Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner: Tofu Scramble

Now this is another recipe from the great book my lovely client got me: the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. It’s full of delicious, healthy recipes that don’t take the whole evening to prepare. My client encouraged me to try the tofu scramble and I finally did. I am very thankful I did so, and I was rewarded by having it for many meals since it makes plenty of servings. This recipe is healthy and easy to make, especially for those who take lunch to work. You can have it any time of the day with anything–toast, eggs, stir fry! It is SUPER easy.

Feel free to spice it up!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 packet firm tofu
1/2 cup water
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 cup spinach
2 tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions

Put the water in a medium frying pan and turn on heat
Put in the chopped mushrooms and bell pepper

Ready to be cooked!

Once the mushrooms and peppers have been somewhat cooked, throw the spinach in as well. Feel free to season how you’d like

While it continues to cook, take out your tofu and put it in a bowl. Mash it up, reeeal well. Keep going!
Put all your seasonings in with the tofu and mix it around the mash
Add the tofu to the veggies and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until you see fit.

You can serve with potatoes, tacos, eggs–whatever meal it is and whatever you are in the mood for!

I, of course, opted for the tacos

Feel free to spice it up!

It may not be pretty, but it is nutritious and delicious! It’s easy to whip up (I did it after a long workout) and it kept me fed for a few days after I made it! Definitely worth it. There’s so many ways you can change it around. The original recipe calls for onion, but I say whatever vegetables you have in the house, throw them in! This is the perfect recipe to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Bed cuddles

May292013

The Best Fast-Food Burgers: In-N-Out

Do I really need to do a review on this? I don’t think so. Most people–even East Coasters–know that this is some of the best fast food you can get. But who doesn’t like a good drool? It’s mostly just on the West Coast right now, though it is slowly expanding. There’s even one in Texas. The In-N-Out company is picky about meat standards which is why (according to a news source), they haven’t landed in Colorado just quite yet. No, this review comes from my sunny home state, California.

Family gathering at In-N-Out (from left to right, relations of Fit): Brother, Fit, Uncle, Hungry, Father

Family gathering (from left to right, relations of Fit): Brother, Fit, Uncle, Hungry, Father

In-N-Out beats most fast food places because they do one thing right: they make it fresh. They cut the fries right in front of you and there’s no freezing of the food either. The beef is free of any fillers or preservatives and the veggies are fresh. They know quality. It may take longer, or cost more (even though it’s not expensive), but they have loyal customers all-over who can’t wait to sink their teeth into another burger. They also have incredible milkshakes. We like the black and white (aka chocolate and vanilla). It’s the perfect thickness and creamy with real ice cream.

Alana, you’re a vegetarian, how can you be talking about In-N-Out burgers! Well, now I will lead you to their not-so-secret Secret Menu. So instead of a burger with meat, I will get the “Grilled Cheese,” “animal-style” and, of course, a batch of their delicious fries. I can never finish all the fries, but Hungry and my brother are always there to help. Hungry likes to get the biggest you can get 4×4–4 patties, 4 slices of cheese. Ridiculous, right? Somehow, my brother always fails to tell us the WHOLE secret menu and we end up missing something. But it’s okay, Kai, we still love you.

My Grilled Cheese

If you’re in ANY state that In-N-Out resides in (CA, UT, TX, AZ, NV), you better go get some of their delicious food. And you should probably do a workout before-hand so you can rev your appetite and stay hungry and fit!

May252013

Exciting Changes and Renovations

Some of you might have noticed while some of you may not have. We hope that you have because recently we have been putting more time into Hungry & Fit’s website to make it better. You might have noticed the overall change in format, addition of colors, change of fonts and some new options on the home page. We have also added many pages that are somewhat lacking but will be getting filled out in the near future.

The about page is obviously the same for now and has very short bios about our family. The credentials page is a professional page for our business partners and interested clients that want to see what makes us worth their time and money. The giveaways page is a new feature where we give one or more new prizes away every month. Sometimes, it will be to random individuals and sometimes we will offer contests. Check now to see the contest to get Moosejaw red sunglasses. They are really nice and comfortable and have great UV protection.

