Food

Sep112013

Chocolate Protein Rounds [No Baking Required]

My friend made me a batch of these for my birthday last week and I devoured way too many. Like wayyyy too many. But who cares, you only have a birthday once a year, right? Luckily, these things are pretty healthy and help me get my daily protein intake, so I wasn’t too worried. She had given me the recipe a long time ago, but I just never got around to making them. The original recipe doesn’t necessarily call for chocolate protein powder, but it’s all we have so I decided to give it a go. Really glad I did–super easy. And it’s nice not to bake when it’s 80 degrees out! I altered it somewhat and it turned out well!

My own version of a Hershey’s Kiss…without the slave labor!

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cups chocolate protein powder (you could do vanilla, though)
1 tbsp honey
2/3 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almondmilk (you can use regular)
1 tbsp dried cherries (you can use any dried fruit)
1 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl

Dry ingredients mixed together

Mix the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. It’s tough at first because of the peanut butter, but I just whisked it down until it was well-mixed and of one mixture
Slowly mix the wet into the dry ingredient bowl. First I used a whisk, but in the end I had to use a wooden spoon to really mix it well.

Take out a cookie sheet and place wax paper on top. Then scoop out bite-sized pieces of the mixture and line it up on the wax paper.

Put into the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer and then wrap them individually with wax paper, otherwise it’s a sticky mess. Place in fridge until ready to eat!

Ready to go in the fridge

I am so glad the chocolate protein powder worked out. This is such a good snack before or after a workout. Gives you a bit of energy, but doesn’t weigh you down and has a good amount of protein to keep your muscles happy. It’s an unbelievably easy recipe and a great way to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah caught sleeping on the job

Sep102013

September Goodies: Articles Worth Reading

Through my work, I do a lot of research into health, fitness, nutrition, and other similar articles. It’s good to stay on top of your game in the industry and it’s always important to know everything you can. These articles are really great in relaying a wealth of information and I thought that many of you would appreciate these reads as they have valuable stuff in them!

“Always”…stay hungry and fit for knowledge!

For the graceful “agers”…

“How to Get Super Fit at Any Age”

On certain eating fads…

“How to Really Eat like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet is Half-Baked”

For the fitness buffs…

“Strength Vs Toned: The Truth about Gender-Specific Workouts”

“Ask Well: Eating Before Exercise”

“Doubling the Daily Allowance of Protein Intake with Diet and Exercise Protects Muscle Loss”

“How Does Heat Affect Fat-Burning?”

“10 Ab Training Mistakes You Need to Stop Making”

“Stay Cool, Stay Thin?”

Surprising fitness facts…

“Watermelon Juice Relieves Post-Exercise Muscle Soreness”

“Why A.C.L. Injuries Sideline So Many Athletes”

“How Exercise Can Help Us Learn”

New, cool fitness gadgets…

“Pocket-Sized Sensor Gives Instant Fat Burning Updates”

Recipes worth trying…

“Homemade Vegan ‘Honeycomb'”

“Baked Tomato Bruschetta”

“Almond-Crisped Peaches”

Chris with an awesome Mexican post-workout feast meal

Hope you enjoy these articles, I sure did! Let me know which ones you like the best! Use these articles to stay…hungry and fit!

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Sep092013

Happy 23rd Birthday, Alana!

Yay! Happy Birthday to me! Chris and I had a great “birthday weekend” (his birthday is this coming Thursday—yes, a pair of Virgos) involving lots of good food and good company. Though I am peeved at myself for not taking more group photos, oh well! ABC Family obviously knew that it was my birthday weekend because it was a Harry Potter Weekend (yessss). So besides home We decided on our “group birthday dinner” (meaning more than just Chris and I) we would do on the Saturday. We couldn’t decide on a place…from Korea House to Efrain’s and we finally decided on one of our favorite spots, Tibet Kitchen. But before that, Saturday morning, we went with friends to go play Frisbee Golf on a hot morning. But the view was incredible.

Frisbee golf view

Sample of a Tibet Kitchen plate

Really should’ve taken pictures of the group as a whole, but it included co-workers, friends, and family–a great bunch. We all had a ton of food and felt pretty full…but not full enough to not get ice cream! We finished the night off well with plenty of ice cream to celebrate. It was a great time. The next morning (on my actual birthday) we went to breakfast at Lucille’s, a southern, New Orleans-style breakfast joint. I always hear how popular it is and we got there at the right time. No wait, and we got a seat outside on an absolutely beautiful morning. We obviously got some beignets to share and some dishes for ourselves. It was absolutely delicious and neither of us could finish it (hellooo leftovers!).

