You might recall that I purchased a Clif Shot for my 10 mile race last month. I brought it along with me ‘just in case’. I didn’t end up using it because I found that the Gatorade did me just fine in that race.
I couldn’t really see myself buying these on a regular basis because they are quite over-priced for what it is. At running room, they work out to be about $2 for a single or $1.35 per for a box of 24.
After checking out the ingredients, I figured I could make a homemade version of the Clif Shot for much less.
Ingredients: Organic brown rice syrup, Cocoa powder, chocolate liquor, natural flavours, sea salt, potassium citrate, magnesium oxide.
Calories: 100
Here is what I mixed together for the homemade version:
Ingredients:
- Just less than 2 T Organic brown rice syrup
- 1 T carob powder
- Tiny pinch of sea salt
Calories: 110
Directions: Spoon a tablespoon of organic brown rice syrup into a plastic baggy. Next, spoon the carob powder and salt in. Zip the baggie closed and then take your fingers and kneed the ingredients so they blend.
To Use: Bite the corner off the bag and squeeze gel into your mouth. Easy as that!
Probably one of the least photogenic foods I have put on this site.
Bring it with you on any run or workout over 1 hour where you feel like you will need a boost. I had mine at mile 6 yesterday. It was the first time I have ever had any sort of energy gel, but I really loved the taste of this one. The carob powder is key- I felt like I was eating chocolate fudge or something. Now the only thing lacking in my homemade version is the potassium and the magnesium, but my guess is that if you properly fuel yourself before workouts this won’t be a major issue.
The best part of all is the cost of the homemade version. It works out to being just 50 cents per ‘shot’ vs. $1.35-2 for the Clif shot.
I was quite pleased to find that my stomach wasn’t upset after taking it either. I had a noticeable surge in energy after mile 6 that carried me another 3 miles. I will definitely be bringing this homemade gel with me on future long runs.
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Yesterday was also quite a productive day on the business front! I got several Glo Bar orders done…
I also worked a lot on the Glo Bakery shopping cart. We are using Zen Cart for our shopping cart provider and I am really liking it so far. It is quite user-friendly once you figure out where everything is and the support forum is super helpful. Eric tells me that anytime a company makes their software open-source (no purchase required), you will find a huge network of people willing to help others out. Zen Cart = 2 thumbs up.
Check out the shopping cart homepage so far:
[sorry I lost this image guys!]
How fun is that?! I’m such a proud mama. :D I can’t believe how close we are to shipping to the US!!!! It is finally coming together guys!
On that note, I am going to get to work this morning on it some more and package up my orders to be shipped out tomorrow.
Last night Eric and I had anniversary dinner #1 and it was fabulous (pics to come). I think we are going to Fresh today for lunch and it feels like Christmas. hahaha! Stay tuned for all the pics.
Enjoy your day!
Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them.
-Henry Steele Commager
Your Glo Bakery site is looking awesome! And thanks for sharing the energy gel recipe. Those things can start to add up :) I use the Cliff Shot Blocks and like them a lot… do you have a recipe for those too? :P
What a cool idea to make your own gels! That is such a super money saver! Where do you get brown rice syrup though?
I love how you think of creating your own power shot! I would have never thought of that. And it actually sounds pretty tasty as well as effective. Great idea!
xxoo
Heather
That is such a good idea!
You are so smart! One question: where do you store the baggie with the gel in it?
No kidding gels are expensive! What a great alternative!
Ellen, I bet straight honey could be a good alternative, abnd certainly cheaper if you’re just grabbing an extra (nothing wrong with that, imo).
Angela doesn’t use honey in any of her glo recipes, though, to keep them vegan-friendly.
Hahah I love that you made your own energy shots. Those packaged gel shots always seemed kind of weird to me but a homemade version definitely sounds like a good idea. Especially when it’s fudge-flavoured of course ;)
That energy shot recipe was immediately bookmarked and will be used on my next long run! Thanks for sharing!
hmmm i think you used the wrong picture here for zen cart lol.
love the energy shot recipe! what a great idea!
-muffy
LOL you sound like me – find a food/food place you love and keep repeating!!!
You are totally going to need more people to help you bake your products…I CANNOT wait until you can ship to the US!!!! I literally want one of EVERY bar and muffin/bread that you make! I am in my final year of college and healthy snacks and foods are not the easiest to come by so I plan on you supplying me through my last year with healthy snacks!
i love the CLIF products. i buy clif bars around $1.59 each and then those shots are about 99 cents are my local Whole Foods. So I gave them a try and I love them. I run around work like a bat out of hell so these come in handy when I don’t have time to make a coffee :) my brother is a basketball player and he uses their “shot blocks” i heard these give you energy through the workout. they’re just gummy chews. i haven’t tried them yet but i think they’re a better choice over the “shots” price wise.
The last pic of the ‘shopping cart’ shows up as the menu from Fresh. Just wanted to let you know!!
Sorry we had some wonky things happen after we switched domains!
Got the stuff on my trip to Whole Foods this week! Woo!!
Check out this link to make your own and get info on refillable tubes (vs baggies). http://www.summitpost.org/article/239378/home-made-power-gels-energy-for-less.html
I’ve also seen a molasses-honey blend that states they use molasses for magnesium. I’m using a honey-molasses-salt-cacao powder blend with a little water in a 2 oz bottle. Cost per 1 oz ‘shot equivalent’ is about 20 cents, using all organic, bulk ingredients. Great on last 22 mile run. Will add Lundberg brown rice syrup to the blend on next long run, as it metabolizes more slowly than honey and molasses for sustained energy.
Your list of wraps looks identical to the menu items offered at Fresh, a very popular vegan restaurant in Toronto
Hey G, That picture is not correct and yes you are right it’s a fresh menu (I frequent there a lot!). For some reason, the post was pulling the wrong image. I will fix it now. Thanks for letting me know.
Angela, consider a small squeeze bottle to store your energy gel. The advantages are numerous. No messing around with a leaky and sticky plastic pouch -because invariably it will leak – especially if you are trying to do this while physically active. Reaching into a sticky pocket to retrieve a sticky pouch is extremely unpleasant.
And oh, it looks way better in pictures :)
Thanks for sharing such a amazing post.