52 in 52: Week 21

It feels like it has a been so long since I have blogged. My laptop has not been working well so it is really annoying to be on it for more than a couple of minutes. I have been using it as an excuse to stay off of electronics and enjoy the nice weather. It has been so hot outside (for Wisconsin in May) that I have not really wanted to cook anything. Instead I have making snack plates with fruit, hard boiled eggs, veggies and hummus for a lot of my lunches. That being said, I have still managed to make some tasty meals. 

This week I made crispy tofu. I have wanted to find a way to enjoy tofu since it is a cheap protein source that would be nice to have as an option next year. I used this recipe from the blog From My Bowl. The outside was just nutritional yeast and coconut aminos. I was not sure if it would work well, but it made for the crispiest tofu I have ever had. 

This recipe is great because you can easily add a lot of seasonings to change up the flavor profile. I made this without anything added, but next time I want to try it with garlic powder or something similar. The tofu worked well in a bowl as shown above, but I think it would also be great as a fun snack or appetizer with a dip. I highly recommend this recipe for anyone who wants to find new ways to enjoy plant based proteins. 

until next time, 

Maddie

52 in 52: Week 20

Toast has always been one of my favorite foods. It does not take too much looking on my Instagram (@classyandcleverblog)  to see that I love avocado toast with a sunny side up egg. But recently my family has been flying through the avocado. Four of the five of us really love them, so avocados do not last long in my house. I was having a craving for a sunny side up egg and toast, but I wanted another toast topping as well. I won't lie, I think what I came up with this week is so good that even avocado toast now has real competition. 

I made toast and topped it with natural peanut butter, arugula. bagel seasoning and then a sunny side up egg. I have also made it with red pepper flakes and micro greens, both combinations are out of this world.  The savory flavor of natural peanut butter (ie no added sugars) goes perfect with the eggs. The arugula add a nice peppery flavor, but different micro greens can add that as well. I really like to top my eggs with bagel seasoning if I am in the mood for a crunch, but adding just sesame seeds does the same thing. If you prefer spicy foods, that is where I would recommend the red pepper flakes.

I HIGHLY recommend you try out this toast combination. I know that I will be eating this all of the time, especially when I go back to school and my mom no longer buys me tons of avocados. Making this with peanut butter cuts down the price of the toast, while also adding some protein that will help keep you full longer. I am not saying this is an avocado toast substitute but it is an amazing alternative. 

Let me know if you try this!

xoxo, 

Maddie

2020 Spring Favorites

The spring semester ended for me a little over a week ago, and it went my quickly. When I was trying to think of what to write for this post, I realized that I was great about trying new things without going crazy and spending tons of money. My focus has been on staying healthy by minimizing injury from running as well as making new good. This comes through in what I have loved using this past spring. 

Lululemon Swiftly Long Sleeve: This whole spring until just last week was so cold. I was really thankful for my Lulu long sleeve during my morning runs, as it is the perfect shirt for the windy 40 degree mornings we have been having.

Garmin Vivoactive 4s: I bought my Garmin right around Christmas last year as a reward for finishing PT for my hip surgery, but go figure I hurt my hamstring almost right away. Part of attempting to fix my hamstring has involved slowing my pace down a lot. This watch has been really helpful with tracking my pace, and on a less important note, I have had a lot of fun tracking my water as well. 

Foam Roller: I used to use this kind of foam roller in high school when I worked out at a gym, but since then I haven't. With getting back into running, my legs have been very sore so I decided to invest in a nice roller. Now, even when I don't feel like running, I go on a run just to use the foam roller. It always feels so good. 

Champion Wisconsin Hoodie: I am not one to spend money on an oversized hoodie, but when I happened to find one at my school bookstore for  50% off, I did not hesitate. I had planned on wearing during finals this spring, but instead it turned into my quarantine hoodie for the days I did not want to deal with looking good. Talk about a great impulse buy. 

Patagonia Jacket: As I mentioned above, the weather was not great this spring. Because of this, I found myself wearing this Patagonia jacket all of the time when running errands or taking walks. Since my winter parka is really heavy, this jacket was perfect for anything between 32-50 degrees.

Nutritional Yeast: I had mentioned previously in this 52 in 52 blogpost that I tried nutritional yeast for the first time this winter. Since being home, I have also gotten my mom hooked on it, so we have been using it in all sorts of recipes. My favorite recipe so far was a nutritional yeast dressing from Eating Bird Food that we used for kale salad.

