10 Easy Ways to Get Outside This Summer

There is no better time to be able to enjoy the outdoors than during the summer. As I write this I am sitting on my couch wishing I could be outside doing something other than reading or watching TV. I normally try to be really active and make the most of summer. Until now, I had not realized how many great ways there are to be outside, some I can do right now and some I can't. No matter what your activity level is, there are always ways to be outside and make the most of the weather. 

Eat Al Fresco

Eating outside is my favorite part of summer. My mom and I eat outside for every meal possible. This means almost every day we have breakfast and lunch outside, but rarely dinner. My dad doesn't like to eat outside, and then later in the year the mosquitos get really bad which both mean no outdoor dinners. 

Walk a Dog

No Dog? No Problem, borrow someone else's. I am serious. Walking a dog is such a great way to get outside without spending money or doing anything too strenuous. I really like taking my dog on a walk so I am not walking around alone. If you don't have a dog, I guarantee you know someone who does. Especially if they work, they may love it if you would take their dog on a walk for you. My sisters boyfriend loves dogs, but doesn't have one, so he will come over so they can walk my dog. 

Make an Outdoor Workout

In the week before my surgery I stopped lifting weight in exchange for outdoor HIIT workouts. You can either make up your own, or find a bunch of different workouts online. There is nothing quite like working out outside and getting your sweat on. I find working out is much more fun outdoors anyways. I can never get myself motivated for HIIT at the gym, but I am all for it outdoors. 

Garden

Gardening is an easy way to get outside. You do need some more room to do this if you want to have a large garden, but even something as simple as putting potted plants on your patio can make you go outside. Having your plants outside forces you to leave the house, but at least you need to water them depending on the weather. Gardening is great because it can keep you occupied all summer starting with planting, to weeding, and then to the best part- harvesting. 

Visit Your farmers market

Unless you are brand new to the blog, you know how much I love the farmers market. Heck, I even went to the market two days after my hip surgery. The market is a great place to walk around,  get some food and enjoy the outdoors. You can easily pick up some groceries for the week, or even just grab that days lunch from a food vendor. 

Read Outdoors

I love to read on the beach, but since I don't live near the beach, reading on my patio is the next best option. Pick up a book or magazine and enjoy the outdoors. This idea is as easy as that. 

Go on a Walking Date 

Sick of spending money on coffee or dinner dates, trying going for a walk instead. You can make it an adventure and go hiking, or just keep it simple and walk around a neighborhood. This is a free way to spend time with friends and loved ones that also happens to get you moving and outdoors, what more could you want?

Stargaze

The clear skies of summer lend themselves perfectly for stargazing. Make this night a big night with bonfires, s'mores and stars, or you can simply just turn out the lights and lay on the grass. Stargazing does require cooperating weather but if the stargazing session just turns into s'mores, you'll still end up having a great evening outside. 

Lounge in a Hammock

Lazy days lying on hammocks are a great part of summer. Hammocks are the best when surrounded by friends, or all alone with a good book. If you remember to put on sunscreen, taking a nap is such a great way to spend the afternoon. It would be annoying to wake up with a massive sunburn, but as long as you remember the sunscreen this is a great idea. 

Park Far Away

If none of these options are seeming easily accessible to you, then you can still find ways to be outside. When running errands, you can park at the end of the parking lot and walk. It might not seem like a lot of time outside, but by the time you lower your sunglasses and enjoy some fresh air, you will still be in a better mood. Even running a couple errands can add up more and more time outside. 

How do you like to get outside in the summer?

xoxo,

Maddie

Tuesday's Eats: A Typical Summer Day

Now I can finally show you what I eat on a normal day, no dumb low fiber diet or anything like that. These days I just need to focus on protein intake which has been a fun challenge for me. I don't typically focus that much on protein other than to make a balanced meal, but the need to up my protein has made it a bigger focus. Here is what I have been eating with the extra protein. 

