Chocolate Banana Nut Protein Bars

Boy is this recipe a home run! I spent a good amount of time researching other protein bar recipes. Hungry had a great idea–we had some old bananas, so instead of banana bread, what if we made something fun like protein bars? We are always wanting more protein bars, and they can get expensive! This recipe is incredibly cheap to make (and easy). There are under ten ingredients and it is absolutely delicious. Nutritious and delicious–that’s my favorite kind of recipe. This one is fun because you can really have variety with it–you can substitute and switch out ingredients as you please. This recipe will have you gobbling down protein like no other!

Mar112015

Tomato Avocado Salad

In the past few weeks, Hungry and I have kicked up our fitness level to a certain degree. It’s been going fairly well, and we are a mission to achieve our goals and stay healthy! It’s not always easy. We have busy lives, a not-so-great neighborhood, and everyday troubles. However, we rise above and keep fighting for our passion! To go along with that are healthy recipes. Recently, our fridge and pantry have been chock full with delicious fruits and veggies. We’ve been getting great prices on avocados from Trader Joe’s which we’ve been certainly using to our advantage. We’ve been making different things like caprese salads, roasted tomato on toast, and yummy spinach recipes too. In this case, I simply combined a few ingredients to create something very tasty: a tomato avocado salad.

Finished product

Oct092014

Nutty Granola Bars

[Please welcome back our guest food blogger, Jamie, along with her wonderful recipe!]

**Jamie’s passion for food and cooking began as a young girl, while watching her mother in the 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. Jamie is currently studying to become an Occupational Therapist and would love to incorporate cooking into her practice one day.**

It can be hard to find the right granola or power bar; they are usually too expensive, high in calories, or just taste bad. These Nutty Granola Bars, loosely inspired by Kind bars, are high in protein and fiber, and super easy to make! They are a perfect afternoon snack to get you through the long workday, quick energy before a workout, or an easy breakfast.

In my making these, I played around with spices, coffee grounds, and fancy Hawaiian sea salt to create a more complex flavor, but feel free to use whatever flavors you love. Also, my friend dehydrates her own fruit so I was lucky enough to get to use a beautiful assortment of freshly dried fruits!

Ingredients:

¾ cup millet puff cereal (or rice puff cereal)
¾ cup quick cooking oats
1 ½ cups almonds, pecans, and pumpkin seeds (use whichever nuts and seeds you like or have on hand)
1 cup dried figs, apples, peaches, and strawberries, chopped
2 tablespoons Chia seeds
2 tablespoons coffee grounds
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup honey
¼ cup almond butter
½ teaspoon Hawaiian sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place nuts, seeds and oats onto a baking pan and toast in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then.

3. While nuts and oats are toasting, line an 8×8 baking pan with aluminum foil so that the edges hang over the side.

4. Chop your dried fruit.

5. Mix puff cereal, toasted nuts, seeds, oats, dried fruit, Chia seeds, coffee grounds, chili powder, and nutmeg in large bowl. Set aside.

6. Whisk honey, almond butter, and salt in a small saucepan for about 2 minutes or until smooth.

7. Pour hot mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until dry ingredients are coated equally.

8. Transfer to lined pan and spread evenly. Using a spatula, or the bottom of a measuring cup, press mixture tightly.

9. Place in fridge for about 2 hours.

10. Pull block of granola out of pan using the overhanging foil and cut into bars.

11. Individually wrap bars in parchment and store in an airtight container.

So yum!

Yields 10 bars. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sep162014

Healthy Chocolate Protein Truffles

Summer is slipping away, bikinis are being put back in the drawers, and the trench coats are coming out. This may put us in a “in-the-grind” type of mindset where we push ourselves to work hard, stay relaxed, and put our health on the back-burner. Stop right there! Just because we aren’t donning our swimwear, does not mean that we can let health and fitness slip away! We still want to feed ourselves in a nutritious manner and keep our movement flowing.

These healthy chocolate protein truffles will bring you to that fitness mindset. They are incredibly easy to prepare and also easy to pop in your mouth! The whole thing took me about 7 minutes to make, and by the time it’s morning–they’re ready! This recipe inspired me. They are chock full of protein and only sweetened by honey. I also use Silk Vanilla Soymilk to give it some yummy vanilla flavor while keeping the calories down.

Healthy Chocolate Protein Truffles

2014-09-15 22:37:28

Yields 12

A healthy approach to a classic dessert

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Prep Time

7 min

Prep Time

7 min

Ingredients

3/4 cup chocolate protein powder
1/3 heaping cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp honey
5 tbsp Silk Vanilla Soymilk
2 tbsp ground almond

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together (doesn't matter in what order)
Form into small balls and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper atop
Put in the fridge for a few hours or overnight

By Hungry and Fit

hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/

See? Easy peasy truffle time. I just have to limit myself to a couple per hour. Silk has helped me achieve a healthier recipe. If you want more Silk in your life (and the chance to win an entire year’s worth of Silk products), sign up for the Silk newsletter. There are coupons at least once a month, plus lots of cool giveaways. Silk Facebook page has also inspired me to make recipes such as this one. The versatility of their products has always amazed me which is why I continue to use their products. Be playful with this recipe–you can use any kind of protein powder, any flavor, and any type of Silk milk! Have fun and make it your own. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all ours.

