High-Protein Buffalo Ranch Mac & Cheese with Danitza Freigher

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0:00 Cold open. Today we're gonna make a high protein creamy buffalo ranch mac and cheese. She just cracked 40, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. She's 52. 52. And very proud of it. And This is so good. This is, like, the perfect post-training meal.

0:12 Welcome to Macros & Makers. Hi, guys. I'm here on the set of Macros & Makers, and, we're pretty fortunate that Vasa and I, who are hosting the show, have a very special guest. she's coming on set with an amazing recipe that she's gonna share with our audience, and we're excited to, to make it with you.

0:28 Meet Danitza. Thank you so much. Yeah. I'm very excited to be here today. This is my second time in the kitchen with, Legendary Foods, but today with, with you guys is, is extra special. Well, you're,

0:36 Why this recipe (rotisserie chicken!). you're a cook anyway. You cook all the time. I do. I've been cooking for a while. I'm a mom, so a mom of high school and college students now. But, so meals change, but ultimately everything stays the same. Yeah, absolutely. So, today we're gonna make a high protein creamy buffalo ranch mac and cheese. we are going to start with our high protein pasta, mac and cheese from Legendary Foods. and we have some shredded chicken. We have rotisserie chicken, which is probably the easiest if you're a college student or you're a mom on the go, and you don't have a lot of time, and you wanna make it... Make something that's really tasty but sort of semi-homemade and easy to do. rotisserie chicken's probably the easiest way you can go. There's not a lot of prep. You can just stop by the store or Costco, grab it, shred it up, and it is good to go. We're just gonna act- add some extra ingredients just to flare it up and spice it up a bit, a bit, but it ul- ultimately it's like a 70 to 80 gram of to 80 gram of high protein,

1:31 How much protein she eats in a day. pasta for dinner. Wow. Yeah. Speaking about protein, 70, 70 grams, that sounds like a lot. Is... What... Like, what, what's your average intake on protein? You know, I try to have three or four meals a day. I used to compete, so it would be, like, six or seven. Mm-hmm. Now I'm just, just consistently just trying to stay on a pretty high protein diet. I actually try to do about 20 grams of protein per meal, but on days like this where I'm having, you know, like, a big dinner, if I miss meals during the day, and I was snacking during the day or something, and I need a big dinner, this is a perfect thing for me because I can get all

2:01 The build: the mac cup. my protein in, and it's just a delicious meal. Yep, good to go. All righty, so let's, let's just get it started. So to start, we've already heated up and prepared our mac and cheese. Our mac and cheese is super easy, three and a half minutes in the microwave. We have the, pasta ready to go. Like I said, it was already ready. So this is one serving in this cup. How long does it take for usual pasta to cook? You know, if you were gonna do traditional pasta in, like, a pan, the actual, like, homemade pasta, I mean, you're an- anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes all said and done. Mac and cheese, if you're doing Kraft Mac... If you're a college student, and you're doing, like, a regular Kraft mac and cheese or my daughter- Mm-hmm ... it's, you know, three and a half to five minutes all said and done. So this is very much like Kraft mac and cheese. The flavor is very much similar. The prep time is pretty much similar. You just get all the protein that you could possibly want, and this is, 35 grams if you have a small version or 47 if you have the full version. Hm, wow. Yeah. So it's kind of like an Easy Mac but with way more protein and no orange. Totally, totally. It's like all of the benefits of Easy Mac but all the protein that you want for an athletic, competitive,

3:04 Greek yogurt. non-competitive, just eating healthy, healthy lifestyle. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so we have our mac. We are going to stir in our Greek yogurt, and we are just going to use two tablespoons of Greek yogurt. So here we have our tablespoon, so we are going to just mix in. Official measuring. Bruce normally just uses a big spoon. You know, and I totally do at home, but because I know people- Yeah ... are such sticklers for- Right, exact ... they wanna have the actual, so you're gonna go with that.

