Seasoning Your Food: Heat vs Spice

Don’t worry, this will not be a rant! Although it could be, I am going to take it the other way and use it as an opportunity to educate people about preparing food properly. Nowadays, with the rising popularity of genetically modified peppers and the presence of Sriracha on every table in the United States, it’s obvious that the average adult and young adult’s palette favors spiciness.

People want heat. Furious Pete and other food enthusiasts eat Moruga Scorpions and Ghost Peppers whole while millions watch. Those are multiple times spicier than the habanero you’ve probably heard of at some point in time. Some might think it’s insane, but it’s reality and the gourmet world has been affected as well. So here are some important tips to remember when you are making your own food or ordering it from someone else.

1. There is spice and there is spice. Some use spice to refer to heat, Scoville units, etc. Spices are used to preserve, color, and FLAVOR food. They can be roots, seeds, leaves, and many other items that are used for their ability to enhance food. There are over 300 spices that are used in the culinary arts and they all have unique properties. Don’t just rely on a few and go outside the box.

2. Don’t settle for heat. Sometimes when people fail to develop proper flavor in a dish, they just cover it in hot sauce. (I put hot sauce on my egg whites when I eat them in bulk.) If you’re trying to create a dish with a rich and deep flavor profile, keep experimenting until you get that level of near perfection. Don’t just throw hot sauce on it… don’t give up!

3. Heat and spice can create amazing flavors. Ever had Thai or Indian food? Ethiopian? (We could go on for hours.) When chefs can merge extreme heat and still retain the flavor development of less dominant spices, it shows incredible skill and the results are amazing. When that same chef can alter the level of heat without changing the presence of the other flavors, it’s mastery.

So there you have it, a few things to remember when seasoning your food. Eventually, we might have some more posts about specific spices. Remember, don’t settle for that hot sauce. Keep trying different ratios of spices and preparations (toasting) so that you can cook your own meals at home that you love. Restaurants are a nice treat but no one knows what you want more than you do! As always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Aug252014

Our Past Few Weeks in Pictures

Lots of beach time and beautiful sunsets

Good workouts

Cute kittens

Awesome shirts

Found an apartment we like!

Found an AWESOME donut place (review coming)

Gold’s Gym!

Good eats

Good runs with cute dogs

More good eats

Friends and dogs

MORE good eats

Workouts

Fish tacos ^.^

Lots of yard time for Noke

Keeping it fresh

Aug212014

Easy Hummus Recipe

Please enjoy our guest blogger, Jamie, and her wonderful hummus recipe.

Jamie’s passion for food and cooking began as a young girl, while watching her Italian mother in the kitchen. During her time studying at UC Santa Cruz, she came to love the process of cooking and experimenting in her own kitchen. Her curiosity has pushed her to learn how to make a lot of her own products from scratch instead of buying it at the market like hummus, granola, yogurt, pickles, and much more. As the Alternative Food Chef at a Yosemite summer camp, Jamie cooked for campers and staff with dietary restrictions. This challenged her to use unconventional ingredients to create hearty and healthy comfort food. Jamie is currently studying to become an Occupational Therapist and would love to incorporate cooking into her practice one day.

Chickpeas are a type of legume also known as garbanzo beans. In Arabic, the word for chickpea is hummus, which we know as a creamy, garlic-y spread made from chickpeas and tahini (sesame seed paste). You can find all different types of hummus at your local grocery store, but often times store-bought hummus is chock full of unnecessary additives and preservatives that you can’t pronounce. Luckily, it is incredibly easy to make!

Since I ran out of tahini, I decided to spice up my hummus by adding roasted red bell pepper and garlic, but if you have tahini, I would recommend using it. Also, I used chickpeas that I cooked from scratch, which takes longer since you have to let them soak overnight, so feel free to make the hummus using canned chickpeas instead.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

¾ C chickpeas (dry) or 1 can cooked chickpeas
3-5 Cardamom Pods (optional)
½ Red Bell Pepper
4 cloves of garlic
½ lemon
2-3 T Olive oil
S and P to taste
2 t Paprika or Chipotle Powder
¼ C Tahini

Directions:

Sort through Chickpeas and pick out any off-color or shriveled ones. Soak Chickpeas in water overnight. If using canned beans skip to step 3.