I could eat wayyyy too many beignets

After we stuffed ourselves, we ran over to Flatirons Mall AMC (which has the most comfy recliner chairs, it’s ridiculous) and caught a double feature of The Butler and Riddick (both reviews to come). We enjoyed both, but came out starving because it was about 4 hours of movie time with no snacks in between (I forgot the popcorn!). After a long debate about what to eat, we decided on trying Protos Pizza up in North Boulder. And we loved it. We ordered 4 small pies (don’t worry, it was 4-slice, small slice pizzas, not real expensive) to try everything out. The ingredients were fresh, crust cooked to perfection, and a wonderful blend of flavors.

This is a piece from each pie

After that, Chris went to give a private swim lesson. We did a laid-back workout, and then headed to Ras Kassa’s Ethiopian Restaurant. It was open late and we had never tried it. We ordered a “vegetarian passport meal for two” which ended up being a ton of food plus two drinks and dessert! Let’s just say there’s a good amount of leftovers in the fridge. It was an absolutely lovely night, we sat outside next to a creek and beautiful little lights. We enjoyed some drink and a lot of food and had a great time.

Those rolled up parts are injera (Ethiopian “bread”) to use to eat the rest of the meal

Honey Wine and Papaya Margarita

So I had a great great birthday, and I was lucky enough to get cards from loved ones and presents too. My parents sent me great gifts plus a boat load of Trader Joe’s goodies. Chris got me a wonderful collection of presents that was perfectly catered to who I am. Overall, I had a lovely birthday and look forward to celebrating Chris’ coming up soon. As always…stay hungry and fit!

Trader Joe’s yummies

Yes that’s a bento box on top (and Game of Thrones graphic novel)

Chris got me crocs!! I know my friends will be so happy (not

Miyazaki play on Wizard of Oz hoodie (from Chris, of course)

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria on her back

Sep072013

So You Overate…Get Over It!

I know I’m not alone when I find myself in a vicious cycle of overeating and then getting really angry at myself. It kind of burns a hole in the day. This is happens when I’m trying to follow a meal plan, eat cleanly, etc (otherwise I don’t much care). And then I fall off the wagon and divulge a little too much. It leaves you with guilt, anger, and disappointment. I’m sure many of you know these feelings and know what I mean. This cycle of self-loathing is useless and doesn’t get you any closer to your goals, so let’s learn how to just drop it.

Incoming…pics of food that are easy to eat too much of!

You overate. You went too hard into that ice cream. You took too much of Grandma’s toffee. GET OVER IT! We all know that emotions can tie directly into eating more, so why do we let ourselves get so upset? Sure, we’re disappointed. We’re mad at ourselves for not having enough willpower and letting our cravings get the better of us. But why should we hold onto it? Why should we sit in a puddle of disgust?

Take the first step and forgive yourself. You made a mistake. Put it in perspective. There’s not a chance you’re going to remember this in 5 or 10 years, what does it matter? Acknowledge what you’ve done. It’s okay. We make mistakes. You can’t be expected to follow something to a T 100% of the time. Don’t stray from what you did. Own it so that next time you can prevent it by understanding what you are feeling right now. Because what happens when we try to ignore or smother our emotions? We eat more!

So we own what we did, but we don’t get in a hissy fit over it. We did the deed, we ate two more cookies than we meant to, but there’s nothing you can do it about now. So don’t get in a dark mood and hate yourself. Negative energy will always set you on a worse path for achieving goals. Tell yourself, “It’s okay. I did something I didn’t want to do, but I’m going to learn from this and try harder next time.” Use it as an advantage for you. You can always turn a negative into a positive. Remember how when you put the bowl of candy out, it was that much harder for you to resist. Put it in the cupboard where you can’t see it.

Starting to get it? We own what we did, we understand why, and we put it in perspective. Take a big breath and let it out. It’s not the end of the world. Just get back on track now and let the overeating be a thing of the past. Don’t let it haunt you or give you feelings of self-hatred. Remember, that makes things worse. Forgive yourself and move on. It’s one small moment in your big life. Don’t let it ruin more than 5 minutes. Use this advice to stay hungry and fit!

