Healthy Kebabs 2 Ways!

So many of us are pressed for time, it's hard to find the time to make healthy dishes. NOTTTTT! This kebab recipe is super easy an can be made a few days ahead of time. What's even better is you can pop them in the over for 20 minutes or you can throw them on the grill in no time.

Super Bowl Snack Time!

 

Click the links below to go to the recipes!! 

1. Baked Garlic Plantain Chips

2. Spicy Hummus

3. Dark Chocolate Rice Cake Dippers

The good thing about all of these recipes is that they are super easy to make, time saving, and taste wonderful. In fact, the plantain chips work perfect for dipping in the hummus and the rice cakes would go great with some chocolate fro-yo on top!! Have fun with these easy, clean, healthy snacks for Super Bowl 49!

By the way, I'm rooting for the Seahawks and hope that Beast Mode, I mean Marshawn Lynch 'mollywops' aka destroys the Patriots defense. And doesn't have to say a word to the press, he says enough on the field. 

Stay hungry my friends...

Ray B.

Apple Pecan Granola

I've failed making granola 9 out 10 times...literally. I either burn it, roast it, make a cajun blackened granola (aka BURNT), or it doesn't have any taste. I really want to start eating Greek yogurt again, but I HAVE to have something crunchy with it. I'm really weird with food textures, especially foods that giggle such as pudding, tapioca, or cottage cheese.  Am I the only person who does that?

I wanted really crunchy hearty tasting granola with nice clusters! The secrets ingredient to crunchy granola is: egg whites! When making this it'll seem really gooey but don't worry it just makes for a crunchier granola in the end. I also added chia seeds for more fiber! 

One thing to look out for when your granola is baking is the color and texture. Your granola WILL NOT get crunchy while baking. Once it's lightly browned take it out to cool completely, once it's hardened you can break into clusters. 

Cut the Crap - Week 1

I made it through my first week of the detox with no major hiccups! The next 2 weeks don't seem to bad, the hardest day was day 3 because my hunger was at its highest point. I mean I was hungry all day from start to finish, I felt very weak and lethargic. Seriously, I was dying for some coffee but that was nixed seeing how I like more cream than coffee and that clearly goes against the whole detox. So I attempted to drink very black unsweetened coffee... I don't see how people do it, it was terrible. I chugged it and vowed never to drink coffee black lol. 

I did a pretty good job at meal planning, it was my first time prepping that much food that for that many days, lucky for me it ran pretty smooth with the help of my Crock Pot and Sam's club! I also developed a few new recipes for a Clean Breakfast Bar, a juice, and a vinaigrette! 

 

Shopping List for Sam's Club: 

bulk sugar snap pea's 

bulk mixed veggies 

bulk baby carrots 

Pomegranate seeds 

boneless skinless chicken breast 

romaine lettuce 

red and yukon potates 

apples 

salmon 

light cheese sticks

(chicken and potatoes in Crock Pot)

Rise and Shine Juice Recipe

A Few Hungry Girls

I don't actually use a juicer, I use a great blender to blend fresh fruit! In my humble opinion juicers are expensive, messy, hard to clean, and takes out half the nutrients in the fruit or veggies your consuming! I'm greedy I want allllllll the nutrients honey! So I blend... 

Since I'm on my detox I wanted to incorporate juices/smoothies! This one I actually made last night and grabbed it in the go for breakfast! This ones a quickie and here's how I made it: 

Ingredients: 

3 pineapple slices 

5 watermelon slices 

1 teaspoon powdered ginger 

1 whole lemon 

Directions: 

Place all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth. DRINK! 

Easy right? Enjoy. 

Stay hungry my friends... 

Ray B. 

Why I'm Cutting the Crap!

A Few Hungry Girls

Cut the Crap 21 Day Detox Program

Bottom line, I needed to cut the crap out of my diet, that’s it! After having my gallbladder taken out at age 19 things quickly changed my eating habits, no more greasy foods they said. Well me, being the collegiate athlete who thought she could eat anything she wanted SOON realized she couldn't. Honestly, it still didn't start there…not until I graduated from college did it all catch up with me. I gained nearly 15 pounds in a year…that’s only 365 days!! Even then, it didn't start there!

Fast forward 2 years, I suffered from IBS, on a weekly basis I had problems, and then came the fibromyalgia diagnosis. Shortly afterward I was prescribed a medication for my pain, the doctor left out some of the side effects such as: weight gain, water retention and increased hunger. So I was hungry, pudgy, and always felt bloated. This was not a miracle drug, in fact it was a nightmare…I stopped taking it but my body went through withdrawal and I suffered migraines daily. I felt alone. I work in healthcare and often heard how co-workers judged other fibro patients. I was alone. Even then 20 pounds later… It still wasn't the turning point.

Flash forward to NOW. I’m 26, work long hours, suffering from what I call FATigue, and probably some depression. When I was 21 this is not how I pictured my life, nonetheless I have a job, the bills get paid (eventually), I have food in my fridge, I have no life threatening conditions, and a wonderful man in my life, I’m thankful. I wouldn't necessarily call myself fat, but I am quite thick like no plastic surgery video girl thick (some of ya'll know what I'm talking about). I don’t care about weight; I want to be healthy all around! So now I’m ready to Cut the Crap, this not only includes unhealthy dietary habits, but negativity in my life, and as much stress as possible. Are you ready to join me…? 

The program is free, I just ask that you update us with your progress, reach out when you are tempted, and be there so we can all congratulate you when you've completed your program! 

