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!

Mar202018

Holy Roly: LA Restaurant Review

Up next on our Must-Visit LA Restaurants of 2018 is actually a dessert spot! Surely, if you’re reading this review, you’ve checked Holy Roly out on Yelp. If you haven’t, we’ll summarize the criticism on Yelp in two words: overpriced and parking. Nearly all of the complaints come from a lack of familiarity of the LA food scene, especially Koreatown. So, to debunk those myths… any dessert under $10 is normal and never think you’ll find parking in K-town.

Maybe we have an unfair advantage, having lived a few blocks away. We knew where to park and when to go. As a result, we didn’t spend thirty minutes parking and wait in any line here, so we weren’t in a bad mood before we started eating. We found out about Holy Roly from Maneet Chauhan, since it didn’t actually exist yet when we lived here. We actually discovered our love for rolled ice cream, in all places, at a Thai-owned and operated location in Montgomery, Alabama.

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!

Jul032017

4th of July Dessert: Cannoli Dip

Independence Day (or July 4th…or 4th of July) is TOMORROW! Do you have something that you’re going to bring to that BBQ or party? No?! Well good thing you found us because I have a 4th of July-themed dessert that takes under ten minutes (perhaps under five minutes if you don’t diddle daddle in the kitchen like me). Who doesn’t love a cannoli? You know, the Italian dessert of creamy middle surrounded by pastry? It kind of looks like a rounded dessert taco. Anyhow, it’s one of our favorite desserts here at Hungry & Fit. However, we don’t have the time to make the dough, cook the pastry in its perfect shape, and then pipe the filling in. Let’s just skip to the good stuff–the filling!

I was watching The Kitchen one day on Food Network and the Sandwich King (Jeff Mauro) made this recipe. I changed it up a little bit and subtracted some sugar so that you can have a sweet treat for this 4th of July. Feel free to get creative with the toppings. I made it as red, white, blue as I could!

Apr182017

Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Chia Cookies

I’ve been wanting to make some good oatmeal raisin cookies for a while now since we had some raisins in the pantry. After a recipe fail with some protein cookies, I was determined to make a great batch of cookies! After looking around the Internet for some inspiration, I stumbled upon this recipe and knew it was the one to base mine off of. Her recipe had flax seeds in it, but since Hungry is allergic to flax, I used chia seeds instead. This helped the cookies have a great texture and a good extra dose of protein. These oatmeal raisin chia cookies are healthy AND delicious! There is not much sugar in these, so no guilt necessary.

Apr042017

5 Desserts That You Have to Make Her

We’re still always so humbled when we see our material shared. Recently, we saw one of our favorite dessert recipes shared by a random woman and she tagged her husband on the post and wrote “…” after it. We can only imagine that she wants him to make that dessert for her. Now, if you know us well, you’ll know that Hungry does most of the cooking and Fit does most of the baking, and we think that might be the case in many other couples.

Mar302017

Association of Food Bloggers: Recipe Feature

Another blogger reached out to tell us how inspirational it was to see us continue to post well into our fifth year of blogging. (We started H&F in August 2012.) When we started as a personal blog, we had no idea where we’d end up, but we’ve probably excelled more in the Hungry part of Hungry & Fit. Sure, you might have seen Hungry’s personal trainer showcase for an international publication, but who knew people loved our cooking (or baking) more than our training?!?