Aug262014

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

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!

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!

Jun272014

A Yummy Way to Eat Your Vegetables

Easy as…garlic…lemon…and salt! But really, I know many people our age and even beyond who still don’t like their vegetables. Although this is baffling to me, I still want to help them out. And my way of doing it is also easy for people who aren’t natural cooks or don’t have the time! It’s a simple, yummy way to cook your vegetables in a way that doesn’t require much skill or effort. And it might even introduce a love for cooking and vegetables! Well, at least the house will smell nice afterwards. This is the simplest recipe of them all, let’s get started!

Sautéed Mushrooms and Broccoli

2014-06-26 19:06:57

Serves 3

A yummy way to eat your vegetables

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

10 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

10 min

Ingredients

Box of mushrooms
Head of broccoli
1 lemon
Garlic pepper & salt (can use regular)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oil

Instructions

Chop up the mushrooms and broccoli into bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper the veggies
Heat up a pan with the oil in it (medium heat)
Cut up the garlic or crush it. Put it in the heated pan with oil
Put the mushrooms and broccoli into the pan
Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pan while stirring
After 5 minutes, put a lid over and let it steam
When vegetables are tender, take out and serve immediately

By Hungry and Fit

hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/

You can really serve this with ANYTHING! I chose to serve it with penne, red sauce, and morningstar. You can eat it with other grains, meats, whatever you fancy. It’s so delicious I couldn’t stop eating it out of the pan. And hey guess what–it’s CHEAP and easy to make. There you have it…a yummy way to eat your vegetables. As always…stay hungry and fit!

BONUS PUPPY PIC

A ridiculously silly picture of Noke

Jun092014

Healthy Huevos Rancheros

This brunch favorite can be yours in ten minutes or less! Okay, sorry that sounded like a sales pitch, but I’m super passionate about this dish. My spin on it is delicious and healthy! It’s always my go-to when I don’t feel like doing a lot of cooking, but still want to stay on the nutritious side. It’s pretty simple and I’m always happy eating it. Let’s try it out.

Chop dem tomaters

Don’t forget your tortilla!

Healthy Huevos Rancheros

2014-06-08 01:15:51

Serves 1

A healthy version of huevos rancheros you can make in ten minutes

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

5 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

5 min

Ingredients

1/2 can black beans
1/2 tomato
1/2 handful of spinach
1 egg
1 tortilla
salt and pepper
hot sauce

Instructions

Heat up the beans in a pot
Cook your egg
Heat/toast your tortilla
Put the beans down first, then the egg, then the veggies
Either use your tortilla as a taco or rip it up and eat it with a fork alongside the other goodies
Throw down some hot sauce and dive in!

Notes

You can use different types of beans or greens
You can add cheese as well

By Hungry and Fit

hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/

There you have it. I often whip it up at night when I don’t feel like doing a lot of cooking and when Hungry has found his own dinner. It’s fun to spruce it up with fresh vegetables, although tomatoes are a must (unless you aren’t a fan). Avocados would be PERFECT for this too! Have fun with it and feel free to add anything to make it yours! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

May292014

Delicious Vegetable Soup

This post is brought to you by Hungry’s mom! We composed the post, but she provided the recipe and pictures! Yum!

With spring and summer around, vegetables are flowing freely (yay!). We are truly happy for that and even happier with the recipes that come along with it! This vegetable soup is sure to keep everyone around the table happy and well-fed with nutritious ingredients. There is not much work to it at all!

Vegetable Soup

2014-05-28 23:12:44

A easy-to-make vegetable soup that can last the week

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 15 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

1 large container(approx 32 oz) organic vegetable broth
1 large can (approx 28oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1 can 16oz (or fresh equivalent) of cannellini and red kidney beans
1 cup fresh green beans
2 cups shitake mushrooms
large dash pepper
large dash olive oil
2 cups diced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1 onion, sliced
1 shallot, sliced
several handfuls fresh dill
12 fresh sage leaves
1 cup thin egg noodles or similar small pasta
pepper to taste or if you like it spicy, add fresh peppercorns

Instructions

Make sure to do all the chopping or slicing you need to do for vegetables
Add all ingredients with the exception of egg noodles to large sauce pot and bring to a boil
Simmer and cover for approx 1-1.5 hours
Ten minutes before serving, add egg noodles

Notes

Would go great alongside ciabatta bread!

By Hungry's Mom

hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/

There you have it. Enjoy and thank Hungry’s mom for this one! This is a great way to meal prep for the entire week and not have to worry about dinner. Big batches are smart like that. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!