Whole-Wheat Banana Bread

Our typical uses of bananas include oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, and in peanut butter sandwiches. However, sometimes things come up or other meals fulfill us, and we are left with browning bananas. Do we throw them out? Absolutely not! How dare you suggest such blasphemy. There is so much you can do with bananas: you can make cookies, muffins, or…bread! You can still keep it healthy, even though you’re baking. This whole-wheat banana bread recipe is simple, quick, and delicious. The prep time is basically nothing, but you do have to wait in front of the oven like a starving kitten.

Oct242018

Whole-Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whew, that title is a bit of a mouthful, huh? Well so are these cookies! Though they be small, they are mighty with flavor and warmth! Yes, another pumpkin recipe. And don’t expect it to be the last! Fall is my favorite season of the year, I think, and although Los Angeles isn’t very good at crisp weather, I’m still gonna do the pumpkin up! Whole-wheat pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, here we come! I based this recipe off of Tried and Tasty’s wonderful recipe!

Jul302018

Honey Spiced Cookies

Does it bother me that maybe there should be a hyphen in the title? Kinda. But I actually purposefully left it out to keep it vague and free. Anyhow. I bring you Honey Spiced Cookies based on the Honey Biscuits recipe from A Feast of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones cookbook for those of you who *scoff* didn’t read the books). This is an incredible cookbook! I can’t recommend enough. It’s all based on foods that George RR Martin wrote into the books, and it splits the recipes into the different regions of Westeros. I’ve made several recipes from this cookbook such as applecakes and bread (both recipes serving the faithful Night’s Watch at the Wall). This recipe comes from the South from Lord Caswell’s kitchen.

These honey spiced cookies are warm, soft, and wonderfully potent with spices like pumpkin and ginger. The recipe takes under fifteen minutes and does not have a long ingredient list (honestly, if it’s too complicated, I don’t even want to make it). This recipe is probably best suited for warmer months due to its fall/winter-like spices, but I made this in a California heat wave (90 degrees F, ya’ll), and we still finished all of them in 1.5 sittings between the two of us. I mean, who says no to cookies based on the season?! Get real.

Jul032018

5 Healthier Recipe Ideas for 4th of July

July 4th is literally tomorrow and I bet a good amount of you are going to some kind of event. Do all of you have the dish in mind that you will bring? If the answer is no, we are here for you! July 4th is for relaxing, catching up with family and friends, and usually consuming food and alcohol. At most of these events, be it party, BBQ, whatever, there will certainly be lots of food. And a good amount of it will not be healthy. And you know here at Hungry & Fit, we are fine with living it up. But what it’s all about is moderation.

So, we have come up with a list of 5 Hungry & Fit healthier (but still very tasty) recipes that you can whip up and bring to your event. Your friends and family will be impressed that you made it yourself and didn’t just buy from the store! We’ve brought you a mix of savory and sweet dishes perfect for this American holiday. You can thank me in advance for saving you some recipe-scouring time.

1. Cannoli Dip

Jun062018

Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

What do you do when you have over-ripe bananas to be used? Bake, of course! But what to bake? Normally I would make these sweet banana cookies, but we are all out of oats! So I browsed the internet hard to find me something on the healthier side that featured bananas. And…drum roll, please…I came up with whole-wheat chocolate chip banana bars (found it from a great blogger’s site)! Banana bars? Sound weird? They’re not. It’s basically brownie-shaped banana bread with chocolate chips. Yeah, they’re good. Hungry brought them to work and he got major points from his coworkers.

The texture of the banana bars are cake-like rather than brownie-like, light and fluffy. Some hybrid of banana bread and cake. It’s yum. What makes this recipe healthier? Whole-wheat flour, no butter, and not too much sugar. Yeah, there are chocolate chips in it, but I mean, you got to live a little. Some baking recipes are complicated. This one is not. It’s basically mix together, put into sheet pan, and bake. And you know I love easy recipes. Alright, let’s make these delicious banana bars.

Apr252018

What Makes Someone a Great Cook?