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Sep062013

Efrain’s Magical Mexican Food (Fit’s Restaurant Review)

I think we may have found one of the best Mexican spots in Boulder. Yes, I’m excited too. It’s a little out of the way, but it’s a scenic drive through the Wild West (it seems like). You pass these old rusted buildings, lots of old mining spots, and such. Anyhow, we get there one night, and it’s packed. And it’s a Wednesday! Obviously, this place was popular. And it had good reason to be.

The spot is called Efrain’s II as in #2. Yes, weird name, but there are actually 3 of these wonderful restaurants, one in Layfayette and Longmont as well. They obviously saw the good fortune in expanding, and boy are we glad they did! We get there around 7:30-8pm and wait for a table for around 20-30 minutes. I had a margarita while we waited and we watched some baseball. I was surprised how busy it was because it was a Wednesday. Come on, people! But it was a good sign. Chris had gone there with his friend a few weeks earlier and had wanted to take me because he knows my fervent love of good Mexican food (helloooo, I grew up in SoCal).

Great margarita!

Mr. Muscles over here

Chris’ meal from a few weeks earlier

Once finally seated, they were quick to serve us with some chips and salsa. The bad thing about this is that there were endless refills. So yes, I obviously filled up on chips and could barely eat my meal. No surprises here, folks! As I sipped away on my margarita, Chris got a Mexican Coke (he loooooooves them). He ordered the Steak San Lorenzo (a sizable meal that even he couldn’t finish) and I ordered the fajitas. Vegetarian, of course.

Mexican coke

I couldn’t believe how big my portion was. For my fajita platter, I received three tortillas, a huge plate of lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, beans, rice, guac, etc. and a huge pot of fajita-styled vegetables. I couldn’t believe it. Everything was cooked well with lots of flavor. Chris thoroughly enjoyed his steak and we left a happy couple. The atmosphere is kinda hectic, but once you get seated, you’re in your own happy bean-and-cheese world. I can’t wait to go there again and again. Good Mexican food with a good price? Don’t mind if I do. Load up on Mexican food to stay hungry and fit!

Chris’ steak smothered in veggies

My ENTIRE MEAL

Close-up because it’s so pretty

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria kneading away

Aug282013

Sweetie-Pie Peach Cobbler

Sweetie-Pie? Huh? I say that because this recipe is sweet. Very sweet. So much so that I’m not a huge fan of it, but those who I made it for loved it (and that’s what matters, right?). At first, I thought I had done something wrong, and I was ready to angrily toss it in the bin, but I left it in the fridge overnight and it turned out great! Anyhow, this is a peach cobbler from this blog. I didn’t change much out of the recipe because I’m kind of new to cobblers. Alright, let’s take a look.

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Baking TIme: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
4 peaches
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar (yes, it’s on the ingredient list twice)
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Put the stick of butter in a few-inch-deep pan, like a casserole dish and let it melt in the oven.
Let’s start with the batter. I’m not a huge fan of the batter–it’s very typical white cake type stuff. But again, other people liked this! Combine the flour, white sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add the milk and vanilla to that dry mix and stir. Set it aside
Get out a pot and put in the peaches (they should be chopped up in little chunks), brown sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and then let it boil for 5 minutes.

Pretty peaches

Cinnamon added

Gettin’ juicy!

Pour the white batter into the casserole with the butter in it, but do not stir! Make a nice layer and then pour the hot peach mixture on top too, for a delicious, beautiful layer

Ready to bake!

Bake for 10 minutes.
While it’s baking, combine the oats, the (other) brown sugar, and nutmeg in a small bowl
Take the cobbler out and sprinkle the oat mixture on top. Put back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until it’s nice and brown on top and cooked through

Hot from the oven

You can serve hot with ice cream or chill it in the fridge for a nice cool cobbler. I would go for the latter. The more I kept trying it over time, the better it became. And it was perfect by the time I brought it to work. Two people had birthdays within the next two days so we decided to do a little birthday bash for them. One of them is picky about desserts (doesn’t like sweets), but mentioned that she loves peach cobbler so I gave it a go! I also made these muffins. And as always… stay hungry and fit!

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Aug272013

The How-To Guide to Smart Snacking

I’m pretty sure all of us have fallen into the trap of mindless snacking. It’s one of the biggest road blocks in achieving our goals. We get home from a long day of work, our stomachs grumbling, but our feet are tired and so our minds. Instead of whipping up a snack, we go into the fridge or pantry and just mindlessly stuff our gobs until we somehow feel full. But usually we go past the point of being full, to where the point of not eating a good dinner because of that. And what does that lead to? MORE mindless snacking after “dinner.” If you can’t tell, this is a bad cycle. So how do we stop it?