Body Love Every Day: I picked up this book from my public library right before it closed. I have really been loving some of these smoothies. I have tried several, and all of them were great. My favorite smoothie was the cookies and cream smoothie that has chocolate protein powder, flaxseeds, almond butter, blueberries and spinach. You can find that recipe and several others from Kelly LeVeque's book on her website (here). 

Prophecy Sauvignon Blanc: Once the weather starts to get warmer, I really like to have a glass of white wine in the evenings. This sauvignon blanc I picked up from my grocery store and loved it. This wine has a crisp taste, which is exactly what I am looking for after a long day outside in the sun. I highly recommend trying it out. 

8" Cast Iron Skillet: I have had this skillet for a while, but never used it a lot. Now I have been obsessed with making socca so it is used several times a week. Socca is a crispy chickpea pancake popular in southern France. Making a good socca requires a cast iron skillet, and this. 8 inch size allows me to make the perfect size socca for one. 

The Rise & Conquer Podcast: I like to listen to a podcast during my afternoon walks and after listening to several, this podcast is by far and away my favorite. Georgie Stevenson is so fun to listen to, and I love that she can really make you think. The topics very which keeps it interesting, ranging from lessons learned in business to manifesting your life to breaking up with diet culture. The episodes never fail to entertain me on my long walks. 

What have you been enjoying this spring? 

xoxo, 

Maddie 

52 in 52: Week 19

It doesn't take much looking around the blog to tell I like pancakes a lot. It is pretty much once a week that I try out a new pancake recipe, but I have yet to find the perfect one for me. For the longest time I have had a bag of  Birch Benders Keto Pancake Mix sitting around in my cupboard. I got it as a gift, tried it once according to the packaging directions and thought it was okay. The almond flour taste was really strong, and the pancake was grainy. I had tucked the mix away a forgot about it. 

I rediscovered the mix a couple of weeks ago, and had been thinking of how I could mess around with it so that I would actually like eating it. I hate throwing away good food, so I knew I was going to eat it one way or another. I added 1/3 c. mix, 1 egg and then almond milk until it made a thick pancake batter. I then let it sit as I heated up an 8" skillet. I poured in all of the batter to make one large pancake, and covered the pan with a lid. I find that this helps the pancake fluff up a little more and it also helps it cook through completely. 

This makes an amazing pancake. It was fully cooked through, something I find that is a problem with grain-free pancakes, and it was really thick and fluffy. I think the egg helped tone down the taste of the almond flour as well. This pancake was also really filling, between the protein in the egg and the mix, I was completely full until lunch time. If you have the keto pancake mix, I would highly recommend trying to make it with this method. I think this would also work well with any other pancake mix, so I'd be interest to hear how it works. 

Until next time, 

Maddie

Zucchini Bread Smoothie

I have always been a huge fan of zucchini bread. It was always one of my favorite things to eat when I was younger (and not gluten free). For years now I have been trying to find a good gluten free zucchini bread recipe, but I still have yet to find the perfect one. I had seen people make zucchini bread smoothies on instagram, so since I had leftover zucchini in the house, I decided to freeze it and make my own version. 

This recipe turned out so well. I did not actually think that I could get a smoothie to taste like zucchini bread, but the mix of zucchini, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla protein was suprisingly accurate. I have already made this several times, and I know that once zucchini's are in season in Wisconsin, this smoothie will become a constant in my smoothie rotation. 

Zucchini Bread Smoothie

Serves: 1 Large or 2 Small

Ingredients 

1 c. frozen zucchini

1/2 frozen banana

handful of kale (or spinach) 

1 T. almond butter

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder 

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon) 

1 1/2 c.  almond milk 

Instructions

Blend until smoothie and enjoy! 

Let me know if you try this out! 

xoxo, 

Maddie

52 in 52: Week 18

By the time this is posted, finals are officially over! It's been a long week (+) of studying, dealing with unhelpful professors and trying to keep life together without going crazy. Normally finals is made better by studying with friends, taking coffee/lunch breaks together and just having someone to complain to. This year that was obviously wasn't that. Snapchat/texting/whatever just isn't the same, so finals felt much longer than normal. By Thursday this week, I finally only had one exam left which left me time to play in the kitchen and spend some time outside preparing the garden for the summer. It was a much need rest from going over flashcards and more flashcards. 