We VERY recently shared an article about Millennials being useless in the kitchen and provided our opinions! It sparked more discussion than most of our posts on the blog, receiving all kinds of feedback. People are defensive about titles that are given to them and are often willing to prove their worth. A handful of Millennials were adamant that they were capable in the kitchen, but even more fascinating was the confusion that came over the key words used in the article.

Apr202018

Millennials Can’t Cook

First and foremost, THIS ARTICLE isn’t going to win any Pulitzer Prizes so don’t think we’re sending you off to read something life-changing. It is extremely short and basically states that a recent poll from an entity that we’ve never heard of conducted a study where individuals from different generations assessed their own ability in the kitchen.

It isn’t very in-depth but it does state that about 5% of millennials rated themselves as “very good” cooks. It also talks about Baby Boomers’ inability to identify a salad spinner (baby boomers are the only population I’ve ever seen use a salad spinner) and millennials’ inability to identify a butter knife.

Feb092018

Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars

We are Hungry & Fit…we eat a lot and we work out a lot. We love to embrace the concept called moderation. It’s one of our favorite things. So yeah, you’re allowed a donut here and there as long as you’re not throwing one back every day. I mean, really, you can do whatever you want, but if you are trying to be moderate, be moderate. Don’t kill yourself exercising so that you injure yourself (lookin’ at you, Hungry) and don’t binge every night. To us, life is all about balance and moderation. Add gratitude, and we think it’s the key to a full, happy life. In a way, you can have your cake and eat it too through moderation! Hungry and I chow down but still manage to keep fit. Thus, I present to you the Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars.

I based this recipe off of Genius Kitchen’s lemon bars. Even though I wouldn’t call my recipe healthy, I certainly “healthized” (it’s a word, trust me) it up from its original state. This recipe has much less sugar and way more lemon–I prefer a tart dessert over a sweet one. I love lemon bars because of that tartness. It’s that tang that first hits you and then the sweetness melts you over. Mmm! These Not-So-Fit Lemon Bars are very easy to make and are sure to impress.

Jan162018

No-Bake Sticky Protein Bars

How are everyone’s goals progressing? Are we still working hard? Even if you slip up every now and then, don’t let go of the dream! You’re going to mess up, it happens, it’s better to accept that than be blindsided down the road. However, you need to set yourself up for success as much as possible. That means providing yourself with good snacks and good workouts. In this post, I shared some recipe and workout ideas. Go check them out!

It’s important to get enough protein as you’re chasing goals, whether they be losing weight or gaining muscle. I just discovered this super easy no-bake protein bar recipe from Bodybuilding.com. Yep, that’s right–no baking involved. I changed the recipe somewhat to fit my own needs as you’ll see below. These no-bake protein bars are delicious and I accidentally ate three yesterday (whoops). And yeah, there is no baking involved so this recipe takes as long as it takes you to mix all this things together. You can use any protein powder you want and I used Red Velvet protein powder which is why it’s all red!

Dec212017

Chocolate Chip Meringues

A vivid memory for me as a kid is getting a tin of these fluffy white things (probably from Trader Joes) and delighting to find that they were crunchy, but more importantly–delicious! I’m kind of scared to think back on how many I would eat in one sitting. Yikes. Well, fast forward to today and I now know what they are! Meringues. Beautiful, mind-bending, mouth-watering meringues. That amazing dessert that feels at the same time you’re both eating air and crunching into a godly snack. I’ve never made meringues before. If you would’ve asked me, I thought that the recipe must be really difficult. Let’s face it: I was intimidated! Such a fancy schmancy dessert and who was I to presume to try to do it?

That is, until I saw Skinnytaste’s instagram post of her “Black and White Chocolate Chip Clouds” and realized that maybe the recipe wasn’t over my head. I had a good friend’s cookie bake coming up and I said to myself, “You know what! I’m going to try it!” And I did. And it was a success! I made chocolate chip meringues and I cannot wait to make them again. And guess what? These are a healthy alternative to the normal heavy cookie. Now that I feel comfortable with the recipe, I want to really make them my own. I’m not sure what the hardest part was (the recipe is so easy)–separating the egg whites or waiting for them to be cooked. Yeah, that’s the difficulty level we’re talking here, folks. Just look at the recipe below!