Tuesday''s Eats: Day of Snacks

The amount of days this past week that I have tried to take pictures of a full day of eating is unreal. I keep starting, but always forget after dinner to take a picture of whatever I eat. Along with that, I am not really eating anything exciting as I am trying to use up all of the food I have before I go home for the summer. This means lots of oats, yogurt, and guacamole packets. Here is what I ate: 

Breakfast: Quinoa Flakes w/ Strawberries, Raspberries and Pumpkin Seeds 

I have recently been trying new kinds of warm cereals for breakfast instead of oatmeal. I ran out of oats a while ago so I picked up quinoa flakes and cream of buckwheat to try. I really like both of them, but the quinoa flakes have to be my favorite. The nutty flavor adds a lot to fruity toppings. In an effort to get more protein into my breakfasts, I recently have been making my quinoa flakes with milk, or having some sausage on the side. This day, I added the milk, but whatever I chose typically depends on my mood.  

 Snack: Roasted Chickpeas and Clementine

I always pack a snacks on days that I know I will eat a later lunch. My go-to snacks recently have been pumpkin seeds bars by Health Warrior or these chickpea snacks  with fruit. Recently I have been a lot more hungry than normal, so I make sure to pack extra snacks throughout the day so I don't get too hungry. There is nothing worse than being hungry during class or while doing homework and not being able to study because of it.

Lunch: Avocado Toast and Sausage "Hash" w/ Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, Tomato

This breakfast hash inspired meal was initially what I really wanted to have for breakfast, but I didn't know if the sausage was gluten free so I waited until I could double check at lunch. It was a good and filling meal with all of the veggies, protein from sausage and healthy fats from the quac on my toast. I ate this around 1:30 so it was able to hold me over through my workout at the gym.

Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs w/ Cauliflower and Side Salad

Somehow I timed it so that when I got back from working out, it was almost time for dinner. This dinner was really good. I loved added the roasted cauliflower as a mix to my pasta. It went really well with the marinara sauce, almost better than the plain pasta did. I know this summer I want to try to do this again because it was so much more flavorful than just pasta and sauce.

Snack: Perfect Bar and Popcorn

Since dinner is at 5:30, I always find I need a bigger snack by the end of the night. Recently my favorite combination has been a perfect bar and popcorn. If I am not too hungry, it is half a perfect bar, but normally its the full bar. I love this snack because it gives me both sweet and savory because I can never decide what I want. It also has fat and protein from the Perfect Bar, and carbs from the popcorn which makes for a really satisfying snack. I have been trying some new Perfect Bar flavors recently so keep checking back for my rankings of all the Perfect Bars I've tried. 

xoxo,

Maddie 

7 Ways to Upgrade Your Salad

      In case you haven't been able to tell through any of my Tuesday's Eats posts and my blog's instagram (@classyandcleverblog), I love eating vegetables and I have found that there is no better way to do that than to make a nice big salad. I have most definitely made salads that had my 5 a day in one meal. 

       Making fancy salads came out of necessity for me this year because living in my sorority house, the lunches are not always gluten free, but we at least have a salad bar almost every day. I had initially found myself making the same sad salad over and over again, but I have been experimenting all year and found some great ways to make a delicious salad. 

Add Sauerkraut 

Seriously, don't knock it 'till you try it. I initially made this salad inspired by a blogpost form Hummusapien. I recreated her salad one day, and since then I put sauerkraut on my salad whenever possible. It adds a great tang, but doesn't over power the other salad toppings. The juices from the sauerkraut seep into the lettuce which adds a new level of flavor. 

Change up your protein 

It is really easy to get into a rut of making the same salad over and over again, but changing up your protein makes it easy to add variation. Shrimp is my favorite protein to add to salads, but really what I chose is based on leftovers from the week. I also commonly add chicken or canned tuna on top.(one time was pulled pork on top)  I really like it when we have leftover protein that was in a sauce, because that sauce can then become the dressing. The protein is so important because that's what will help keep you satiated throughout the day, and makes your salad a meal not a side. 

Mix Roasted and Fresh Veggies 

Mixing vegetable types is my favorite way to make a creative salad. Most times I just use a leftover roasted veggies from dinner the night before and whatever fresh veggies are around the house. This makes for a salad with a unique texture variation which is a great change up from a regular salad. It's not like you aren't going to add vegetables to your salad anyways so might as well change it up. 