3:31 Cream cheese. So we're gonna mix that. We're just gonna leave that there. Mm-hmm. We are going to use one tablespoon of light cream cheese, so we're just gonna do the same thing. And again- ... you don't have to do it exactly to T, to the T. Everybody's gonna have it a little bit different. This is g- what we're gonna stick with today, and again, I, at home, I wouldn't even bother with the measuring. Mm-hmm. I would just get a big old spoon out-

3:51 Chicken. ... there you have it. Mm-hmm. So like I said, super creamy, here. Do you take this Do you take this with you when you travel? So I do travel quite a bit, and whenever I do, that's the coolest thing about mac and cheese, this mac and cheese, it's microwaveable. So I can stick this in my carry-on. I can stick it in my backpack. Super easy, and every hotel that you go to has a microwave, and even if they don't, you just ask them to bring it to your room, and they bring it right to your room. Right, or you can do- It's the easiest ... you can do a kettle with water, right? Totally. You could do... And they have... Everyone has a coffee... Every single hotel has a coffee maker. So we're gonna, add Three to four ounces of chicken. And again, I'm just measuring it with myself because- ... and it depends on how much you want. If you want less, you can do less. If you want more, you can do more. Do you have any

4:26 Vasa's travel water hack. rules on water when you travel? I always learned that it was eight ounces of water per hour of, flight time. That's a great hack. I didn't know that. Wow. I didn't either. Mm-mm. That is such a great hack. Yeah. And I just went to Nashville, and I was on the flight, you know, for four hours or whatever. And it's the type of thing where if you're not drinking water, you get off and you just feel miserable, so that's great. Mm-hmm. It's a secret one. It's a great hack. I did not know that. Eight ounces, I'm gonna remember that. So five-hour flight, you wanna do about 40 ounces. See? Really? Wow. That's a lot of bathrooms. At least. I, I, I would, I try to find my seat closest to the bathroom. That, that's why I sit in the ai- that's why I sit in the aisle. Yeah. There you go. Yeah.

4:57 Buffalo sauce. Well, Okay, so we've mixed everything. Yep. We're good to go. We've added our chicken. We are going to add a little buffalo sauce. So this is one to two tablespoons. I'm not even gonna grab that. Yeah. So you can just decide, and again, this is how, depending how hot you want it, if you want it spicy, if you don't want it spicy, you just de- just... You get to decide all the, all the goods.

5:15 The spicy-household story. I feel like you both grew up in a spicy household, right? There were a lot of spicy food. S- I used to get made fun of for not being able to handle s- spice. I, I told this story the other day. Yeah. And I went to this place on Eighth and Center in San Pedro and got the hottest salsa that they would have, and I put little dabs on my, on my tongue- To test it ... throughout the summer just 'cause they'd make fun of me for not being able to handle hot sauce. Yeah, right. For sure. That's how I'm... We- I can handle it now. Yeah. We grow up, you grow up Mexican, and everything- Yeah, right ... you know, your parents- Little spice my mom, my aunt, I go to my aunt's house, and it's all just everything. Yeah. All of... You smell it as soon as you walk in. You start sweating. That's funny. Yeah, I had to practice. I, I got made fun of too much. I believe it.

5:49 Ranch + the seasoning packet. Okay, so we have our hot sauce. We added that. We are going to add ranch, Okay. So we... You have options. You can either use a ranch and drizzle directly on, or you can use just the tiny ranch seasoning packet. And you're just gonna use, again, like a tablespoon, teaspoon to tablespoon. Mm. Again, it's totally up to you how much ranch flavor you like. One of my daughters loves ranch flavoring, the other not so much, so this way I can keep everybody happy with a little hint of it and not too much.

6:15 Plated: the macros. Looks good. And there we go. Simple. get it quick, it's warm, it's ready, it's so easy to make, but the girls absolutely love it. If you're a college student and you only have a microwave in your dorm, this is all you need. It's the easiest, easiest way to put in 70 to 80 grams of protein and have a really delicious dinner. You know, I feel like I'm craving, I would have the l- our ranch- Chips ... chips with that. Chips, yeah. Like, to eat it like a scoop. It's so good. Yeah. You know, you could put it on a plate, and so I've, I've also then sometimes I would add spinach and just add some- Mm ... like spinach on top of it- Mm-hmm ... just to add a little bit of texture to it. But so you could do that. You could add a salad, ranch chips, so good.