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt w/ Grain-free granola, blueberries, strawberries and a peach 

When I start to make breakfast, I peel a peach. I love to have a peach every morning. They are my favorite fruit so I need to take advantage of peach season. From there I look for protein so recently it means eggs or yogurt. Today I had a parfait as well also had local berries, and it made for the perfect summer breakfast. 

Snack: Gluten Free Rhubarb Oat Muffins (from Jar of Lemons) 

I had a little morning snack of a muffins I had just made. I wasn't really hungry, but of course whenever you make something you need to taste test it. These muffins were so easy to make, and taste amazing. Recently I have been changing around recipes and having fun with that. The only change I made to these muffins was to add wayyy more rhubarb. I love these muffins so I will need to make more in order to freeze them for the school year. 

Lunch: Local Greens w/ Grilled Onions, Strawberries, Chicken, Avocado and Hemp Seeds

Whenever my mom and I deiced to have a salad for lunch, typically about 4 days a week, it really means we want to clean out the fridge and make room so that we can go to another farmer's market. I saw leftover chicken and strawberries so I knew I needed to make a salad that had a "strawberry chicken salad" theme. This salad was amazing as all the flavors worked so well together. 

 Snack: Mango Spinach Collagen Smoothie 

I have been having this smoothie on repeat recently. I found this recipe somewhere on instagram, and it love that it is 4 ingredients and higher protein. It is just mango, spinach, almond milk and collagen. I just this as a way to add a little more protein in my day if I am not near enough to meet my post-surgery protein needs. 

 Dinner: Taco Salad w/ Pulled Beef, Cucumbers, Cheese, Salsa and Plantain Chips 

Dinner tonight was tacos, but since we didn't have any corn torilllas around I made a taco bowl. In a the same mindset as with lunch, I just added whatever I could find in the fridge that fit the "Mexican" theme of the night. It turned out to be a really yummy bowl. 

see you soon!

xoxo,

Maddie 

Tuesday's Eats: Post Hip Surgery

If you remember from my marathon training (here), I hurt my hip in the process. Well after months of PT and finally an MRI, I found out that I tore my labrum in my hip. Last Thursday is when I had hip surgery to repair the tear so since then I've been on crutches and am hobbling around. It hasn't changed too much about how I eat other than I am taking collagen to help with my repair and protein powder as well. Extra protein is so important to recovery from an injury so that has become a priority for me.

Snack: Chocolate Walnut Brownie Perfect Bar 

The pain medience I was on initially caused me to have a really upset stomach so I had to be taken off of that. This morning was one of the first days I felt like eating, so I ended up waking up at 5am to starving after not really eating a lot the night before. I have stocked up on Perfect Bars so that I can have some easy, high protein snacks that I can get myself. The lack of ability to move around has limited my food preparation. 

 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs w/ Sprouts, Peach, Strawberries, Blueberries, and Sausage 

If you didn't see on instagram (@classyandcleverblog), we finally had a peach delivery from Tree Ripe Citrus! They drive peaches up from Pearson Farms in Georgia and the peaches are amazing. My family looks forward to these all year. We also now have strawberries and blueberries at our farmer's market. It is so nice to finally be in the season when we have all the fruit.

 Lunch: Kale Salad w/ Leftover Salmon, Avocado, Tomato, Sauerkraut, Cucumber, and Radish 

My mom and I often make these crazy fun salad bowls out of all of the veggies we have in the house. It is a great way to use up produce purchased at the farmers market. For protein we use up either tings leftover from previous dinners, such as this salmon, or we used canned tuna or beans. I love this lunch because it always tastes a little different, but never disappoints.  

 Snack: Skyr

Yogurt is another really easy, high protein snack that I can get for myself. Yogurt and fresh fruit is so good, but I had snacked on fruit all day as well, so I chose a flavored yogurt to enjoy. I also like Siggi's skyr, but Icelandic Provisions has the best flavors. They are much stronger flavors, and just a little more unique.

