Unusual Recipe Help

Generali

Hello Old Stylers. I doubt many remember me. I've posted on here very occasionally but lurk quite a lot.

Anyway, I am looking for some recipe ideas.

I've had a bit of a cancer thing which now seems to have gone and I've gone back to cycling. I've done a few 10-12 mile rides which are pretty easy logistically: you take a bottle of water and that's about it.

Today I decided to step things up and did my first 100km (63mile) ride since surgery last year. Oooh er. I messed up my eating in a boring, technical way but it ain't much fun doing the last 30 miles with a very upset tummy.

To cut a long story short I am looking for some recipe ideas. To give you an idea, 100km of riding through hills will use about 2,500 calories of which say 1,500-2,000 need to be consumed on the bike.

I can probably get 500 calories of that in drink (about a pint of Ribena or squash) but that leaves me with at least 1,000 calories to eat.

In the past I've used high energy gels. OMG, they taste vile and have some nasty side-effects. I've also tried commercial muesli bars and they're okay but I think I could make better. One thing you should know is a cycling jersey has a pocket in the back that is pretty easy to access and could simply be lined with a ziplock bag.

The criteria are:

High carb
Some protein is okay but not too much
Ditto fat. A bit to make it edible is fine but protein and fat mess with the uptake of carbs
Easy to eat one handed while cycling down a hill at 30mph
Not too dry and crumbly as you have to be able to breathe whilst eating and breathing in food isn't very much fun!
Yummy.
Able to withstand a 35C day without going off (melting is okay though)

I was thinking flapjack but that's too high in fat really. Something that can be cut into bite sized chunks and that I can reliably understand calorie and carbohydrate content would be great. The theory is you consume 1g of carb per 1kg of body weight every hour so I weigh 75kg (hmm ish anyway) so should consume 75g (3 oz) of carbs every hour.

Anyway ladies and gentlemen, there's your challenge. I eat most things really that would be available in a shop 150 years ago. Not a fan of weird chemicals and stuff but happy to eat pretty much anything apart from that. Oh, not a fan of bananas at all. Coconut is great in moderation.

[Deleted User]

Don't know if this might help, it's something I invented for DD who runs D of E for the school she teaches at but wanted to keep weight down in her rucksack while on hikes/climbs etc.

Homemade Energy Bars

4.8 oz pitted dried dates
2.9 oz raw cashew nuts
1.7 oz seedless raisins/driedcherries
0.06 oz cocoa powder
2 teaspoons honey

Blitz everything in a food processor until very,very finely chopped. Turn out onto clingfilm and compress into a roll shape then roll tightly in the cling film and chill in the fridge to firm it up. This cuts into 12 decent slices and keeps pretty well for quite a while.

Don't know the calorie content but they keep your energy levels up if consumed at regular intervals. Hope that helps.

PasturesNew

Longshot.... make some crisps from strips of sweet potato. Dried lengths of it. Sounds a bit grim, but might be tasty

lostinrates

( gagging but still suggesting)

Kendal mint cake?

Generali

Oh here's an article I found which might help:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-eat-during-cycling

Thanks for the ideas so far. Keep 'em coming!

Generali

And PS I can calculate the calorie/carb content.

Floss

Soreen malt loaf

cat4772

Does coconut oil affect carb absorption?

FairyPrincessk

This might be too high in fat, but there is something called Halva/Halfa/Helva that you might look into recipes for. Some of it is made using a flour base which I don't think would be portable. However, there are several that use a nutbutter or a sesame seed base and they might work.

babyshoes

In moderation, dried fruit would be good for high carbohydrate, easily portable snacks. Obviously, too much would upset your tum due to the high fibre content, but a handful or so should be ok, especially if you don't eat it all in one go. I think there are some types of date and honey based sweet treats which might also be suitable.

Sugar is pure carbohydrate - so something that is mostly sugar would give you a lot of calories in a small package. I'm thinking along the lines of jelly sweets or marshmallows which don't have any fat in them and only a little protein from the gelatine.

I remember as a child eating 'glucose sweets/ tablets' at sports events - not sure if such things are available now, or how they would taste to an adult palate - but the theory was that they released pure glucose so gave quick energy - probably similar to your energy gels but in a simpler format - just compressed dried glucose with a little flavouring and colouring - they dissolved quite quickly in the mouth.

Savoury carbs are trickier as they tend to be drier and potentially crumbly. Veggie crisps made with minimal oil and baked are a good suggestion - try sweet potato, parsnip and beetroot, shaved as thin as possible with a potato peeler or mandolin so they go crisp. You can buy commercial varieties, but they will generally have been deep fried.

A cheese-topped roll (if you like them) might be suitable when you're hungry and need a slightly slower energy release, as a fresh roll won't be dry and crumbly, and the cheese on top makes it more palatable than a plain roll, without adding a huge amount of fat.

Alternatively, you could make your own bread rolls or savoury scones, and top / stuff them with toppings such as roasted peppers, olives, sea salt & rosemary, marmite / bovril, parmesan cheese (lots of cheesy flavour for not a lot of actual cheese) or anything else you fancy. Of course such things will always be nicer with a bit of butter or olive oil, but should be reasonably tasty on their own.

I strongly suggest doing a test run of any food suggestions before the next race, perhaps on a couple of shorter training rides.

TiredTrophy

My serious cycling sons recommend pumpkin seed nine bars.
For homemade use mrs lurcherwalkers recipe with additional seeds. Chew well.