It's a little known fact I'm also something of a foodie.  I'm going to share with you a recipe which I make on a weekly basis.  It's delicious, healthy and great to include in a packed lunch.

Who needs dainty, cupcakey, frippery and frou-frou? This is a solid, gulag-style old-fashioned loaf that demands you cut off a great big hulking slab, slather it with butter and eat it accompanied by builders tea.

It's not all hulk and bulk though. The bananas make it lovely and moist, the dates are sticky and gooey, it's low in fat, big on taste and only takes 15 minutes to make.



Recipe:

• 300g self-raising flour - I used Doves Gluten-Free Self Raising Flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 125g chopped dates
• half a cup [125ml] caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
• 2 large or 3 medium bananas - about a cup full of whipped banana but no matter if it's slightly more
• 1 cup [250ml] milk - I used semi-skimmed
• 2 large eggs
• 2lb capacity or 21.5x10.5cm loaf tin

Method:

• Sift the self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.
• Stir through the dates and sugar
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients
• In another medium size mixing bowl chop up the banana into slices
• Whisk the banana slices with a hand beater or in a food processor until smooth-ish
• Add the eggs and milk and whisk briefly together until combined
• Pour half the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and combine at a low speed until blended
• Add remaining banana mixture and combine until just blended [don't over-mix]
• Pour mixture into a greased or lined loaf tin

Bake for 50 mins at 180 degrees [as I use a fan oven I bake it for 40 minutes -turning the tin around half way through]

The very yummy result:

I've recently discovered a sports drink I like. Often they are simply too sweet for my taste. It's lemon flavoured Taut. However, this new drink costs between £0.99 - £1.50 for 500 ml. I mean come on, it's 99% water, a few trace minerals and some sugar and salt. Imagine the profit margins on that! The words old rope and money spring to mind.

This got me thinking about making my own drink and then even how necessary they really are.

I found this excellent article on The Guardian, written by top athlete Sam Murphy.

In a nutshell, the right kind of sports drink at the right time can make some difference to performance and recovery rates.

At the end of the article is a recipe to make your own.

Do you think sports drinks make a difference. Please leave a comment. Go on!

Energy bars are a great way to have a healthy snack on the go. Unfortunately, they are often loaded with sugar and fat and can also be expensive. For a decent tasting bar - my favourite was Tesco Finest Fruit and Nut - you pay a whopping £2.54 for 3.

Why not save some money and whip up your own, customised energy bars with this simple recipe [I haven't actually tried it out yet but am off to the supermarket today to buy ingredients, so I'll keep you posted on the results].

Each bar is virtually fat-free, easy to digest and supplies 30g of carbohydrate - enough to fuel 30-60 minutes of hard running


• Combine 175g oats

• 85g muesli and dried fruit together in a bowl

• Warm 3tbsp of honey until it becomes runny - add it to the oat mix

• Stir in 150g dried fruit (raisins, dates, apricots, figs, apple, pineapple)

• 2 egg whites

• 175ml apple juice



Press the mixture into a lightly-oiled 18x28cm baking tin

Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes until golden

Allow to cool slightly then cut into bars



Ideas for other ingredients:

Coconut
Hazel nuts
Peanuts
Cashew nuts
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Dried cranberries

Roll in sesame seeds while still slightly warm to coat