Dinner: Instant Pot Chicken Korma (recipe) w/ Cauliflower Rice and Broccoli 

My family has been trying a lot of new recipes recently and this one went over really well. It was nice and easy to make in the Instant Pot. There was a lot of flavor, and it was so good with cauliflower rice. I love how cauliflower rice can just take the flavor of any sauce. As someone who doesn't like rice, it is a great option for me. I ended up chopping up my broccoli and mixing it with everything else. It wasn't pretty, but it was delicious. 

Dessert: Peach Crisp (Recipe) w/ Vanilla Ice Cream

Of course we had to take advantage of having all of the peaches around. We made the peach crisp the night before when my grandparents were over, and this night we had the leftovers with a little vanilla ice cream. The crisp reheated perfectly after being placed under the broiler for a little bit. The topping had gone a little soggy, but the broiler fixed that perfectly.

Days of eating like this make me so happy! 

until next time,

xoxo, 

Maddie 

Tuesday's Eats: A Very Hungry Caterpillar

When I was really little I loved the book "A Very Hungry Caterpillar", and so when I would eat a lot as a kid my mom would call me her hungry caterpillar. Today it has still stuck with me as the book always comes to mind on days I need a lot of snacks. There was no particular reason for me being extra hungry this day, but I made sure to listen to my body and eat more when I needed to. Here is what I ate. 

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Tomatoes, Kale Salad and a Peach

I eat something like this almost every day in the summer. Egg for protein, and then all of the fruits and veggies I want. The biggest form of variation I have is making toast instead of eggs, but I love this breakfast so much that I don't see myself changing any time soon. 

Snack: Cereal Mix with Cinnamon, Peanut Butter and Flaxseed

Normally my breakfast keeps me full until lunch but not this day. I needed a snack in the middle of the morning so I mixed cinnamon Chex, multi-grain Puffins and Purely Elizabeth granola. I topped it with peanut butter and flax for some healthy fats and protein to make for a more filling snack than just bowl of cereal. 

Lunch: Chickpea Pasta with Spinach, Broccoli, Tomato Sauce and Parmesan Cheese

There have been a lot of rainy and dreary days recently so a warm bowl of pasta was needed for lunch. I love chickpea pasta for the added protein that normal gluten free pasta lacks. For this meal I found all of our leftover veggies from the week and threw them in the bowl. This was nothing special but it really hit the spot. 

Snack: Date Pinwheel Cookies and Tea

My mom and I were out running errands so we decided to pick up a treat from a gluten free bakery. I have been liking dates more and more so I wanted to try these cookies. Boy, are they so good that it was hard to not eat the whole bag. 

 Snack: Bhu Fit Protein Bar

After going for a walk with my parents I really needed another snack to tide me over until dinner time. I normally try to not reach for a protein bar at home since I can make myself a nicer snack, but this bar was calling my name. I just discovered them this spring, and I have really liked having some around. 

Dinner: Korean Kabobs, Roasted Cauliflower and Cucumber Salad

These kabobs were amazing. It was a different kind of meat preparation than we normally have, and it was a great change of pace. As usual, my mom made this dinner, but everyone else had pasta while I had roasted cauliflower. My dinners typically look a little different than the rest of my family due to gluten free modifications, but adding veggies makes me happier anyways. 

Dessert: Vanilla Ice Cream with Canned Door County Cherries

You have no idea how much I am dying for cherry season. I love all stone fruit (way more than berries or anything else) and of the stone fruit, cherries and peaches are my favorite. These cherries are no sugar added canned cherries from a vendor at my farmers market, so it has been helping me get through this sad time without cherries. 

Quick heads up that posting might get a little all over the place as I am getting hip surgery at the end of this week. 

Until next time, 

Maddie 

Tuesday's Eats: 100% Wisconsin Dinner

Summer is in full swing now with the weather getting nicer and now all of my family is done with school. I have been loving going hiking, being outside and of course the fact that more and more farmers markets are opening up! The best part of the weekend was I got to go to my first concert - Paul McCartney. It was so much fun, and it has made me want to go to all of the concerts around me. Overall all this past week was the perfect introduction to summer. With that, here is all the yummy food I made and ate. 