H&F’s Friends has links and information to all of our business partners and favorite places. Hungry & Fit Nation has links to all of our other social media outlets and services including Bodyspace, YouTube, Twitter, and many more to come in the future including NationBuilder. Our Services includes all of our free and paid for online and live services that we offer. This includes online personal training and consultations, in person training and boot camps, and also our dog walking and sitting services. Testimonials are a professional page similar to credentials that will help those interested in our services see who and how we have helped people in the past in our time in the industry. Finally, The Gallery is a collection of all of our favorite pictures that sums up who Hungry and Fit really are. Some include us, some include animals, food, fitness and a whole mix of everything we love. Please feel free to stop by any of our new pages and show some support. If you’re interested in our services, email us at hungryandfit@gmail.com or just keep reading our free blog posts to stay hungry and fit!

May242013

The Japanese Taco Masters: Sunny Blue (Santa Monica, California)

During my time in school in South Korea, I found it very challenging to maintain my daily caloric intake of 10,000-12,000. One reason is the food is extremely healthy and calorically low. The second is that the servings are tiny compared to those in the United States. Finally, so much of the food is extremely spicy and very painful for me to eat because of my geographic tongue. The result was I first found out how to say, write, and read wrappers for food. The first words I learned were beef, chicken, tuna and spicy/hot.

I learned how to read the wrappers on a portable food called kimbap, or gimbap, or however you spell or say it. The g and k sound in Korean is one of the tricky ones to learn how to differentiate between when you learn the language. It’s pronounced kimbap, if you’re American. I lived on these… I mean I must have had at least 6-12 a day and they were not of the highest quality. They were typically from 7-11 or a local market similar to 7-11 depending on where I was. We had one of these markets in our residence hall on campus so I got all the ones I could from there. Typically, I would have the not spicy tuna with mayo. It gave me the protein I needed, wasn’t spicy, and had some extra calories from the mayo. It was good, it made me happy and it only led to me losing 30 pounds in Korea as opposed to maybe 40. That’s another story I’ll cover in the future when I talk about my fitness journey and goals. So why did I bother to tell you all this history… well this is why.

Tuna

On Main Street in Santa Monica, you can find an amazing little food shop called Sunny Blue. Fit and I went there the first week they opened a few years ago and it was dead every day. The female owner, Keiko, was nearly the only one working there but we frequented it every day during that week in Samo. Why? Because they served omusubi, or onigiri, or rice balls. These are the Japanese twin of my kimbaps and I was thrilled to find it. They are VERY similar and this location does not lack quality control and creating great flavor profiles. They make all of their omusubi fresh for you. The ingredients are prepared earlier but they are assembled to order, and freshly seasoned in the process.

Over the past few years, they have gotten much more popular and now when we visit, the line is out the door. We are thrilled that they have seen such growth and success because they deserve it for their devotion to their craft. They also serve some traditional Japanese sodas, shrimp chips, and frozen yogurt. When we got the froyo when they first opened, it wasn’t quite the quality of YogurtLand nor did it match their level of omusubi, so we’ve never tried their froyo again. Nevertheless, Sunny Blue is a must stop-by food location in Los Angeles, and the brilliance is you can eat one whenever. I don’t care how full you are from lunch, each rice ball is a snack sized treat that can find its way to your stomach.

From our most recent trip, yesterday, the menu has expanded to include daily specials and a long list of classic selections. Popular choices include: miso mushroom, hijike shitaki, tuna mayo, tokyo tori, curry chicken, miso beef, and more. Those are our favorites because of the lack of spice, but richness of other flavors. They are reasonably priced in the range of $2.50-$5.00 depending on what you get. I’ve actually never seen one for more than $4.50 so $3-4 is a more accurate range for the normal menu. PLUS, now they sell very cute t-shirts! Sunny Blue is a hungry and fit favorite. We even learned to make it ourselves so when we depart Santa Monica, we can somewhat resemble the deliciousness. It tastes delicious, is light on the wallet, and can definitely help you stay hungry and fit!