6:53 Servings and "put it down". Now, is this for one person's, eating, or is this splitting it across two people? How many servings are in this recipe? So th- I eat a lot. So this would be... Yeah, I'm kind of an eater, so this would actually be one serving for one person. Mm-hmm. You could split it up if you wanted to, like if you wanted to separate it and add something else to it. Yeah. You could split it up and split this in two and then add a side of ranch chips or add a salad with it. This is definitely enough for me. Like, I could eat this entire thing, put it down for dinner, and be good to go, so. Put it down. Hear, it sounds like a WWE champion. Put it down. Yep. Crush it. I'm ready, yes. so good. I do want to

7:22 Staying consistent at 52. ask you a question about- Yes ... about you specifically 'cause you do talk about your age on social media, so it's no secret. I do. She just cracked 40, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. She's 52. 52. And very proud of it. Looking great. And with that said is I think a lot of people always have excuses why, "Oh, it's easy for you, your genetic makeup." Yeah. But really, at the end of the day, everyone has the same struggles. Well, and a lot of times people will, that women that I've met will ask about my diet. Right. Like, what is it? And people, usually it's women that are the same age as me, moms, other moms, my daughters' friends. and they think that you eat boiled chicken and vegetables- Right ... and that's all you have. Well, life is so great now. There's so many options for protein sources that are delicious and still don't feel like you're cheating on your diet. You know? You're... They're healthy. They have all the protein that you need, but they are still delicious. Right. So for me, I try to just be very consistent with both my training and my nutrition. I try to train, you know, I train five or six days a week. I keep it consistent, keep it simple. Right. Just get up and move, basically, you know, do those things, and then just keep a healthy diet. I try to have protein three, you know, three to four meals a day. Why do you think

8:23 The 4:45 AM schedule. it's so hard for other people? Like, I'm sure you have girlfriends that struggle- Yeah ... with weight and friends and, but why do, why... I mean, if I was your friend, I'd follow exactly what you do. Yeah. I think- I mean, you get, you get really busy through life. Yeah. You get busy, especially, you know, 52, I have a couple jobs. I- Right. You know, I have daughters. Yeah. Every- everything is always ... But I, you have to make your, like, healthy way of living, it has to be a priority. You have to decide. A- and I schedule it in. Like, I literally, I wouldn't be able to complete everything I wanna do if I didn't schedule in, okay, I'm gonna get up at 4:45 every day. Yeah. I'm gonna get to the gym at 5:00. I'm gonna train for an hour and a half. I, if I don't do an hour and a half of training before my day gets started, I don't even feel right anymore. But it's just, basically it is, it's just about, like, scheduling. You know, and you guys have been there. Yeah. You know. That's- It's just about scheduling in what you want. Scheduling your nutrition, scheduling your supplementation, scheduling your training.

9:09 Cheat meals. Yeah. And we talked about this earlier, is that you do have cheat meals. I follow you on social media. And I see you at a Mexican restaurant- Yes ... with this whole spread. So you do that. Yeah. Right? So it's not like you're, you're, you're consistent, but you, you still have the, days where you do- Yeah ... what you want. And that's the most important thing. I mean, you ... I do all of this, like, the normal daily stuff, because I wanna enjoy those moments. Right. I don't ever wanna, like, deplete, like, deprive myself of any of those moments. Mm. So it's, it's ... And this makes it easy, you know? You just, it's just consistency, and then on those days I stop at the Mexican restaurant- Yeah, right ... and have, you know, a big, big- A margarita, yeah. Yeah, a margarita and a big carne asada steak and chips and guacamole, and it's, you know- Yeah ... I, I don't feel guilty about it at all because I know I'm just gonna hop right back into my normal, you know, normal rotation the next day. Right. Cool.