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ Carrots, Cauliflower Rice, Cherries, Plums and Maple Syrup

This particular morning the rest of my family was eating waffles for breakfast, so I figured I would make oats so that I could fulfill my maple syrup cravings. I threw in some carrots and leftover cauliflower rice for some veggies and volume. I love adding these two in particularly because they don't add too much flavor, but do have a good texture. I am very impatiently waiting for cherry season to arrive so I have been eating tons of frozen cherries, hence the addition in the oats.

 Lunch: Sweet Potato Salmon Burger w/ Kale Salad and Tomatoes

One of my favorite summer activities is making new recipes for lunch with my mom. We tried this sweet potato salmon burger, but we won't be making it again. It was a little to damp tasting and fragile, and we also already have a good recipe so don't need a subpar version. I did love putting it on a bed of kale with tomatoes. Tomatoes have been my favorite thing to eat recently, but that doesn't surprise me as tomatoes are one of the best summer foods.

Lunch Dessert: Ice Cream

The girls in my family decided to make an ice cream run together after lunch. I got Mackinac Island Fudge which is vanilla ice cream with fudge ripples and fudge chunks. This is always a good choice for whenever I don't know what to get. My favorite ice cream flavors aren't gluten free (go figure) so the past year has meant I've needed to try different flavors. For the first ice cream run of the summer I wanted to stick with a classic, so that's what I enjoyed. 

 Snack: GT Lemonade Kombucha

I don't normally pick up random things to try when I am at the grocery store, but as I mentioned in my spring favorites (read here) I have really been liking kombucha. My store was having a big sale so my mom and I got this flavor to try. I loved how it tasted less sweet than others I've tried, and it also had a more subtle flavor which was appreciated. I end up sipping on kombucha throughout the day instead of drinking it all in one sitting so this was more of an all afternoon snack.

Dinner: Chicken w/ Roasted Potatoes, Tomatoes, Salad and Mushrooms (Morels and King Trumpet) 

At the farmers market this weekend we picked up a local chicken so my mom and I though it would fun to take all of our produce we bought to make a fully Wisconsin dinner. Everything is from either our CSA (greens), farmers market (chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms) or the grocery store (potatoes). Our grocery sells Wisconsin based potatoes so we were able to make that fit in the dinner for a starch. We loved this idea so much that we are hoping to pick a day of the week where every meal will be 100% local! 

Until next week,

Maddie  

Spring Favorites 2019

I can't believe it is already June. Time has absolutely flown by between finishing up school and starting my summer job. I was so overwhelmed with things to do over the first half of the month, that I have been really enjoying being able to relax a little bit more during the second half of the month. One of the fun things about this month was that I was able to try more new things. Of the new and the old this spring, here were my favorites.

Green Juice: I have been having so much fun trying new juices. I have been trying different juice brands and also making my own juices. My favorite juice that I have bought is by Juiced! Kay Dee Power and my favorite recipe that I have made is just kale, lemon, lime and ginger. Juices have been so fun to add to breakfasts and snacks as a way to add some extra nutrients in my day and just to have another tasty treat.

Fage Greek Yogurt: I ate so much of this yogurt earlier this May that I need to take a breather from eating yogurt. At school I had some for breakfast almost daily. Yogurt is such an easy way to make sure that you get protein in your day. My favorite ways to eat yogurt are with fruit or jam for something sweet, or with EBTB seasoning for a savory snack.

Sunglasses: Nothing makes me happier than when it is finally sunny in Wisconsin. Pulling out the sunglasses means that spring is here, and that soon the weather will be warm. I really love these sunglasses in particular because they look like a pair of Ray Bans that I like, but instead they are only $20 from Amazon so I don't have to worry about losing them. I bought them last year and it might be my favorite purchase of last summer.

