Korean Pickled Onion

If you’ve hung out with us long enough, you know we love Korean food. Hungry spent a summer semester in South Korea during college, where he fell in love with the people, culture, and food. Growing up in Los Angeles, Fit had plenty of access to Korean food, lucky for her.

A special part of Korean food is banchan. Banchan is a name for side dishes. There are many varieties of these banchan, including kimchi (probably the most well-known in the States), namul (vegetables stir-fried, steamed or marinated), and pickled onion. We are going to show you how to make pickled onion, Korean style. We are by no means experts on this, but we tried a recipe from futuredish, a Korean food blogger, and loved it! It’s a mixture of sharpness from the onion, sweetness from the sugar, and a nice umami from the soy sauce. Beautifully well rounded.

Jul022020

Tomorrow on YouTube: Millennial Food Quiz

Recently, a Facebook friend shared the featured image on this post, which is a millennial food quiz. This friend lives in the New Orleans area and most of the people who commented on the post had relatively low scores, which I mention in tomorrow’s video. I can only imagine what the results for someone in Los Angeles or San Francisco would look like. My score wouldn’t have been nearly as high if we didn’t live in Hollywood for three years.

In tomorrow’s video, I go over the list one item at a time. I’ll also reveal if I know what it is, if I’ve eaten it, and where I’ve eaten it… if I remember. I know, this would’ve been a much better video if Alana and I recorded it together… maybe we’ll do a part two!

May262020

Easy S’mores, All Indoors

Happy Tuesday, or Wednesday depending on where you live in this big beautiful world.

If you’re currently experiencing summer, any anywhere near where we live in New Orleans, you’re probably being overrun by mosquitoes, Japanese beetles, and termites. It isn’t fun to spend time outside at night, even with all the fans and Citronella candles you can find in your barren-shelved grocery stores. Add the totally miserable stress of living during a very challenging time and being under quarantine doesn’t help one bit, as you earn to escape.

Jan062020

Easy Meals in 2020

2020 is the year to do more with less. 2020 is the year to work smarter and not necessarily harder. (Although, we are strong supporters of hard workers.) 2020 is the year to see through all the myths and make the right decisions. We’re here to help you do that. We might be a week late, but we’ve been working on our own plans for this new year.

So, how are we going to do this? By making simple and delicious meals at home of course–without spending too much money. Here is our first recipe of the year, but this is about much more than this $7 meal for two. This is about you starting to understand how to balance the three important aspects of your diet: flavor, nutrition and cost.

May072019

Dumpling Monster (WeHo, Los Angeles)

Head over to Dumpling Monster while you still can; soon there will be lines out the door and prices will increase! Years and years ago, we wrote one of the first reviews for Sunny Blue. Even though we don’t (and shouldn’t) take any credit for their success, when we first started going there, there weren’t any lines whatsoever. Once it got popular, there’d often be a thirty minute wait and eventually the quality even dipped a bit. The two founders opened another location in Culver City and were rarely at the Main Street Santa Monica location ever. We were thrilled for their success, but it lost the magic it once had.

Something similar might happen with Dumpling Monster. The prices are great and the food is both fresh and flavorful. Most dumpling spots are either dirty hole in the walls or really high-end spots with long waits, like the two in Century City Mall. This is the perfect middle ground. It is clean, well organized and easy to access. It isn’t very busy because the shop is hiding behind a pet boarding facility on Santa Monica Blvd, but once people discover this spot it will be busy.

We first tried it for delivery and were thrilled with the price and quality of the food. We decided to go into their physical location and found the overall experience equally exceptional. My only issue was that the crispy beef roll was served with a side of sriracha. Since their other dumpling dipping sauces are complex flavor profiles, this was disappointing. Fortunately, the roll itself was so good that it didn’t need sauce.

It is only a matter of time before their delivery wait times increase, their small seating area is packed and their prices go up. It is hard to predict if the quality goes up or down, but you should definitely try it sooner than later. Being on top of the game, or in front of the pack, helps you stay hungry and fit.