This week I made Rachael DeVaux's Healthy Twix Bars. I have seen these bars all over Instagram, but never seemed to have the time or enough almond butter around. I try to make smaller batch treats since it gives me an excuse to bake more. I loved that this recipe used a 6x6 pan (I used a random dish) so I knew it would not make too much. These were so easy to make. The only downside is that they require a lot of time to make. You aren't in the kitchen for most of it, but there is a lot of cooling and freezing involved so this is not a last minute process. 

These were a hit with everyone who tried them, so I will definitely be keeping the recipe around. They do not taste like a Twix bar, sorry, but they taste so much better. It is a softer shortbread, and the "caramel" has an almond butter/maple flavor. I just used your classic semi-sweet chocolate chips on top, but I think they would be great with dark chocolate. If you have all of the ingredients around your house, I highly recommend that you try out these bars. 

Until next time, 

Maddie

Blender Veggie Pasta Sauce for One

Anytime I make dinner for myself at home, I always make pasta. I love pasta with a passion because it is so versatile. I have been experimenting with different kinds of pasta recipes that I can easily next school year. My only requirements are that they are cheap, fast, easy and somewhat healthy. It sounds like a lot, but in reality it has been pretty easy to find some good sauces.

This pasta sauce checks off all of the boxes. I would call this a pretty healthy sauce. It has three different veggies with carrots, cauliflower rice ad marinara. Personally, I feel you can count marinara sauce as a small bit of tomato, especially if you buy a higher quality sauce that is not full of unnecessary ingredients. At my house, we always have Silver Palate pasta sauce. This sauce is also so easy and fast. All you need to do is throw all of the ingredients into the blender. By the time your pasta is cooked, the sauce will be ready. 

I know that this sauce will become a staple in my diet, and I hope that you give it a try!

Blender Veggie Pasta
Servings: 1 (easily multiplied)

Ingredients
2-3oz dry pasta (I used Banza)

1 cup frozen cauliflower, defrosted and cooled
1/2 cup chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian)
1/3 cup marinara sauce
1 medium carrot, shredded (about 2/3 cup)
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt/pepper to taste

optional: spinach

Instructions

Boil water, and cook pasta according to the packages direction.

Add all of the sauce ingrinets (cauliflower through salt/pepper) to a blender, and blend until smoothie. Pour sauce into a pan, and heat through. Once pasta is done cooking, and warmed sauce and stir until evenly coated. At this point you can add in the optional spinach, and stir until wilted.

Notes

If making one serving, it will blend best in a smaller blender. The first time I made this I used a large Vitamix and it was still chunky just because the amount in the blender wasn't enough. I used a NutriBullet the second time, and it was the perfect size. 

For the cauliflower rice, I use frozen cauliflower rice that I defrost in the microwave. This causes the  size of the rice to shrink, so you may need to experiment if you are using freshly grated cauliflower rice that has been steamed. I have always used frozen cauliflower rice so I can't  help you there.

Leftover sauce can be stored in the refrigerator. It seemed to develop the flavors even more with time. 

This recipe was inspired by the Hungry Blonde.

What are your thoughts on this sauce?

Until next time, 

Maddie 

52 in 52: Week 17

Last week of "real" online classes and finals are next week so that meant that I did not spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I ended up making most of my lunches on a whim, so they were nothing special. I have made some fun breakfasts this week including a zucchini bread smoothie (recipe coming later) and these zucchini bread pancakes (recipe). I had leftover zucchini from the previous week, where I had zoodles with dinner. It was a perfect excuse to make these pancakes.

These pancakes tasted exactly how I remember my mom's zucchini bread tasting. I haven't actually had it in years since it isn't gluten free, so I had to double check with her that it was a similar taste. There is almond butter in the pancakes that gave a great yummy taste, but since the flour used was coconut flour, it wasn't too nutty. I topped my pancakes with defrosted blueberries and maple syrup, which made for a great way to start the day. 

Another thing that I loved about this recipe was that it is  a recipe for one, but without a crazy portion size. It was so easy to make, that I see myself making it all summer long once zucchinis are in season. If you ever find yourself with even the smallest zucchini, I highly recommend making these pancakes. 

Until next time, 

Maddie