KITCHEN - Real food for the trail

I run to be outside, to enjoy nature and good company - or no company at all. Why is it then that the foods I bring along on trail runs are, well, not real food. On my recent trail marathon  I consumed a half package of stinger blocks, cliff blocks, a honey stinger gel, and a bite of snickers. Hmmm - that sort of negates the healthy benefits of running doesn't it? Not to mention that by mile 22, I was starving. I have never been a good eater on the trail. I despise gels. Thankfully I came across this post on 'marathon chunks.' I went to work making these as soon as I got home the other day b/c fortunately, I had all the necessary ingredients. I made some minor changes to Ashley's recipe and they turned out great!

This is all you need (plus a little maple syrup and vanilla).

Trail bars / chunks
1 c raw cashews (could use any other nut)
1 c dried cranberries (could use any other dried fruit)
1/2 c peanut butter (you guessed it - could use any other nut butter)
1/3 c pepitas (pumpkin seeds) - roughly chopped (or sesame seeds)
2-3 T maple syrup (maybe honey would work too)
1 t vanilla

To Do
1. In the food processor, combine nuts, dried fruit, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.

2. Turn mixture into a medium bowl and combine seeds.

3. Remove from bowl and press (FIRMLY) into a foil lined 8 x 8 baking pan. As you can see - I used a 6 x 8 or so pan so my chunks were a little thicker.

4. Place in fridge overnight and cut into 1.5-2 inch squares. Mine were a little crumbly so be sure to use some muscle when pressing them into the pan. 

Enjoy.