They travel really well! We recommend delivery for those lazy nights.

And make sure to ask for extra dipping sauce. I usually run out halfway through an order.

Apr222019

Milford’s On Third (Baton Rouge, LA)

When we were recently house hunting in Louisiana, we drove through the state capital of Baton Rouge. With a population of 1/4 million and the home to LSU’s ~30,000 students, you’d imagine the food between New Orleans and Lafayette (the heart of Cajun country) would be pretty good. It is. Unfortunately, there are a lot of very popular and extremely busy seafood restaurants and when you’re traveling, you don’t have time to wait for an hour or two. We didn’t even have enough time to find parking for those spots. After checking Yelp, we headed to the more historic downtown area, easily found a free parking spot in front of a beautiful church and walked in Milford’s on Third.

Mar092019

Whole-Wheat Banana Bread

Our typical uses of bananas include oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, and in peanut butter sandwiches. However, sometimes things come up or other meals fulfill us, and we are left with browning bananas. Do we throw them out? Absolutely not! How dare you suggest such blasphemy. There is so much you can do with bananas: you can make cookies, muffins, or…bread! You can still keep it healthy, even though you’re baking. This whole-wheat banana bread recipe is simple, quick, and delicious. The prep time is basically nothing, but you do have to wait in front of the oven like a starving kitten.

Feb102019

The Best Food on Hollywood Blvd: Dubai Sauce

Last April, a friend suggested we visit Dubai Sauce for lunch. Even though it is right down the block from where we live, we had never been. Why? We don’t eat food on Hollywood Blvd, at least near the Walk of Fame. Why? Because the food is generally awful. You can read about that first experience HERE. I decided to bring Fit last Friday and see if they’ve made any improvements; they have.

Nov222018

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Bread

You guessed it. MORE PUMPKIN. Winter isn’t here yet, so that means it’s still pumpkin’s spotlight! I had extra pumpkin leftover from those whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip cookies so I searched for another healthy-ish recipe. I found the perfect one at Well Plated for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Bread. I also had two very ripe bananas just asking to be baked. And guess what, it was a natural pairing. This is a great recipe if you want to contribute something healthy to the Thanksgiving table. It’s fall-like because it has pumpkin and is sure to be a popular dessert!

This recipe uses little sugar, not much butter–I was surprised by how healthy it was. I changed a few things from the original recipes (such as taking out the nuts), but it still ended up great. The thing that makes this recipe take a little longer is that for best results, you should wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight! And beware, the texture is very pumpkin-y just in case you’re not into that.

Oct262018

Fit’s Go-To Healthy Lunch: Salad Kit + Tuna

If you see us on social media, you often see us going big when we eat. Sure, we definitely enjoy dining out and eating big, but most of our meals are pretty dang healthy. That’s how we can afford to eat whole pizzas or all-you-can-eat sushi! Fit works from home which means she typically has the pantry at her disposal. This can mean glory or disaster. Luckily, we keep a pretty clean pantry (ignore the sour candy that Fit stashed behind the electric beater), so there’s not many “bad” options to fall for. Still, she tries to decide what she’s going to eat for lunch at the beginning of the day, or better yet–at the beginning of the week.

On most days, you can find Fit in the kitchen (usually on a phone call or meeting), assembling her lunch. Yeah, I said assembling because she plays it smart. Fit’s go-to healthy lunch is half of a salad kit and a can of tuna. It takes under five minutes to whip up, even when she puts some flair into it! Salad kits are a blessing. Sure, they may not be quite as cost-effective as a huge tub of spinach and some carrots, but they have variety and make a healthy lunch delicious and easy. Making salads from scratch can be somewhat tedious with all the chopping. She usually waits until they’re on sale for like $2.99 and then buys a bunch for the week. And because she has a “baby belly,” she only needs half of one per lunch.