Tuna

May182013

Fit’s Restaurant Rave: Curry n Kebob

Curry n Kebob is a FAVORITE of ours–tons of authentic Indian food on a budget. For a while, Chris wasn’t all about this place because every time we got something, it would be too spicy (even though he said mild). I’ve always loved this place because I always love me some good Indian food. Recently, they have expanded and also have changed their spice levels to “white person” standard so when Chris gets a dish ordered mild, it comes out mild and perfect for him to enjoy.

This place was actually one of our first meals here in Boulder, before we even got our apartment! I was hooked from then, and we’ve been frequenting the place ever since. It’s a family-owned joint, dishing out 4.5 star-quality food (as per Yelp, out of 5 stars) with a nice price to boot. It’s always the mom and pop in the kitchen, with the kids running the cash register and serving the food. You pay up front and they bring you your meal. It’s prompt service and they are always ready to answer questions about food when needed.

We always go for the “Daily Specials” whether that be $7.95 for lunch or $9.95 for dinner. And it is so worth it because I can never finish the endless pot of the main dish they give us, PLUS all the other sides that come with it. It ends up being two meals for me, which I can never argue with. With the daily specials, you have a choice of about 10 dishes (5 meat, 5 veggie). It comes in a big pot, way more than just one serving. In addition to the main dish, you get a full naan (which is split into 4 massive, buttery pieces–oops I’m drooling), huge thing of rice, an onion bhaji, pineapple for dessert, and a red sweet dipping sauce I can’t quite figure out (but love). Sounds like a lot of food? It is!

Perfection on a plate

I usually get the Mushroom Mutter with medium heat and Chris gets the Chicken Masala with mild. I am satisfied every time and leave with a smile. I have no complaints about this place and would suggest it to everyone living or visiting Boulder. I just think how much my Dad would love this place too (I get my love for spice from him). They also have take-out and delivery. I would get this on a regular basis if my budget would allow it. It is an awesome post-workout meal, with enough protein and carbs to re-build muscles and re-energize you. Traditional Indian families don’t know how lucky they are that they get to eat this food every day. This is a perfect place to stay hungry and fit! Cheers!

My mushroom mutter with Chris’ chicken masala in the distance

BONUS KITTY PIC

Cuteness forever

May112013

Fresh Bell Pepper Stir Fry

We’ve done some other stir frys, like one with noodles. This time we chose to go with our Indian rice that we use. Stir fry should always be a go-to if you have fresh veggies in the house. This stir fry centers around bell peppers as I grabbed a bunch from the grocery for a great price. Easy to do, if you’re pressed for time at night, you could always chop them earlier on or the night before (I chopped them up before our push-muscle workout–sample here). This can be vegetarian or not, I added some chicken in for Chris, and I stayed with the veggies.

My plate

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 3 normal people [I always have to put in normal because Chris eats everything in the world]

Ingredients

4 bell peppers
1/4 red cabbage
3 cloves garlic
4 mushrooms
1 package boneless skinless chicken
soy sauce
sesame teriyaki [optional: you can use whatever sauce you would like]
1 cup rice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions

Put your rice in the rice cooker and get that ready to go
Once rice is done, toss some rice vinegar and sesame seeds in there and mix around, let it
Cut up all your veggies

So beautiful

Cut the chicken into thin strips on a different board if you are eating meat

Put oil into a wok and throw some crushed or cut garlic in there. Then, add the vegetables to the wok. Pour soy sauce and any other sauces you would like to flavor the veggies

Still pretty

Once the vegetables are cooked and flavored to your desire, throw some oil and garlic in another smaller saucepan and heat it up. Then put the chicken strips into this pan and cook. This only takes 5 minutes max. Toss with soy sauce, teriyaki, and sesame seeds

Once your chicken is done, assemble plates. Load the bottom with rice, top it with vegetables, and then some chicken (if you are eating chicken). It’s good to go!

My plate

Chris’ plate

Again such an easy dish to make and such an easy dish to eat too! It’s delicious, nutritious, and filling. It also has beautiful colors if you use different peppers. Enjoy with whatever vegetable and seasoning you have. This is a great dish to stay hungry and fit! Cheers!