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in large pot and cover with a couple of inches of water. Add a pinch of salt and cardamom pods or any other fresh herb you like (adds a nice aroma and subtle flavor to chickpeas). Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 60-90 min or until tender.

While the chickpeas are cooking, place bell pepper and two cloves of garlic (skin on) in aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place the foil pouch in toaster oven or oven at 350 degrees F for about 45 min.

Once chickpeas are tender and the bell pepper and garlic are roasted, place in food processor or blender, adding a few tablespoons of the water that the chickpeas were cooked in. Make sure to take the skin off the garlic.
Roughly chop the other two cloves of garlic and add it to food processor along with the juice of half a lemon (or a little more to taste), olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika or chipotle powder.

Blend until smooth, top with drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika, and enjoy!

Yum!

Hummus is loaded with protein and fiber and will help you to stay hungry and fit!

Aug192014

The Spice Lab at UncommonGoods

11 Pyrex test tubes. 1 custom wood holder. 1 tasting spoon. 1 passport to the world of SALT. All of this tucked snugly in the perfect sized box as an amazing gift idea for the right person.

This gourmet collection of eleven of the finest salts that the United States has to offer provides a grand variety of flavor, color, and texture. If you are color-blind, then you’re a bit out of luck, but if you can, see all the colors of the rainbow and more. Then the small card that comes with the set tells you what the salts pair nicely with: vegetables, chicken, red meat, fish, sauces & soup. It also tells you if they work for finishing, cooking, and/or table.

It gets maximum points for appearance and design, so let’s talk about the product and why someone would want such a collection of salts.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a PROFESSIONAL chef been sent home on Chopped or any other competitive cooking show for a lack of seasoning. More than any other offense, that lack of season comes from using little or no salt. Salt really is an amazing thing in the culinary and gourmet world. It can seem so simple but can augment the complexities of flavors that other ingredients offer. It’s not just about adding salt to water before cooking pasta, it’s also about using salt to FINISH dishes right before they hit the table.

Here is a break down of my favorite salts in the collection and why they can make your dishes taste THAT much better without any negative health effects. (SALT is healthy, and soon Hungry & Fit will tell you why!)

Best Taste: Carolina Hickory. The amount of flavor that they managed to pack into each grain of salt in this tube is unbelievable. It’s as potent as some of the best BBQ that I have ever had.

Best Fragrance: Apple Wood Smoked. Simply, an explosion of smell when you open the test tube. These larger pieces of salt have quite the abundant fragrance and with the popularity surge of bacon in recent years, everyone would love this smell.

Best Texture: Seneca Salt Flakes. Hailing from New York, these pieces of salt have the most majestic form. They remind me of large snow flakes from Quebec. Absolutely gorgeous and with their plain white color, they are the perfect finishing salt for look.

Best Overall: Vintage Merlot Infused. A beautiful purple color. A subtle salty aroma. A delicate flavor that brings out the best in other ingredients. This California Sea Salt is versatile and show stopping.

All of this is not to say that the other salts are lacking, they just have a more specific duty. The variety offers something for everyone, but we will make good use of all the sea salts.

This present will be perfect for anyone involved in nutrition or the culinary arts. A mother or father that enjoys cooking for the family or a professional chef can appreciate this. As an inspiring chef when I was just a child, I would have loved to experiment with these different flavors. And this isn’t the only salt collection or culinary delight that can be found at UncommonGoods.

