins, blend briefly, then nuts, then oats. seems to work. i had a pretty small cup and today did 2 dates, 2 sultanas, 2 cashews, 1 oats, 1 scoop protein powder, then 1.5 egg cups apple juice. seemed to turn out ok.
i think its just trial an error until you get what you want. the amount of liquid is important and a bit of a balancing act. i put too much in the other day and they were shit. blending the dates a lot needs less liquid it would seem.

anyway, good to hear other methods. I'll have to try some. using a blender I can get one batch (about 10 bars) done in about 10 mins which isnt bad.

[TobyD]

I've had good results from heating the dates in a pan briefly to form a paste, then adding everything else, rolling into balls and dropping in cacao powder. Bit like a power bon bon.

wouldn't heating up the protein powder denature it, rendering putting expensive whey protein into it
the bars a bit pointless? Thats only a first thought i haven't looked it up yet

[sjw]

wouldn't heating up the protein powder denature it, rendering putting expensive whey protein into it
the bars a bit pointless? Thats only a first thought i haven't looked it up yet

I hadn't thought of that, but the mixture isn't very hot after everything else has been added- cool enough to handle straight away. The datey paste keeps its texture after it's been in the fridge, so it would be possible to let it cool completely and then do the mixing if this is the case.

[36chambers]

anyway, good to hear other methods. I'll have to try some. using a blender I can get one batch (about 10 bars) done in about 10 mins which isnt bad.

Perhaps it's high time I get a blender