What Crap are we cutting?

1.       Alcohol (which is hard, I love wine about as much as Olivia Pope)

2.       Bread (muffins, waffles, garlic knots, etc.)

3.       Fast food (I've created a meal plan for you)

4.       Sweets (even dark chocolate…)

5.       Pasta (Ciao Pasta Bella)

6.       Processed foods ( anything in a box)

Click the link here for full meal plan...

Spicy Hummus

A Few Hungry Girls

For years I really had no idea what hummus was, I just knew there was a special complexity of Mediterranean flavors involved! I actually wasn't a fan the first few times I'd had it, maybe my taste buds hadn't matured yet lol. 

Garbanzo beans aka chick peas was an ingredient I used quite often when I made curried chicken or Indian dishes. I'd seen a few recipes on baked chick peas but I haven't tried it yet! The reason I actually made hummus was I purchased some as a snack at work and I was soooo good with pita bread. Thus, my inspiration...

Chick peas are a relatively inexpensive food that can be found in any canned goods aisle. Personally, I'm to busy to be soaking beans and what not. I need food items that can be prepped easily with nutrious value so I will use canned food sometimes in place of raw beans. 

One ingredient that I wasn't familiar with was Tahini, apparently this is a huge part of making legit hummus and I'm glad I added it! Tahini is essentially ground sesame seeds and has a very unique flavor that I really couldn't pin point. Nonetheless I purchased it, the bottle was about $9 dollars in the peanut butter aisle. 

Quick Chick Pea facts: 

- is a legume 

- no cholesterol 

- low fat 

- good protien source

- lots of potassium 

- easily prepared and flavored 

- low cost

Dark Chocolate Rice Cakes

A Few Hungry Girls

Most people I know hate rice cakes, they are typically bland and dry. Well not these cake!! Well they're still dry but that's obvious, but when dipped in chocolate and topped with Honey Chipotle almonds, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds they're bomb.com. I wanted a low cal snack that packed a big punch in the flavor department and these worked out perfectly. These rice cakes also are the PERFECT late night snack!

 

INGREDIENTS: 

(this is for 8 rice treats)

4 Rice Cakes (I went with Apple Cinnamon)

2 chocolate bars 

Sunflower Seeds

Chia Seeds 

Chipotle Honey Almonds

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Cut rice cakes in half and melt chocolate in microwave for 30 seconds at a time stirring frequently. Make sure they don't burn and get lumpy!

2. Coat top 1/2 of rice cake with chocolate. 

3. Immediately add chia, sunflower, and almonds to chocolate protion. 

4. Allow to cool by placing rice cakes in freezer so the chocolate hardens, and ingredients stick!

 These rice cakes are seriously unbelievable! I couldn't even wait to eat these, originally they were made ahead for my boo's birthday, I don't think they'll make it very far. Oh and did I tell you they were super easy?

Stay hungry my friends...

Ray B.

Peach Chia Tea

A Few Hungry Girls

If you read my Chia seed post you'll the down low on chia seeds! This tea is really easy, high in fiber, protien and really tasty! Here's how we did it: 

Pumpkin Spice Chia Bread

A Few Hungry Girls

If you read my post from a few weeks ago called "Cha Cha Cha Chia Seeds" I promised a few recipes with chia seeds and finally I delivered! Please excuse the subpar pics, I didn't have my good camera charged and I promised a few people I'd have the recipe up tonight! 

I've been wanting to make a pumpkin bread this month and I needed to incorporate chia seeds into a recipe. I did some research and found that you can actually use chia seeds to swap several ingredients in food! These food swaps include: oil, eggs, and thickeners for smoothies and shakes! In this recipe I swapped out oil for chia seeds.

Cha cha cha CHIA seeds

 

Whats the deal with Chia Seeds?

Many of us have seen chia seeds everywhere and are often led to believe they can help with weight loss. They are high in fiber, protein, and mix well in various foods but here is the cold hard truth:
1. Diet and exercise are they only things that can consistently help you lose weight
2. Chia seeds were originally used to grow hair on the famed Chia Pets. I had one...lol
 
I wanted to make this long drawn out post stating all the good and bad things about Chia seeds, but really there are only a few things you need to know! Chia seeds are not bad for you by any means and work great as an additive to food, below I've composed a list of 5 facts about Chia seeds:

Baked Garlic Plantain Chips

A Few Hungry Girls

I'd been wanting to make these for a while, I tried to fry them and it didn't turn out so well. They turned brown almost immediately but they did retain a hint more sweetness than baking them. They were also very greasy and mushy, likely because I cut the plantains to thick. I haven't invested in a mandolin yet...Christmas is coming right? 

I like these plantains because they are slightly sweet, salty, and garlicky!! They also have a nice crunch to them that hold up very well against heavy dips!

This is how I made them: 

Ginger Lemon Detox Water

Easy detox water! I used sparkling water because I'm fancy :)! Ginger is great for digestion by releasing enzymes to break down food to help absorb nutrients  Lemon helps in bloating and gas, has a cleansing effect on your liver, kidneys and blood! Also helps with bad breath. 

 Best drank in the morning! #hungrygirls #detox #easy #love #ginger #lemon #healthy 

Stay hungry my friends... 

Ray B. 

My Week in Photos

This week we got some great shots of our own as well as featured some awesome new places! Enjoy...

Churro's - Opry Mills Movie theater :) 

Otaku South - Nashville TN 

Chez Montier - Atlanta GA