Experiment with Fun Dressings 

An easy way to change up a salad is by trying out new salad dressing. There are so many different recipes out there for you to try. My sororities chef makes the best salad dressings Above is  his chipotle ranch dressing which made for an amazing Mexican-inspired salad. He also makes a great blueberry vinaigrette for a more springy salad. One of my favorite dressing I've tried recently was a kiwi dressing (see two pictures down). Salad dressings are a fun, cheap way to change up a salad. They can help with a themed salad or just add some flare to a simple salad. 

Add Fruit 

Adding fruit has become one of my favorite ways to change up a salad now that the weather is getting warmer. This salad above had mango, strawberries and pineapple, and it actually made for a great breakfast salad. The juices from the fruit, particularly the pineapple, went into the lettuce to make for a great tangy base. Any fruit can easily be added to a salad, and they don't have to be all sweet based. I find the blueberries are a great addition to any salad, along with strawberries and citrus. 

Toss on Some Nuts/Seeds 

Adding seeds to a salad allows for an easy way to add a little extra protein and nutrients as well as some crunch. In a salad such as this one above (based on this recipe), the pumpkin seeds provide some addition calories and fats to help make the salad a full meal. Some seed ideas could be pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds, while some nut options are chopped pecans or walnuts. 

Clean Out the Fridge

Sometimes the most random combinations come together to make the best salad. For example, this salad is probably one of my favorites that I made all year, and it is just made of anything I could find. There is lettuce, cucumber, asparagus, tomato, avocado, orange and shrimp. This isn't your typical salad you would find anywhere, but it really hit the spot and made for a great meal. You can easily kill two birds with one stone by making a yummy salad and using up those leftovers in fridge. 

 Do you have any special salad making tips?

xoxo,

Maddie 

Tuesday's Eats: Back to Normal Eating

Well we had a bit of an unexpected break over the past couple of weeks. I ended up in the hospital two weeks ago due to severe anemia (I'm totally fine now), then I had to catch up quickly with missed school work because I had 4 exams and a paper last week and finally it was my sororities mom's weekend two weekends ago. On top of that, I could access my blog for a couple of days. This past week was really my first normal week back, so with that, here was I ate in this "normal" week.

Breakfast: Almond Butter Toast w/ Kiwi, Blueberries, Strawberries

We had a bunch of fruit around the house so I took advantage of that. That morning all I wanted was the fruit, so I just had. a piece of toast with a hearty spread of almond butter on it. I wasn't sure if this would keep me full for the whole morning, but it did. (probably due to my amount of almond butter) Any time I can start my day with this much fruit, I know it will be a food day.

Lunch: Salad w/ Tofu, Avocado, Grapefruit, Orange, Onion, Feta and Pumpkin Seeds

I got this salad from a food truck on campus that I had been wanting to try.  It was a perfect sunny day so a bright salad was what I was really craving. Sadly, this salad wasn't that good. I still finished it, but it wasn't the best. I think it was just because it had plain avocado, and maybe the lettuce tasted weird. I don't know really know, but I do know that I will be sticking with my favorite spring roll food truck for whenever I get food from a food truck.

Dinner: Shrimp. Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Salad w/ Tomato, Cucumber and Shrimp Scampi Sauce

This night was shrimp scampi for dinner, but since I don't really love the pasta we are served, I just decided a lot of shrimp was what I wanted. I ended up putting the shrimp scampi sauce on my salad to make an amazing shrimp scampi salad. Shrimp is my preferred salad protein, so this really hit the sport. The most important part of the meal to me was the brussels sprouts. I''m 99% sure I went back for seconds strictly for the sprouts. I absolutely love Brussel sprouts so I will eat them for days if we have leftovers.

Dessert: Popcorn and Morning Glory Muffin w/ Almond Butter

I definitely needed a snack after dinner, so I had some popcorn and pulled a muffin out of the freezer for dessert. I have a lot of muffins frozen in the shared freezer in my sorority so that whenever I want a baked good I can have one. It makes up for all of the days when there is no gluten free bread around that I can eat. I wasn't sure if I was wanted sweet or savory, so this combination made for a filling and satisfying dessert/snack.

What's your favorite lunch?

xoxo,

Maddie