Fruit protein smoothies: stopping mindless snacking since its creation

Snack with a purpose. I can’t emphasize this enough so I’m writing a whole post about it. This is the best defense against the mindless zombie eating that can plague us all. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of “oh, I’ll just snack on a few crackers while I think of a food plan—oops there goes the entire package.” I can’t count the number of times I’ve done this (yikes), but I’ve learned now, how to beat that back with a stick. A well-planned and satisfying stick.

Popcorn, cheese & crackers,

What exactly is snacking with a purpose? It’s the opposite of mindless eating and I can’t tell you how much more satisfying it is than just stuffing your face. If you snack with a purpose, you have a plan. A plan to satisfy your hunger without going overboard and getting some nutrients to boot! It may take a LITTLE more time (and I mean little), but that is also a way that makes it that much more satisfying. Just like growing your own vegetables, when you snack with a purpose, you feel good.

Egg on top of avocado

Snacking with a purpose means you don’t go straight for the chip bag. Instead, you have something in mind for a snack. Yesterday, I was craving something cold and refreshing. I wanted to go grab an iced mocha latte or something, but didn’t want to spend money and drink a bunch of sugar. So I bit the bullet, went home, had some chocolate milk beside a Van’s waffle topped with greek yogurt. Perfect snack for after work or after school. You have some sugar in the waffle and milk to pick you up, the protein in the greek yogurt to keep you going, and the cold chocolate milk to refresh you. It’s well-rounded, simple, and took less than 5 minutes to make.

A little more extravagant version of my example

Starting to get it now? Snacking with a purpose means sitting down and eating something to keep that body and mind of yours going. It means slowing down for 10-15 minutes, making yourself some cheese, apples, and crackers or popcorn or an egg on toast to satisfy hunger and give the body what it needs. And the mind. You think your mind is happy when you shovel crap down your throat? Absolutely not. One of the reasons why we love eating is because it is pleasurable. So why skimp out on that just because it’s a snack? Make something nice for yourself, sit down, and enjoy a snack. Your body, your weight, your fitness, and your mind will thank you. Snack with a purpose to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah trying to blend in

Aug262013

Best Veggie Burger in Town: Mustard’s Last Stand (Boulder, CO)

Mustard’s Last Stand ALSO has great meat burgers and hot dogs–they are from Chicago, after all. ESPECIALLY, the hot dogs. I, however, will be focusing on their vegetarian options as…that’s what I eat! However, from Chris’ input, he’s usually always satisfied with their burgers, full of flavor and gets him satisfied. Alright, let’s look at the place!

According to our friend, a Boulder-native basically, Mustard’s has been in this same spot since before he can remember. It’s pretty tiny inside, but you can eat outside too and enjoy the day. They even offer blankets you can use to go sit by the creek that’s extremely close by. We do that sometimes, or we’ll just go to town right in the shop. The servers can be brusque, but we don’t mind, as long as we get our food. It’s best to go to non-peak hours, unless you want to be crammed in that tiny place, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The wait time is medium to long, but for me, it’s worth it.

I’ll start off with the fries. The fries here are delicious. I don’t know what they do to ’em, but the seasoning and the way they cook them make them delectable. They have that perfect crispy exterior that makes you dig for more and more. Let’s move on to the burger. And remember…we’re talking veggie burger. More specifically…the tempeh burger.

The tempeh burger

What is tempeh? It’s a soy product that comes from Indonesia and has plenty of protein for us vegetarians. You can read more about it here. Alright, back to the good stuff. This burger is definitely the best veggie burger I’ve ever had. The texture is right, the flavors are out of this world, and the condiments are perfect. They serve it with ketchup, mustard, pickle, onions, hot peppers, and sauerkraut. I think next time, I’m not gonna get the sauerkraut (I usually don’t, anyhow), because it overtook the flavor of the burger and the cheese. And the hot peppers could be a bit hotter. But those are my only complaints. The slab of cheese they throw on there is real and you can definitely tell. It’s a melt-in-your-mouth kind of experience, and one I always enjoy going back to.

Mmmmmm-mmmm!

