Apr032015

Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don’t you just wish you could gnaw on? Something tasty that didn’t sit like a rock on your stomach? Some kind of dessert…maybe cookies…chocolate chip cookies…sounding better by the minute! I have a solution for you as we near swimsuit season: healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (they ALSO have raisins–added bonus). This recipe is very simple and features a new protein powder we’ve been trying!

It’s called Clean Lean Protein by NuZest (a kiwi company! How do we get so lucky?!)–and the ingredients are rather incredible. Most have no more than five ingredients and it’s composed of things like “Pea Protein Isolate,” “Vanilla,” “Strawberry,” “Red Beet” and other wonderful things. Usually protein powders have an insanely long list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce. Clean Lean Protein brings along this simple protein powder that actually doesn’t taste like cardboard! Although I used it in a baking recipe here, I’ve also used it for smoothies and shakes and it definitely hits the spot (it mixes well in a shaker cup too–huge plus). If you use hungry20 to buy a NuZest product, you can get 20% PLUS free shipping. Click here to get to their website. Don’t forget to enter in the contest below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apr012015

TalkToChef: Personalized Cooking Tutorials

As you may have noticed, recently we gave the Hungry and Fit website a little makeover. We wanted to be cleaner, more straightforward, and appealing to the eyes. We evaluated what we had in place, what we should remove, and what we should add. That led us to pursue new partnerships. One such partnership is TalkToChef–a helpful tool for cooking at home. It could be used by aspiring chefs or by people simply trying to create a meal for the family. TalkToChef is a startup company with a big, eager goal–to help you cook what YOU want to cook within minutes. I don’t know how many times I’ve been in the middle of cooking or baking something when I am hopelessly looking through google to answer my cooking woes. With TalkToChef, all I would have to do is enter what I’m trying to cook, and I will be connected right then and there with a chef to help.

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Mar312015

How to Take on a Challenge

October 4th, 2015. Lake Tahoe, CA. Elevation 6200-9000 feet. Spartan Ultra Beast. 26+ miles. 50+ obstacles.

I haven’t REALLY challenged myself for over 4 years. I was a slacker in high school, even though I was involved in a lot. I did it all, going through the motions, but rarely applied myself. I never studied, rarely practiced outside of class or practice, and as a result, I prevented myself from moving to the next level. College was a little different since I took on so much that it was mathematically improbable for me to be able to complete everything without trying. Still, I lost valedictorian because I didn’t care. I missed Olympic trials because I wanted to be big.

Mar302015

#11 Greatest Video Game of All Time

We apologize for the huge lack of posts this last week, but we are ramped up and ready to go now! In comes #11 of the Greatest Video Game of All Time! If you are unfamiliar with this list, then check the following out: #25, #24,#23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, and #12. Enjoy #11!

Kai – SimCity Series – For those few of you who haven’t heard of it, SimCity is the city-building game by Maxis that started the entire “Sim” franchise. I played the original in elementary school (patiently waiting my turn as my school only had a couple Macs). It was simple but straightforward. As mayor, you zoned the city and managed police, fire, education, and tax revenue.

The next game of the series was the amazing SimCity 2000, which switched the perspective from top-down 2D to isometric and really expanded the depth of the game. It added city advisors, alien attacks, scenarios, and new city services.

Several iterations followed, culminating with SimCity 4 (released in 2003). EA and Maxis followed that with SimCity (2013) which basically killed the franchise due to bugs and a very small city size. Since then Cities: Skylines has admirably taken up the mantle and made a city-building game worth playing.

I can’t recommend any of the previous games over Cities: Skylines, but they’ve provided awesome memories and created an entire genre of nonviolent, creative games.

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Mar202015

How to Decide on a Gym

In this day and age, it’s tough to find which gym you should join. From YMCAs to 24 Hour Fitnesses to Crossfit Boxes, there are a plethora of choices out there. And how do you know which one is the right pick for you? From high-class clubs like Equinox to $20/mo Planet Fitness, it’s hard to decide on a gym. More so, it’s hard to choose what will really benefit you (and your family) in the long run. Before you expect me to tell you what exactly you should be looking for, I will tell you that’s impossible. There are so many gyms out there, that I couldn’t give you the proper choice. Sure, I could go through a list of gym chains, but what if you have an incredibly awesome local gym like Ironhouse Gym in Mason City, Iowa? Instead, I’m going to give you a list of questions to ask yourself, look for the answers for these online, and ask the fitness facilities. Make sure they meet your criteria, otherwise, move on. You may not get every little thing you want, but make your list in priority order. Maybe the question, “Is this family-friendly?” is most important to you as you would like to exercise but also either have your kid in daycare or start swim lessons. This is about you! Here’s the list:

Mar182015

Busting Pilates Myths

With all the new and upcoming fitness trends, it’s hard to discern what’s right and what’s just fluff. Is that oil really going to help me? Is that move really going to firm up my butt? Should I really drink all this beet juice? It’s hard to know the real truth, but that’s when friendly smart experts with super awesome infographics come into play. A big player in the fitness game nowadays is Pilates. Most people aren’t really sure of what it is. Is it yoga with more core? Is it harder yoga? What is it? Annabel Fitzsimmons lays it down for us in her article, “Busting Pilates Myths“ on Health Perch.

Mar172015

#12 Greatest Video Game of All Time

I know we are one day late, but hey, we are still in the same week! Three weeks in a row–yes!! This countdown is on a roll and dangerously close to the top 10. As a refresher, this is the video game brain trust’s list of the top 25 greatest video games of all time and we are now down to #12! These are the ones you’ve missed so far: #25, #24,#23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, and #13.

Kai – Master of Orion II – In my opinion, Masters of Orion II is the best space-based 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) ever made. I love science fiction and this game really makes you feel like you’re running an alien empire, but doesn’t overwhelm you with options. There’s lore, multiple victory conditions, colonization, building, and space battles. You design your ships, decide which technologies to research, and can even create your own alien species.

It’s a turn-based game like Civilization and definitely shares that “one more turn” compulsion. It still holds up today as nothing in the genre has really come close (the sequel was probably the most disappointing game of all time for me). If you’re looking to conquer the galaxy in an afternoon, I can’t recommend anything other than Masters of Orion II.

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Mar132015

Our Last Few Weeks in Pics

Family

Mar122015

Chocolate Banana Nut Protein Bars

Boy is this recipe a home run! I spent a good amount of time researching other protein bar recipes. Hungry had a great idea–we had some old bananas, so instead of banana bread, what if we made something fun like protein bars? We are always wanting more protein bars, and they can get expensive! This recipe is incredibly cheap to make (and easy). There are under ten ingredients and it is absolutely delicious. Nutritious and delicious–that’s my favorite kind of recipe. This one is fun because you can really have variety with it–you can substitute and switch out ingredients as you please. This recipe will have you gobbling down protein like no other!

Mar112015

Tomato Avocado Salad

In the past few weeks, Hungry and I have kicked up our fitness level to a certain degree. It’s been going fairly well, and we are a mission to achieve our goals and stay healthy! It’s not always easy. We have busy lives, a not-so-great neighborhood, and everyday troubles. However, we rise above and keep fighting for our passion! To go along with that are healthy recipes. Recently, our fridge and pantry have been chock full with delicious fruits and veggies. We’ve been getting great prices on avocados from Trader Joe’s which we’ve been certainly using to our advantage. We’ve been making different things like caprese salads, roasted tomato on toast, and yummy spinach recipes too. In this case, I simply combined a few ingredients to create something very tasty: a tomato avocado salad.