Food

Apr172018

Should You Shop at Costco?

You’ve probably heard something like this plenty of times: losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise. While those numbers are just estimates, they’re not far from reality. The truth is, most goals related to health and wellness have a lot to do with what you put in your body. The number of calories you consume will have the biggest impact on whether you lose, maintain or gain weight. The types of calories you consume (not good vs. bad BUT proteins/fats/carbs) will also have a significant influence on how your body transforms, especially when paired with a physical training program.

Apr162018

S’mores at Home

If you’ve been on social media lately, and you live in the United States, there has been a lot of negativity going around. Normally we have something to fall back on that can cheer us up, like the weather, but that certainly hasn’t given us any relief lately. Here in LA, we’ve had 20 degree temperature changes every few days for the past week. Whether it has been hurricane-level winds or blazing dry heat, we can’t really complain because others have it so much worse. I saw a video from the NYC subway that looked like a scene from Titanic.

Spring is supposed to be one of the loveliest seasons that just about anyone can enjoy. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing and it is warming up enough to start firing up the grill to make some family favorites. That, however, can be quite challenging with a blizzard (bad enough to close airports for days) outside.

We celebrated the Spring Equinox by building a fire in our cast-iron chiminea and making s’mores. It felt so good, and even though it might not be the healthiest treat out there (everyone gets a cheat meal, right?) it is bound to put a smile on your face and relieve some stress. Relaxation is important for finding that hungry and fit lifestyle! So, if you’re fortunate enough to have a gas stove (our ONLY three criteria for apartment hunting in LA is: parking, no carpet, gas stove) you can make s’mores right now!

Apr142018

Wanderlust Creamery: LA Eatery Review

We were out to dinner at Dune (review coming soon) with our videographer when the snow-cone looking logo caught our eyes. Everyone knew that dessert was across the street, but we had no idea just how good it would be. We’d never heard of Wanderlust, but we wish that we had sooner! Watch us enjoy Wanderlust in this video.

The server quickly explained that the flavors were inspired by places the owners have been and others they want to visit–all over the world. Well, a few of the spots were ones that we’ve been to (Cafe du monde, for example) and a few others were ones that we’re going to soon (Ireland, Iceland) so there was an immediate connection that was thrilling. Plus, our videographer (Juan Esguerra, Iron Fortitude Media) is from the Philippines, and the server told us the owner was too, so even more bonus points. But who cares about all that… get to the ice cream!

Apr102018

Delancey: LA Restaurant Review

At this point on our journey of discovering the best food in LA, we’ve gone a bit out of order, but bear with us. This was the first time that we went somewhere “on our list” that left us disappointed with the overall experience. With that being said, I wouldn’t call it a bad dinner, there were just a lot of areas for improvement…a lot.

(Note: We would like to apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Even though we brought the good camera, as we mention soon, the lighting quickly went from bad to awful, so we had a hard time capturing the food.)

Apr082018

Blue Apron Review

Recently, Fit was gifted a free trial for Blue Apron (by one of the best bakers we know), which we took advantage of to the fullest. We know that there are tons of meal delivery services, which all need to do things a little different to succeed, so we were excited to find out what made Blue Apron so successful!

We received two meals through this promotion, which seemed to be equal to a $50 voucher. That means each meal cost $25 and they were advertised as meals for two. That means, essentially, that we had lunch and dinner for $50. If you think about it, $12.50 a meal (per person) seems reasonable, but that really depends on where you live. Here in LA, a healthier meal out would tend to cost you more than that, while you could have a meal for less than that back in Boulder.

Apr062018

The Best Kitchen Appliance That You Don’t Already Own

HERE is an important link, but we’ll get back to this after we tell you about this secret device.

Who doesn’t love a big bowl of pasta? Most people would consider some version of it the ultimate comfort food. Whether your go-to is mac & cheese or spicy dan dan noodles, there’s just something about pasta. Unfortunately in the past few years, there has seem to be a growing “intolerance” to gluten and as a result, people are staying away from all kinds of noodles. Heck, people are staying away from all kinds of carbs and diets that are higher in fats and protein are more popular than ever.

Apr032018

D’s Dubai Sauce

Obviously, when we say that we’re only going to eat at restaurants once a week that are “on our list” we don’t fully expect that to happen. As a result, when we might go out for a business lunch with a third party, we’ll lean towards places we haven’t been because we love discovering new spots. That led me to D’s Dubai Sauce.

I’m not completely sold on D’s Dubai Sauce, but intrigued enough by my first experience to be willing to try it again. We live a few blocks away, so it’s convenient, but growing up in the NYC area created higher standards based on the stand at 53rd and 6th. Still, they don’t claim to be just “chicken and rice” so let’s talk about what they do well.

They really do excel when it comes to flavor development, especially in their sauces. Their white sauce has this very unexpected tang to it which breaks through the overwhelming richness. The green sauce is even brighter with significant heat from the jalapeno and lots of acidity. I didn’t brave the extremely hot red sauce this time around.

Apr012018

The Three Healthiest Foods You Can Eat

We’re here to provide you with the best advice so you can live your healthiest enjoyable life. So we put our heads together to come up with the top three healthiest foods you could possibly consume. Make sure to incorporate these three healthiest foods in your daily diet!

Mar282018

Seriously Healthy Whole-Wheat Muffins

Being that it was St. Patrick’s Day recently, I had myself some leftover buttermilk from when I made Jodi’s amazing Irish Soda Bread (fail-proof recipe!). What should I do with this extra buttermilk? I could make another loaf of that delicious soda bread or…I could try a new recipe! I wanted it to be healthy and something guilt-free. With my buttermilk-searching glasses on, I scoured through healthy recipes until I found one I wanted to base my recipe on. Luckily, trusty ol’ King Arthur Flour had a great one! I healthified it even more than it already was (I cut the sugar) and whipped it up. These muffins are so good without being sweet and they pack a serious punch of fiber. They are also incredibly easy to make. Major plus! Takes under thirty minutes.

Mar252018

How to Use Yelp

There’s a good chance that the only time you’ve heard about Yelp, it didn’t help you build trust in their brand. They’ve had a ton of bad publicity and we’ve actually had plenty of negative experiences with them, but let’s focus on the positive. Here in LA, Jonathan Gold’s 101 list is the “gold standard” for where to eat. LA Weekly just came out with a 99 Essential Restaurant list, and we can’t help but think that whoever compiled that list was GREATLY influenced by Gold. Sadly, even here in LA, very few people outside of the food industry know who he is.

It can be hard to find good places to eat and most people aren’t willing to do a ton of research. They don’t want to Google “best food critic in LA” and then read through Gold’s hundreds of reviews over the year. Instead, we look for more convenient options. Whether it is a reflection of our laziness or desire to save time, services that compile reviews have become extremely popular. Rotten Tomatoes is a great resource for movies, Amazon for consumer goods and Metacritic for video games. While Yelp is far from a household name, it does provide that similar service for businesses… especially places to eat!

There are two ways to use Yelp. You can either check out reviews as a guest or you can become a user and review businesses. Technically, a third way exists, as a business owner but we’re not going that direction today. As a guest, you can quickly type in “sushi” in New York and get an idea where the restaurant is, how much it costs, when it is open and what the population thinks about the food. While we don’t necessarily agree with the aggregate scores of certain places, and while we don’t necessarily trust Yelp’s filter, you’re much better off using Yelp than just walking into the first place you see.