May092013

The Easiest Black Bean Soup You’ll Ever Make

If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll know it’s been pretty rainy here in Colorado (see my thunderstorm run). I wanted an easy, hearty dish to fill our stomachs with warmth and comfort on another rainy night. I got the recipe from here, and added my own goodies to it. The simplicity of this “soup” is ridiculous. Seriously. And it’s vegan too, if that’s how you want it.

Ready to be eaten!

Prep Time: 1 min
Cooking Time: 10 min
Serves: 3-4 normal people

Ingredients

2 cans black beans
1 bag frozen veggies
your own blend of spices
[optional] mushrooms

Directions

Put 2 cans black beans into the pot and start simmering in a pot
This is optional, but I put about 3 cloves of garlic into the pot as well

Add your frozen veggies and any other herbs, spices, or veggies you would like (or meat)

Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes (until everything is warm) and stir occasionally. If you are cooking ahead of time, it doesn’t hurt to simmer as long as you want to for deeper flavor
Serve with a side (I did cornbread)

Ready to be eaten!

I prepared all of this before a workout. After the core workout (sample core workout here), I came home, popped the cornbread batter in the oven, and heated the soup up again on the stove. It was definitely the perfect meal for a rainy night and I get to enjoy it again for a rainy lunch. It has ample amounts of protein for my healing muscles and great fiber for the whole body.

Cheers! Stay hungry and fit!

May072013

Strong is the New Skinny

I hope you’ve been seeing this around. Within the recent decade, gyms, fitness centers, and health clubs have been booming. And along the last couple of years, females have been admired for getting buff. Especially this and last year, as I’ve noticed, there are tons of phrases coming out like “Strong is the new skinny” and I am 100% on board with that. For too long, women have been shuffled into a space where they are expected to look a certain way.

Hello, earth to people–everyone’s body behaves, evolves, and trains differently. That’s it. Check out this post to learn more about fitness definitions like “mesomorph” that describe different body types. Now, I’m not saying, go and eat 5 cheeseburgers because it’s okay to be fat. No, it’s not okay to be overweight for your body type–not because of how you look, but because of the health inside of you and the problems it can create. No, I’m saying, that it’s okay to have more than 15% body fat, that skinny is out, and strong is in.

Abby Wambach, the “gladiator” of the US Women’s National Soccer Team

Once you begin strength training and really building yourself with endurance, strength, and agility, you find power. Think of our Olympians–they’re sexy because they’re strong. And guess what–it is HEALTHIER to be strong. Often times, it can be unhealthy to be skinny. It’s a whole new level of empowerment. I ask you to stop shying away from your broad shoulders like I once did and embrace them. They give you great power for swimming, back workouts, and overall strength. They help you become a better athlete.

Me during a pull workout a few months ago

Some people call me skinny and I stop them. I don’t have a lot of body fat, but I do have a good amount of muscle. I am strong, not skinny. I almost take insult to being called skinny now when I would’ve loved that compliment five years. Times have changed and perspectives are almost coming around to where they should be. I am lucky enough to have someone like Chris who admires me for my strength, which all should do of their partners instead of desiring unrealistic and unhealthy figures. I apologize for the rant, but I’m sick of people starving themselves to get a certain look. Feed your body and put it through work. Love yourself, love your body, and love the power that strength can give you.

Treat your body with respect and kindness. STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY

May062013

Restaurant Review: Arabesque (Boulder, CO)

It was a Friday afternoon, we had both gotten off work around 12:30pm and we were ready to eat! It was beautiful out, unlike the few random snowy May days we’ve had. On these kind of days, we want to have a nice slow meal, and enjoy ourselves off somebody else’s food. We went through our options and decided on Arabesque, a highly-rated place on Yelp with one $. We’ve always wanted to try it. Its customers boast that it has the best chicken shawarma in Boulder. We had to compare it to our favorite place, Mediterranean Market.

When we arrived, it was packed. And it wasn’t exactly what we expected. We expected it to be small and family-owned, yes, but there were lots of rich, well-dressed people (and we come directly from work in our YMCA gear) and just had a chalk-written menu. We looked over the (short) menu and decided what we wanted and then took a table outside (the inside–which is tiny–was packed, and it was beautiful out!). This place supposedly also had the best Chai in town, so I ordered that along with water.

