Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies (No-Bake)

Could you have a better combination of words? Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies. Yum. Oh and don’t forget the no-bake part! What! I was so excited when I saw this recipe that I had to make my own variation! You may get that I’m excited due to the back-to-back exclamation points. This was an incredibly easy recipe. As I was putting it together, I kept thinking, is this really going to work? Spoiler alert: it worked and it’s damn delicious! There is no cooking time to these cookies and they are chock-full of protein! Often times, adding protein powder to baked goods can give them weird textures and flavors. Not this one! You wouldn’t even suspect that there was anything added to these cookies besides deliciousness.

Feb192016

How to Make Porridge

To many Americans, porridge seems like it must go along with the words, “Please, sir, can I have some more?” As if it’s an orphan’s food or something similar to that. Not exactly in a bad way, but it’s kind of funny. In Commonwealth areas, like New Zealand, porridge is a wonderful, comforting breakfast that warms the soul. It may seem like an easy thing to make, and it is once you’ve got the hang of it, but there is an art to making porridge. It’s easy to overcook it, undercook it, or get it so clumpy it doesn’t resemble porridge anymore. I’m here to bring you the tips and tricks of the porridge trade!

Feb132016

Whole-Wheat Medieval Honey Biscuits

I have continued my journey with the Ice and Fire cookbook (aka Game of Thrones for you tv-lubbers). Last time we dined at the Wall. Now we move to the South to Lord Caswell’s table. This recipe comes from A Clash of Kings. It’s been a lot of fun to try out different recipes, especially from this cookbook! This recipe is pretty easy to do. I’ve healthified it a little bit by using whole-wheat flour which increases the fiber and keeps your blood sugar from spiking like it would with white flour. I paired these as a dessert to the Healthy “Accidentally” Paleo Meatballs and they were a hit! This is an authentic medieval recipe, just altered to fit Hungry and Fit’s needs!

Feb122016

Healthy “Accidentally Paleo” Meatballs

Hungry had a long day at work on a Saturday (yuck!) and I had a hankering for cooking, so I wanted to make him a nice dinner. I am a vegetarian while he is not, so I don’t cook a lot of meat dishes. However, tonight I would! We had some nice lean beef in the house, so I wanted to make scrumptious meatballs! However, we didn’t have any breadcrumbs…hmm… Luckily, I was able to find a recipe to base mine off of that lacked breadcrumbs. This actually turned it accidentally into a “paleo” recipe. Hungry and I are far from being paleo, but I know it’s popular right now, so maybe this will help you out!

Feb092016

White Wine Sangria

Hungry and I aren’t big drinkers. Hungry especially isn’t. I enjoy a glass of wine here and there, but nothing over the top. In fact, I often forget to drink. It’s a weird way to put it, but there it is. However, we both enjoy a good sangria. What is a sangria? Traditionally, it’s a red wine mixed with fruit, spices, and another drink. However, since expanding from Spain and Portugal, sangria creativity has taken off! Get us at an Italian restaurant with some beautiful antipasto and a wonderful main course and we will finish a whole carafe of the stuff.

The sangria I’ve prepared for you today is white wine-based instead of red. It’s different from the traditional, but it’s honestly quite delicious. I love playing around with different ways to make my sangria even to the point where I’m not quite sure it can be called a sangria anymore.

Jan302016

Healthy Apple Muffins

Yay, a recipe post! We haven’t had enough of these lately, but we are coming back at ya! I recently started a project where I want to start doing at least one cookbook recipe a week and tailor it to fit my needs. Lucky enough and exciting enough, I started with A Feast of Ice and Fire (for the non-book lovers, this is a Game of Thrones cookbook!!). Hungry got this cookbook for me for Christmas and I seriously love it. The recipes are so amazing with a slice of text from the book that the recipe’d food came from! Most recipes also provide the medieval version (how they would’ve made it in the Song of Ice and Fire series) and also a modern version.

