Kelly the Culinarian: That Time I Met Hungry Girl

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

That Time I Met Hungry Girl

I can't even believe I'm writing this post. Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you, I love blogging, mostly because of you, the reader. Because you tune in and peruse my daily missives, I get super awesome opportunities that I come back and write about here. So thank you, anonymous Internet person, for making this post possible.

The lovely people of Flatout Bread Chicago sent me an e-mail a few days ago inviting me to an event with Lisa Lillien, aka, Hungry Girl. I've worked with Flatout before and my obsession with the product is well-noted. I kind of thought I might be getting punked - it was April Fool's Day, after all. But like clockwork, a car retrieved me from work yesterday and whisked me downtown.

I arrived at the most amazing space overlooking Navy Pier and Lake Michigan
 

 and was greeted with delicious food from Lisa's latest book, "The Hungry Girl Diet."
Flatout Bread Chicago Hungry Girl PartyFlatout Bread Chicago Hungry Girl Party
Chef Tom made some amazing bites - I think the pizza-bella was my favorite, but his black pepper carmelized chicken Flatout Banh Mi was excellent. I took in a few bites and met with some super awesome bloggers while perusing Lisa's new cookbook.

What I liked about the recipes was that they're easy - I already have most of the ingredients at home. They also mentioned that you can freeze Flatout bread, which will be great to have on hand as my Ironman training gets hot and heavy. Ain't nobody got time to create a four-course meal after a two-hour bike ride. The Flatout pizza was precisely my solution to being too tired to cook and not wanting to have cereal in front of the television again, so it's nice to be stocked up again.

And then, Ms. Hungry Girl herself arrived. Since Valerie asked me on my Facebook page what Lisa is like, I'll tell you this - she makes me feel tall! I mentioned that she looks so much taller on Hungry Girl on the Cooking Network, and she said that's because the crew custom built the counters to be four inches shorter for her.


Not to gush, but I think she embodies the idea of a life of balance. She's not rail thin and enjoyed a glass of wine with the rest of us. She told us she's a control freak about her food, which I think you would have to be when you travel as much as she does. Lisa said when she's going to a bunch of appearances, she'll have a breakfast of fruit and coffee since she'll likely be snacking on her own recipes later. She also carries emergency snacks - her favorites are a half of a Quest bar with a Tablespoon of peanut butter, which you can buy in little tubs.
 She signed books and answered questions about her site, her recipes and her lifestyle. As someone who works in social media and public relations, I find her empire fascinating. She started with a subscriber list of 74 people in 2004, and now has 1.2 million people who get her e-mails every day. She also has more than one million Facebook fans, and said it's her go-to platform for quick answers. She also said that the average research participant in her book research lost 10 pounds in four weeks following her plan, but some lost as much as 26. If I can lose 10 pounds eating the stuff I ate last night, I'd be pretty psyched.
In addition to the signed copy of Lisa's new book, I walked away with some delicious treats from my Flatout friends. Get ready, Instagram followers, for more pizzas ....
Flatout Bread ChicagoThe Hungry Girl Diet by Lisa Lillien

5 comments:

Maggie W said...

If you lose 10 pounds ... you would disappear.

Katie @ Live Half Full said...

Such a fun night! I saw her speak after the release of her first book in 2008-ish. Loved her spunky attitude!

CabotRD said...

How fun!

Valerie said...

What a fantastic experience- how cool!! Those snacks look SO delish, and I just got some Quest bars and they are so dang good. Nom nom.

She seems pretty down to earth too- I bet she is SO busy with her travel schedule...it'd be imperative to eat healthy on the road since her empire/image is kind of built around it...

So far, I'm down three-ish pounds on the HG diet (on week 1), and I've never consciously consumed so many fruits & veggies but the crazy part is that I am not starving! The portions really are big!
Valerie
www.the-style-files.com

Losing Lindy said...

so awesome!