Delicious hot chai

Now this chai was delicious. It came in a big mug and was piping hot. But I still love my Tibet Kitchen homemade chai too. The water came out in a tall pitcher with thin glasses–very elegant. And it was flavored with something I couldn’t place…lavender and honey, or something similar. Very refreshing. Chris ordered the chicken shawarma plate and I ordered the hummus wrap.

Chris’ shawarma plate

Our waitress, I think, was near the end of her shift and didn’t take our order down correctly. I ended up receiving a chicken wrap instead of just hummus, but I told the kitchen, and spoke to who happened to be the owner and he was very apologetic and delivered a fresh hummus wrap as quickly as he could. Chris wasn’t pleased with that service, but the wife of the owner (who also was the cook) bustles out to clear off a table next to us and Chris asks if he can have their scraps (yes, we don’t like to waste food). She says, “Of course!” and he says, “Never want to waste food,” and she goes, “Yes, I know! Stupid!” She has an accent…not sure where from. She shoulders me with good humor and says, “You’ve got eat chicken in my place!” Her good humor and friendliness got us back on track.

Wrong chicken wrap (still looks delicious)

My hummus wrap

I ate it up quickly as did Chris. Chris said it was the best chicken shawarma he’s had. And you can tell–he cleared the plate completely. Buuuut, the portion was way too small for him. Not even just for him, I agree that there wasn’t that much chicken and pita. Probably because we’re used to Mediterranean Market’s huge portions. And just because we were enjoying ourselves and–more so–because we can’t turn down baklava, we ordered a big baklava. We, of course, devoured it completely. It was one of the best baklava I’ve had. Perfect texture and structural integrity, filled with goodness–can’t really describe the perfection.

BAKLAVA

If you’re in Boulder, stop by this place. It’s good food, but small portions, so don’t go too hungry. And don’t you DARE skip out on the baklava–it’s just too good. I wish I still had my chai with the baklava, it would have been perfect together. The owners really made our experience that much better, we would come back again. Cheers!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Hi, my name’s Sajah and I’m a firefox

May042013

Power Protein Breakfast: Waffles, Greek Yogurt, and Fruit

Besides Weetabix, this has become one of my go-to breakfasts when I have enough time in the morning. It’s packed with protein and fiber, sending you ready to kick butt on the day ahead. Now, typically, store-bought waffles aren’t the best for you. But that all changed when one day I was craving waffles while we were grocery shopping, and I scoured the frozen section for some decent waffles. Tip: always pass up the Eggo’s. Another tip: NEVER PASS UP THE VAN’S.

Yep. The name of this natural brand of waffles is Van’s. And no, I did not receive any money from them for this post (though, I wouldn’t mind a tip if they stopped by). Good nutritional value at 180 calories per 2 waffles, 10g protein, 2g fiber, 6g sugar and no saturated fat. Can you say, “YES PLEASE.” But there’s more to this power protein breakfast. What’s a breakfast without greek yogurt? Alright, enough chit-chat–look down for this 5-10 minute breakfast recipe.

Ingredients

2 Van’s protein waffles
2 dollops of 0% Fage Greek yogurt (or any kind you have)
1/2 tsp butter (optional)
100% pure maple syrup OR agave nectar
2 strawberries (but any fruit will do)

[I’m literally salivating as I write this–it’s that good]

Directions

Put waffles into toaster/toaster oven for 5-10 minutes (or until golden brown on both sides)

If you want to, spread a minuscule amount of butter atop the two waffles and plate them.
Put a spoonful of greek yogurt on each waffle

Pour your syrup or agave on top (however much you’d like)
Cut up your fruit and put on top

And DIG IN. I literally look forward to this the night before I know I have time in the morning to make it. It’s a perfect-sized breakfast with enough protein to start the day off deliciously and will keep you satisfied more than that bowl of Raisin Bran. Next time you go waffle shopping, try Van’s. It is so worth it. This is a mouth-watering breakfast that doesn’t leave you feeling guilty or heavy afterwards. I have a very active job (I’m a personal trainer after all…) and this is the perfect thing to start the day right. This is a meal that will encourage you to be…hungry and fit! ENJOY!

I mean, come on, LOOK AT THAT

BONUS KITTY PIC