Granola Bars and Healthy Pursuits

This past weekend was the Dallas Marathon.  Hubby got into running a little over a year ago and was asked to run the 5 person relay with some of our friends.  The relay is basically a team of people that each run a leg of the marathon.  I was so proud to see hubby take on the longest and final leg of the marathon relay.  Maui and I waited in downtown Dallas to see hubby cross the finish line, which he did in respectable time.  It was a fun day that ended in the beginning of winter (it has since been super cold in Fort Worth).

Because I wasn't running in the race, I wanted to make a fun race day snack for runners and non-runners alike to enjoy.  At first I thought of some very soccer mom type options like sliced fruit or veggies or juice boxes.  Then I remembered a recipe from Laura in the Kitchen that I had been wanting to try... granola bars!  The recipe was really flexible and really easy... two of my favorite recipe descriptors besides delicious.

I used my favorite trail mix from Trader Joe's, which has cashews, almonds, and craisins.  Combining the trail mix along with oatmeal and the other ingredients, I had granola bars ready for the oven in mere moments.  The hardest part was waiting for the granola bars to cool before cutting a piece and giving it a try, but once we took our first bites, hubby and I never looked back.  At one point, he asked if we really needed to bring them since he wanted them all to himself.  Then he said that they tasted like oatmeal cookies, which is sort of true, though there are a lot more nuts and oatmeal then there is in an oatmeal cookie (and less sugar too).  They were the perfect snack for race day and for staving off hunger until lunch, which didn't happen until 2pm.