For instance, the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created:
Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent
of three thousand miles per gallon.
~Bill Strickland
Yay! It’s time for Libby Hickson’s Tour de Craft, Libby’s annual craft homage to the Tour de France (the 21-stage, 3,660 km bicycle race). Joining Libby and her stamp-happy, bicycle-bonkers friends to honor the Tour makes me happy as a down hill racer!
Have you noticed the Tour riders grabbing snacks out of their sweaty back pockets in the middle of the race? I decided to go a little off the map with a look back to the snack of champions – GORP.
Remember GORP? It was popular in the 1970’s with hikers because it was lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious and, well, because powerbars weren’t on the scene yet. I used to pack GORP in my bike bag for quick fuel between food stops. That combination of salty and crunchy, sweet and chewy is just magical.
Although GORP is short for granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts, let’s be honest, granola and oats sounds like something you’d feed your horse. I make mine with nuts, dried fruits, sunflower seeds, pretzels, and most importantly, M&Ms.
The carbohydrates in the dried fruit give a quick energy boost while the fat and protein in the nuts provide sustained energy. The M&Ms are just tasty! And, like their ad says, M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your bike bag.
For giggles and grins (and, hey, maybe a fun party favor), I packed my GORP today in decorated pillow boxes and plastic push pop containers. They’re stinkin’ cute and yummy, right?
tips and techniques
I found these plastic push pop containers in a fun store in Austin, Texas: Make it Sweet. Just Google “push pop containers” to find a retailer or click on the link below. Filling, decorating and eating from them is just so much fun! For some other ideas for these containers here’s a great article from the fabulous Tip Junkie: 14 Amazing Push Pop Treats {recipes}.
What you put in your GORP is really just a matter of personal preference. Here are some ideas:
- nuts: almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans
- dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, banana chips
- breakfast cereal: Chex, Grape Nuts, Cheerios, granola, rolled oats
- seeds: pumpkin or pepita, sunflower, sesame
- pretzels, popcorn, Goldfish crackers
- shredded coconut
- yogurt chips
- M&Ms or other candy-coated chocolate that won’t melt in the sun
Besides the groceries of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and candy, here are the rest of the ingredients to my GORP tribute.
That’s all for me. Thank you, Libby, for letting me roll with you!