9:48 Two jobs and grab-and-go food. You mentioned you have two jobs. What do you do, and how does this help? So I do social media. I actually have a 9:00 to 5:00 as an, as a executive assistant, but I also do social media marketing. Mm. So, and that's kind of on the go, but it's also 24 hours a day. Yeah. So it doesn't really stop. And I mean, it's, you wake up and you look at your phone and you're already starting to work. So for me, having, like, really quick and efficient meals is the easiest way. I used to be like, "I'm gonna you just have to make sure you always have something there so you don't reach for the bad things. When you do reach

10:15 Cheesecake Factory burger vs In-N-Out. for the bad things, what do you usually eat when you have your cheat meal? I think my cheat meal ... Well, I'm, like, a crazy french fry lover. So my cheat meal's always a humongous classic burger from Cheesecake Factory- Mm ... with a side of french fries. Yeah. Sounds good. No. You know what? Right. I'm the only person in the world that doesn't like In-N-Out. That's a- I really am. My daughters- Oh, really? My daughters go, like, at least five times a week, We'll Absolutely, my daughters- That's wild ... and they just, they're just building one right by my house. Are they really? Right on Ventura. And my girls are, like, ecstatic, and I'm like, means nothing to me. I'm just not a fan. Yeah, I, but I like, I mean, the hamburger that I like from Cheesecake Factory is literally the size of my head. yeah. I'm not kidding. It's the size of my head. Nice.

10:48 The office taste test. Should we see what the people around the office think about this? Yeah, absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Let's see. Let's do it. All right, guys, now that Danitza has wrapped up this amazing dish, Aspen has stopped in and is gonna try it. Thank you. We wanna share it and have all our employees enjoy it. Yes. I'm excited. So it's a, buffalo ranch chicken This is really good. Good, huh? No pressure at all. This is truthful. This is really tasty. Good. Everything good about it. And it just happens to be about lunchtime, so enjoy. Yeah, perfect. Can I take this with me? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Nice. All right. Well, all right, and our next guinea pig is Marisol Okay, here we go. Ooh, okay. I'm so hungry, so this is great. She's got training, got, just got done training, so she's ready to eat. She is a trainer. She is a beast in martial arts. Yeah. More specifically- This is so good. Yes. Good. This is, like, the perfect post-training meal. Right? It is. There you go. It totally is. Yeah. Protein, carbs. How many grams of protein? well, the whole serving is, like, 70 to 80. 70, okay. So, but if you're gonna have, if you're gonna split

11:47 The protein fact-check. it, 40 grams. Yeah. 40 grams. Perfect. This is so good. Yeah. Marisol, enjoy. Yeah, yeah. Take it. Yeah, yeah. Knock yourself out.

11:55 Advice for her daughters. You deserve it. Danitza, being a mother of two young kids, what advice do you give your kids? 'Cause they must look at, look up to you because you're always fit and always enthusiastic. What, what advice do you give 20-year-olds on how to live a healthy lifestyle, because that's not always easy for young kids? It's, it definitely isn't. You know, it's crazy because I felt like I've given my daughters a lot of advice growing up. and sometimes I feel like the best way to teach them is just to live. So my daughter just started doing Pilates, which I've been doing. She started eating right. She's getting in 10,000 steps, but I think- ... it's basically just been because she sees what I do. So it's more about how you live and showing your kids how you live by what you do and the walk that you walk on a daily basis. Lead by example.

12:36 Rapid fire. All right. It's time for rapid fire questions. The first question is if today was your last day on Earth, what would your final meal be? A hamburger and french fries, 100%, all the time All righty. Yes. Dedicated to the hamburger. I am. I'm 100- I'm committed. All right, and what's one piece of advice for somebody that wants to get as ripped as you? Prioritize protein with every meal. Don't ever skip protein. Amazing. Danitza, who's a celebrity or influencer that you look up to? Mel Robbins. I like her. Okay. Other than Legendary Foods, what is your favorite protein snack? Protein pretzels from Crisp Power. Amazing. Ooh, good call, yummy. They're so good. I like the, I like the s- the all in, the all, whatever- Everything yeah, everything, yeah all the flavor. What's your favorite body part to train? biceps. Dang. Every day's arm day. Every day's chest day for men- Yeah ... but for women it's

13:18 Outro. different. Yeah, yeah. you know, Danitza, we really wanna thank you for taking the time to come here and share this recipe and, and your knowledge in both nutrition and fitness. It, I think it's gonna help a lot of people that are, that are, that are trying to find their way in life, and these are important takeaways, and we're, we're, we're honored to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. I love being able to share a, a little piece of, the health and fitness lifestyle that has helped me get to where I am. Cool. If you guys want this recipe, it'll be down in the links below and in the show notes.