Food

Apr172015

How Will You Spring Clean this Year?

Gaiam has some awesome personality tests and I love personality tests. The past fun ones have been which element are you and what your 2015 mantra should be. For me…”fire” and “I’ve Got This.” I’d say that is a deadly combo. We love these personality tests because they are fun, but also inspiring! They give you insight into who you are and how you can better fulfill yourself. The newest one came out yesterday called the “Clean Eating Quiz.”

They want to know–and in turn help you to know–how clean or dirty you are. In what respects? you may be asking. Clean EATING of course. That may sound boring, but it’s still a fun little quiz. The choices help you break down to where you really need to clean–what needs to be cleansed and how. In the end, you’ll put your email in, and it’ll suggest way to “clean” yourself up–with a cleanse and some yoga. We could all use a little of both.

So…are you brave enough to take the quiz and see how dirty you really are? Post the results below! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS PUPPY PIC

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.

Image source

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.

Finished product

Mar052015

Cinnamon Whole-Wheat Apple Bread

Since we’ve finally settled into our “new” place, I’ve been scouring the web and the bloggers I follow for new recipes to try. It’s just something about being in the kitchen, creating, and enjoying it. I’m happy to have been doing more recipes lately. I was inspired by Cookies and Cups to do a cinnamon whole-wheat apple bread–a little healthier version of the typical snickerdoodle apple bread. It was extraordinarily easy to make, and let me tell you, the batter was delicious. Not that I ate too much… I always love trying and creating different treats that don’t make me feel bad afterwards. I can add this one to the list.

Feb162015

Chocolate Oat Apple Crumble

I have an unfortunate sweet tooth. I try to curb it, but sometimes I don’t. Sometimes, however, I think in advance and then make something that’s sweet, but still on the healthy side. That’s when Smitten Kitchen inspired me! Jasmine is a very close family friend who turned me on to “crumbles” very early in my life–particularly apple crumble. This recipe calls for very few ingredients so I decided to give it a go. It was really easy and made the house smell wonderful! I made a Chocolate Oat Apple Crumble and my sweet tooth was absolutely overjoyed without killing my health.

Finished product, but not before I dove in

Feb142015

Last-Second Valentine’s Day [Healthy] Treat

You have a busy life, a busy schedule, or maybe you just forgot. Well, it’s Valentine’s Day today, so if there’s someone special in your life, you should make sure that they know you feel that way about them. If you didn’t get them anything (don’t fret, there’s still time)–or if you want to do a little something extra–you’re in good hands! I was inspired by Life with spices to make a healthy version of a “red velvet mug cake” just in time for V-Day. Even if you’re not romantic, this will put a smile on your partner’s face. Plus, even though it seems decadent and delicious, it actually has decent ingredients! Gotta love guilt-free baked goods. This takes, all in all, four minutes. No oven, just microwave. NO EXCUSES. Let’s hit it.

Feb032015

Bar Hayama Restaurant Review (Los Angeles)

On Sawtelle, away from the long lines and commotion of popular spots like Tsujita LA and others, is Bar Hayama. Highlighted by a beautiful outdoor seating area, this bar offers four seating options and multiple menus worth of food. As a result, being seated and served takes far less time than eateries closer to Olympic. Still, as Hungry & Fit, the most important dining aspect is the food, but let’s take about what makes this fiery location worth a visit.

Jan292015

The Dangers of Sugar

Weight Watchers. Jenny Craig. Paleo. “Paleo”. No carbs. High fat. Vegan. Gluten free. Non-GMO. The list goes on…

We live in a world full of fads and trends, but we also live in a world full of science and research. We live in a world of trial and error, but we also live in a world where people want to make money. Most importantly, we live in a world where our lifespans are heavily influenced by our lifestyles.

While “fitness gurus” and models will debate with nutritionists and doctors about what the healthiest diet is, the bottom line is that there is no gold standard. We are unique and we have our own goals; our diet should reflect that. Still, there are consumable goods that are usually beneficial for everyone (unless you are allergic) and others that offer nothing but negative health effects.