This unique company has a lot to offer: putting artists first with amazing hand-crafted goods, being a B Corp to use their business to try to solve social and environmental issues, and a big heart. For every item you purchase, UncommonGoods donates $1 to the non-profit of your choice–now that’s something we can get behind! There are many more cool products just like this one at UncommonGoods. Click here for ideas for gifts for women and click here for gift ideas for that special, unique someone. I know I could spend days looking through their stuff…well, I may already have. Just visit the website and have fun exploring all of the amazing gifts, for others or yourself, since the holiday season is just around the corner! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

Aug152014

What Makes You Great?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Post Great Grains Cereal for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

A big part of being healthy is having a healthy mind. In this context, I’m talking about being positive. Having a positive attitude and outlook is an important part of keeping your health in tip-top shape. It’s important to have a positive attitude regarding others, but even more important regarding yourself. We are always our own worst critic and have an easy time getting down on ourselves. However, negative energy is a serious drain on your mental, emotional, and physical health. It kills motivation, self-respect, self-esteem, and the ability to be kind to others. Positive energy is a lot more important than people think. It can lift us up and keep us high as we reach for our goals in life.

In light of this, Hungry and I made a list of why we’re great. It’s always important to keep a positive attitude about yourself, and making a list of things you love about yourself is a great way to do that. Let’s do it:

What makes Hungry and Fit great…

Our motivation to become better at everything we do
Our undying love for animals
Our love for the outdoors: especially beaches to swim at and forests and mountains to hike through
Our want to help others in their health journey and more
Our desire and willingness to make everybody be healthier–not just a certain population
Our acceptance for our weird selves
Our nerdy side
Our ability to adapt to new surroundings
Our support of one another
Our ability to laugh…a lot
Our independence and being who we are in the face of judgment
Our honesty

Those are just a few of the things that we think make us great. And it makes me feel great to write these down and appreciate us. Post Great Grains Cereal Survey displayed tons of reasons why women all over the country are feeling great. Some of these results included:

“83 percent of women think the greatest obstacle to reaching their full potential is what they think of themselves, rather than what others think of them”
“When women pick the best part of getting older, being comfortable in their skin tops the list, followed by gaining perspective, and feeling a sense of security”

Post Great Grains Cereal also put out a “What Makes You Great?” commercial, urging people to recognize and speak about the factors that make them great. I love that they did this because far too often people wallow in their own self-contempt rather than highlighting their own positive features.

We had the chance to experience some of Post Great Grains new products. We sampled lots of the cerals, including the “Protein” blend and “Digestive” blend. We especially liked the Protein blend. With me being a vegetarian, it’s always important for me to make sure I get a good protein intake. Plus, they are yummy. Our favorite is the Great Grains Protein Blend Cinnamon Crunch. I’m in love with cinnamon flavors and the good fiber and protein makes it a guilt-free way to start the day. That’s something that helps me stay “great.”

Great Grains has an enormous variety of cereals out there right now such as Berry Medley, Vanilla Graham, Banana Nut Crunch, Crunchy Pecans, and more. There’s really a flavor for everyone. And if you’re looking for more fiber or protein, you can grab the Digestive or Protein blends respectively. Great Grains has nutrition you can see with at least 7g of fiber in their Digestive blends and at least 8g of protein in their Protein blends.

It’s important to feed your body nutritiously and stay positive about yourself which is why we love to support the Great Grains Cereal campaign. We will continue nourishing ourselves with their yummy cereal while remembering to stay positive in what makes us great. Check out Great Grains on Facebook. As always, stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What makes YOU great? Comment below!

Aug052014

Gourmet Mexican in Colorado: Comida

Our friend and client in Colorado has been talking about this place, Comida, since I’ve met her. She said the first time she had a taco there, she cried because it was so good. She’s been trying to get us to go and finally on our last day in Colorado, we went with her for some lunch. Comida is located in Longmont, Colorado, but could easily be placed in New York or Los Angeles–it’s trendy!

Comida is basically gourmet Mexican. I don’t necessarily love gourmet, but I do love me some Mexican. The menu was fairly small, which I like. Most of the options had meat, so I opted for an egg and bean quesadilla. Chris and Crystal got three varieties of tacos and we all split a plate of nachos. Crystal got a watermelon jalapeno margarita and a pomegranate lemonade, I got a Jamaican margarita, and Chris got a Boylan’s soda. It was a wonderful array of food.

