does anyone know of any? ones i can make? buy?

some i like are crunchy veggies (carrots, snow peas, celery) and hummus,
luna bars, fresh fruit (sometimes i have sliced apple with a little pb smeared on), whole grain toast with earth balance nonhydrogenated margarine and some fruit jam, dried fruit and nuts (trail mix kinda thing), baked potato with salsa, and soy yogurt.

do i need a dehydrater to make dried fruit? also do you know of any web sites that sell energy bars for cheap?

You could dry fruit at home with a dehydrator, but I just buy it dried at the supermarket. I have health food stores locally that sell different dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates, mango, apples, etc) in bulk bins. But they also have packaged dried fruit at regular stores. It'll be near the raisins, usually.

Most big grocery stores have energy bars (luna, clif, powerbar, etc). They usually cost about $1-$1.50 apiece, and they're full of nutrients.

i'd like to buy them in bulk to save money. i can't remember the brand name of the one i like. i know its a silver package around the bar and it uses plant protein i think from soy. i'll post the name of it when i stop at the grocery next.

Where I live they have Sam's club which is a wholesaler where you buy in bulk. It's a USA store. I buy lots of energy type bars there. The last thing I got was three boxes packaged together of Kashi bars. Whole grain bars and they keep you going for hours. It's like a granola bar but not as sweet. I have also bought granola bars in bulk there and Skippy peanut butter bars. The peanut butter bars there was about 40 in the box. Which were a little sugary but still had lots of peanuts in them and nutrition. I don't buy the traditional energy type bars. A lot of them are packed with sugar and are actually not healthy with all of that sugar in them. You can also get almonds and other nuts in bulk from there. Which are very healthy. They also have the dried fruits in bulk there.

When you buy energy bars check out the sugar and Fiber. Aim for ones with at least 2 grams of fiber and low sugar. I like power bars but there is ALOT of carbs and sugar in them for me. What I do is cut them in half and rewrap them. That way 1/2 the sugar and calories and carbs per serving. Then if I know I am going to very busy I just throw one in bag when I leave for work.

i think in your case protein shakes could be more benefitial, because the amount of carbs are needed in those bars for most people working out. i burn tons of calories in a soccer game. sometimes we play intensly for 3 hours straight.