Mustard’s Last Stand will always be a place I enjoy going to. It’s a local joint where both Chris and I can get equally satiated without feeling left out. He gets his meat, I get my tempeh, and we split the fries (but we always wish we had gotten two orders). Mustard’s has something for everyone and they never skimp on the flavor. The price is decent too. Hit this Chicago-joint up to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

I don’t know why Sajah is getting all the spotlight…maybe because the camera can actually pick him up

Aug242013

Almost-S’more Banana Cookies [3 Ingredients!]

After a nice light workout, and a delicious post-workout dinner at Mediterranean Market (one of our favorites), I wanted some dessert. I had eaten pretty light at dinner (it’s so easy to stuff yourself there with delicious falafel), so I was ready for a little dessert. Our favorite Mexican bakery was closed, and we’re both too congested for Glacier (best ice cream in town). We didn’t have much dessert food in the house (besides some squares of dark dark chocolate), so I decided to just make some! I remember seeing this recipe, and it was so simple and easy–the perfect cookies for tonight. And they have good macros to boot (aka pretty healthy)!

I’ll take three, please

Why almost-s’more? Because I’m not using any marshmallows. A) Because they have gelatin in them and sometimes horse hooves are used for that, but let’s be honest and turn to B) Didn’t have any in the house. Alright, let’s get to the recipe!

Prep Time: 3-5 minutes
Bake Time: 13 minutes
Makes: 6 cookies

Macros (per cookie)

Calories: 116
Fat: 3.5g
Carbs: 20g
Protein: 1g

Ingredients

3/4 cup ground graham crackers (I had the cinnamon kind–yum!)
1 banana
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F
So I tried lining up my baking sheet with parchment paper and it didn’t turn out so well for my cookies. Try just buttering or oiling your baking sheet instead
Crush up your graham crackers. Put them in a ziplock and roll a rolling pin over them to get ’em nice and grounded
Mash your banana well in a mixing bowl
Mix the rest of the ingredients in the bowl

Yum mixture

The original recipe made 8 cookies, but I think perhaps I made mine a bit bigger than her. So plop your cookie dough on the baking sheet any way you would like. They don’t really expand, so style them how you want them to turn out! Remember this isn’t a normal cookie dough texture

Ready to bake!

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Mine were promptly ready at 13. Take out and let cool for a few minutes (I know, that’s hard).

Begging to be eaten

Oops didn’t wait long enough

How easy was that?! It took no time at all…well, it took some time for me because we got caught in the middle of a Monk marathon (best show ever). These are guilt-free cookies that don’t break the money bank or time bank. I know I’ll be using this recipe frequently when I need a dessert fix or a last-minute needed dish for friends. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

Enjoy with milk!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah selfie

Aug222013

No-Bake, No-Sugar Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Woah, what a title. Are you out of breath? Well you should be, because these are delicious. I took the recipe from this blog (which I think will be a new favorite of mine) and took out the sugar and reduced the butter. The other day, I was simply craving to bake something, but we didn’t have many ingredients in the house. We did, however, have these ingredients. This is such an easy recipe to make such decadent cookies. And you don’t even have to turn on the oven! Amen to that for hot summer nights.

Piled up, ready for eatage

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Baking Time: …0 minutes
Makes: 9 (I cut the recipe in half, if you want to double it, the way OMFG So Good did it, go for it!)

Ingredients

2 cups oats
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)
3/4 stick butter
1/4 cup agave or honey

Directions

Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, cocoa powder, butter, and honey.

I just thought it looked pretty

Mix and stir until butter is melted.
Bring to a boil for a little over a minute and then take off heat

Boiling boiling boiling

Once off the heat, stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. Stir it real well, getting it as smooth as you can with such ingredients.

All stirred up!

Use an ice cream scooper (this is the perfect way to do it!) and scoop a ball of each and plop it on your baking sheet.
Once they’re all lined up, let them cool for a bit and then put them in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Once nice and cool, go ahead and serve! It’s delicious with a glass of milk (almond or regular, your choice)

Ready to be gobbled up

And that’s it! Pretty simple, huh? I give thanks again to OMFG So Good (brilliant blog title too) for bringing this to my attention. And by bringing, I mean I hunted the recipe down. These are very decadent cookies, rich with the mixed combination of chocolate and peanut butter (Reese’s, anyone?). That is a combination I can near never refuse. This recipe has plenty of protein, fiber, and unsaturated fat to keep you satisfied in the afternoon! Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!