Presentation is beautiful, no doubts there. They definitely make it look appetizing so that you can’t wait to dig in. The plates are stylish as is the way they lay everything out. Prices are decent. It’s gourmet, so it’s a little more expensive than your typical Mexican joint–about $4 per taco. However, on most dishes, the flavor is worth the slightly expensive price. Hungry really enjoyed the tacos (especially Stella’s Pork Carnitas) and I couldn’t get enough of the Not ‘Yo Nachos. The quesadilla was slightly less in flavor, but luckily I had some salsa to dunk it in. My margarita was also delicious!

All in all, I would come back. We got to sit outside, which was very nice and peaceful. The flavors are great and are enough of a reason for us to return if we have the time when we visit Colorado again. All in all, Comida gets a thumbs up from Hungry and Fit!

Jul302014

Parmesan Zucchini Rounds

We are on our last leg here in Colorado as we get ready to move to California. Which means we have bits and scraps of odd food items we are trying to get rid of. One of the surplus foods we have are zucchini! Summer time always yields tons of zucchini, so we always need to find use for them. I wanted a quick side to our dinner before we went and saw Hercules (review coming) and realized we had Parmesan too. Perfect! Parmesan Zucchini Rounds— delicious bites of vegetable and cheese, yum! The recipe is ridiculously easy and tasty.

Parmesan Zucchini Rounds

2014-07-30 07:58:15

An easy cheesy, healthy snack

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Prep Time

6 min

Cook Time

25 min

Prep Time

6 min

Cook Time

25 min

Ingredients

1 zucchini
Parmesan
Salt

Instructions

Set oven to 425 degrees F
Peel your zucchini
Cut into quarter inch rounds
Place rounds on parchment paper or a greased baking sheet
Put a sprinkle of salt on each one
Put a small spoonful of grated Parmesan on each one
Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes
Serve immediately

Notes

Feel free to put garlic on as well!

By Hungry and Fit

hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/

They may not look purdy, but they are yummy. I could literally eat a whole zucchini by myself if I cook them this way. It’s my new go-to snack. Cheesy bites while getting your fill of veggies! You can use any size zucchini, and it’s a crowd pleaser (even the kids). Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

Jul282014

Our (Last) Weekend (in Boulder) in Pics

Precious little girl

Great workouts

Chris’ love for Mexican Coke almost got us one of these cases

Went to WaterWorld and had a blast

More cute kitties

Pretty flowers

Yum food

Saying bye to our apartment as we finally finished packing at 2am

Jul252014

Best Cafe in Longmont: Cafe Luna

There is a wonderful cafe on a street in Longmont that not many pass through. It looks like a house and when you enter, it feels like you are home as well. This cafe is Cafe Luna. With a sign that says “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks,” you know you’re in for some personality here. It’s a wonderful cozy atmosphere with local artwork on the wall and a room chock full of books to read. It’s my favorite place to get breakfast and it always puts me in a good mood.

If you couldn’t tell already, this is a local business. They have tons of different drinks, but I usually always get the Chai. And alongside my Chai, I get “Oatmeal w/ the fixings.” It’s my favoritest favorite thing. One of my favorite things about this is that everyone who works here (I’ve seen four people so far) makes it different. It’s never the same. However, you are always in for a treat. They cook the old-fashioned oats, use steamed milk, cinnamon, sometimes sugar, some kind of nut and fruit. With each bite, your mood rises.

It’s a cafe to relax in, to be content in, to read in, to study in, to meet with friends in, to start your day right in. I love cafes like this–cozy, comfortable, home-y, and unique. They don’t take themselves too seriously, their prices are low, and they make sure to have you feel at home. It’s hard to leave without a smile. There’s also WiFi!

Their baked goods are also excellent. When I come here just to get my oatmeal, I almost always get a muffin too. They prepare and bake these things in between orders from people. Hungry loves their cookies and also enjoys that they have Mexican Coke. Everything has that homemade feeling, it’s almost as if you’re in a Bed and Breakfast or something similar to that nature. I’m thankful someone introduced me to this place. Although we are leaving, I hope this review helps more people enjoy the splendor that is Cafe Luna. As always, stay hungry and fit!