Kombucha:I have always wanted to like Kombucha, but every time I had tried it I disliked it and ended up giving it to my sister. Finally I found a couple flavors that I really like! The lemon raspberry flavor from Kevita was the first one I liked. I also really like blueberry basil. I know I will have fun trying different flavors this summer as Kombucha gives a great alternative for when you are sick of drinking water and want to change it up.

Bhu Keto Protein Bars: It tried these bars for the first time at my work, and I was surprised by how much I liked them, particularly the refrigerated Keto bars. They remind me a lot of Perfect Bars, but with more dessert like flavors. I have tried almost all of the flavors, both refrigerated and not, and I think my favorite one is the peanut butter cookie dough bar. I would fully recommend  trying these.

Avocado Mug: My sister bought me this mug for my birthday and I have been loving it. It was so sweet that she remembered how over winter break the two of us had been looking at the mug, and I was saying how much I loved it.

Eating Well Magazine: I love cooking magazines and cook books so much. I read a ton in the summer, and one of my favorite ways to change up what I am reading is to read cookbooks instead of novels. Eating Well is one of my favorites because it is more seasonal than the other magazines, and it also can have a lot of fun health information.

What have you liked this past May?

xoxo,

Maddie 

Tuesday's Eats: A Low Fiber Diet

This was a standard week except for one thing.. I couldn't eat anything (not even two grapes) without bloating a lot. This has been happening for two weeks, except that I decided last weekend to try to do something about it. I did some research and found a low fiber diet might give my digestive system a chance to rest which would cause the bloating to go down. I am only going to eat like this for a maximum of 5 days because you don't get a lot of the nutrients you' get from eating fruits and veggies. So far, I have seen little to no change but I am still willing to give it a shot for a couple more days in the hopes of feeling normal again. Here is what a low fiber day looks like for me. 

Breakfast: Berry Juice + Peeled Apricot +  Greek Yogurt w/ Peach Jam, Rice Chex and Cinnamon

I thought breakfast would be the hardest meal to figure out but it hasn't been that bad. I had the juice to make sure to got my vitamins in that I would normally get from my typical pile of fruit. The mock parfait turned out alright, even though rice Chex is not exactly my preferred topping of choice. Of course my favorite part of the breakfast was the peeled apricot. I love love love all stone fruit, so I was really happy to see I could still eat one a day if I peeled it. 

Snack: Tuna Salad w/ Peeled Cucumbers and Pretzels 

I knew I would need a snack before working because I wasn't sure that there would be anything I could eat there. Tuna salad was a great, quick way to fill up and get me through the rest of the morning. I made mine with mustard, greek yogurt, cucumber and random spices I found in the cupboard. It was't the greatest but it got the job done. 

Lunch: Banana + Primal Kitchen Protein Bar + Roast Pork (unpictured) 

This was not so much of a meal as just grazing throughout the day. I had the banana and bar earlier, and the pork later on. I chose this bar because it was one of the only ones at the store that had one gram of fiber while still being more that a glorified cookie. The bar was a big disappointment. It was really hard to eat and it did not taste that great. I won't be purchasing it again. 

Dinner: Hamburger + Peeled Cucumber + Baked Potato w/ Pasta Sauce

This dinner looks quite different than my other normal pictures of plates full of veggies. I am already missing my veggies so much even though it has only been a couple days. That being said, this still turned out to be a yummy dinner. I have always loved my mom's hamburgers so any night we have those is a good night. 

Dessert: Coffee Ice Cream 

Depending on how my stomach has been feeling, I like to have a small dessert to finish out the night. Last night I chose coffee ice cream which is my favorite flavor. Recently I have been feeling the worst right after dinner so I haven't been having as much dessert, but I really want to get everything figured out before fruit season is in full swing. Nothing makes me happier than ending my day with a fruit dessert.

Until Friday!

xoxo,

Maddie