If you are addicted to working out and eating on-the-go, chances are you ingest a few energy bars during the course of a week. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on the brand you pick, as most energy bars are high in sugar and calories.

Regardless, if you can't live without your energy bars, your wallet may be complaining more than your waistline. Those bars can be expensive, with most of the healthy ones running about two dollars each!

Why not try making your own energy bars? They'll have only the best ingredients, of course, and will be a bit easier on the pocketbook.

Practical Hacks has an energy bar recipe that is chock full of goodness and is very easy to make. With ingredients like dates, bananas, egg whites and rolled oats, you are off to a good start. I take issue with some of the ingredients, like the non-fat dry milk (leave it out or substitute carob powder) and the light syrup (try 2/3 of the amount of agave syrup instead, or even raw honey), but beyond that, you are getting a lot less gross additives than most of the energy bars on the market today.

The cost? Only 45 to 66 cents per bar, depending on the deal you get on protein powder.

What do you think? Have you tried making your own energy bars? Would you?