I chose to start with Applecakes. As you can see in the pictures below, Applecakes were something that the men on the Wall ate (like Jon Snow). The way they tie it back to the books absolutely makes it for me! Applecakes were basically like a medieval donut back in the day. I chose to do the Modern Applecakes recipe which resembles more closely to a muffin. I also healthified it! Less butter and less sugar. But let me tell you, these are absolutely delicious. The moistness that comes from the chunks of apple is wonderful. And you can just picture the characters eating them too, which makes it all the merrier.

Viserion paid a visit

Dec242015

Mac n Cheese Will Never Be the Same

It’s like an episode of Chopped. Why would you transform a perfectly delicious and prepared food into an ingredient of another dish? More importantly, how would you do it? Obviously, because you can and it makes the other dish THAT much more enjoyable. Halfpops are a delicious snack that are far more provocative to eat than popcorn with that additional textural crunch. What’s even better is that these little bites (which remind me of a Peruvian choclo corn) have more flavor than your standard popcorn, but don’t achieve that by sacrificing your health or your waistline.

So now, we look at macaroni and cheese, arguably the greatest food ever. While most enjoy it out of the box with a flavor packet (and there is nothing wrong with that), it is becoming elevated more often and served in fine restaurants for the same price as a steak. A prime example would be a lobster mac. We all know that the key component has always been a rich and creamy cheese sauce, but more attention is slowly being given to the baked breadcrumb or panko crust.

Well, let’s just blow this whole textural concept out of the water and take it to another level. Enter the already mentioned Halfpops. While making your famous mac n’ cheese recipe, toast some half pops on low heat and make sure they don’t burn. You can use the aged cheddar, chipotle, or sea salt. I’d recommend saving the caramel ones for dessert. As soon as you’ve finished your mac, serve with a bowl of toasted Halfpops and allow each diner to choose how much crunch they want. I’ve gotten to the point where I want at least two bits of crunchy delight in each mouthful, but I’ll leave that part up to you because making decisions on how to eat your mac n’ cheese might make the different in you staying hungry and fit!

Nov122015

A Guide to a Proper English Breakfast

It seems to me that there is nothing better in the morning than a nice English breakfast (can substitute for Irish or Kiwi, too). It’s nutritious, satisfying, and joy-giving. A lot of people go to pubs and English/Irish cafes in order to get a good English breakfast. Little do they know, you can actually make your own English breakfast at home for half the price! We’re here to show you how. How is an English breakfast different than an American one? The main reason is that English breakfasts have much less of a sweet component than American breakfasts. Often with American breakfasts, you’ll see pancakes or french toast or something similar. The English breakfast is full of savory notes that all mix together. My version is probably definitely not textbook as it is heavily influenced by New Zealand–nonetheless, it is delicious.

The meat version

Nov092015

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Tis the season to eat pumpkin, fa la la la la la la la la! Great song, don’t you think? For real, though, pumpkin is the star of Fall and I dare anyone to challenge that. It’s in everything you see during these few months: lattes, desserts, candles, candies, and so on and so forth. And guess what? I don’t hate it! There isn’t anything wrong with some pumpkin. I’m all for things that make each season feel like it stands out, and pumpkin really helps that with Autumn. As a side note, my New Zealand family is always shocked that Americans don’t eat pumpkin year round as they do. It’s a great vegetable! Kiwis will often have 5-6 vegetables in their dinner and pumpkin is a big part of that. Anyways, we’re using pumpkin less as a vegetable today, and more as a Fall-like way to spice up your dessert! This recipe is inspired by the Kitchn. Tuck in!

Oct312015

Healthy Halloween Snack

PUMPKIN SEEDS. Yup. I know that you’re probably chock full of unhealthy Halloween treats like candy, pumpkin-flavored sugar bombs, and things that are weighing you down. So in between your sugar comas, try making this healthy Halloween snack: toasted pumpkin seeds. Plus, it’s incredibly easy. Takes almost no effort and the time is just in the baking of the seeds. Pumpkin seeds have a good amount of protein per ounce!