Meet the Neighbors with Maya Krampf
Today on Meet the Neighbors we are visiting with Maya Krampf, who blogs over at Wholesome Yum. Maya prefers to create recipes that are low-carb and gluten free. She also tries to keep her recipes to 10 ingredients or less. She is also extremely intelligent and works as a software engineer. So brains and talent! 🙂 What are we waiting for? Let’s meet her!
You can find more of Maya’s delicious recipes on her blog, as well as on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
What is your name, and where are you located? (Hint: if you live in Hawaii, I am packing my bags as we speak 😉
My name is Maya. I was born in Russia but grew up in Minnesota. I still have an Eastern European side to me. I love the culture here in Minnesota (so many foodies!), but hate the weather. And I’ll join you in Hawaii! 😉
Tell us a little bit about yourself– what is the name of your blog, and how did you get started?
I blog over at Wholesome Yum. I’m very logical and a scientist at heart, but have a fierce creative streak. I started experimenting with cooking as a teenager. Back then, I also had an online magazine (teen themed), which grew to 5000 subscribers before I got too busy for it when I started college. I got my degree in computer science and started working as a software engineer, which I still do. In my mid-20’s, I returned to my passion for food, this time with an interest in healthy, low carb, and gluten-free cooking. I made it my mission to lead a healthier lifestyle, including changes in the foods I ate and how often I worked out. I quickly realized that I felt so much better eating low carb and gluten-free foods. I spent a couple of years doing this before discovering my love for creating my own recipes, and started doing that on a regular basis. Last year, my low carb, gluten-free blog began as a way to keep track of my recipes and re-establish my online presence. When I started diving into social media and paying attention to what my readers want to see, I transformed the blog into a focus on recipes that are not only gluten-free and low carb, but are also simple and have 10 ingredients or less. People don’t have a lot of time these days, and I love showing them that clean eating doesn’t have to be complex or boring.
What is your favorite food? And what is your least favorite food?
My favorite food is eggs. Seriously, give me eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Whether it’s an omelet, sunny side up, poached, or hard boiled, I’ll take eggs any way you make them. I love how protein-packed they are, and they have tons of other nutrients as well. The only way I won’t eat eggs is if they are overcooked. My least favorite food is rice; I don’t like the texture, and I also believe it’s not nutrient-dense enough to be worth eating. It happens to be too high in carbs for my liking, as well.
What advice would you give someone who is just starting to cook?
Start with others’ recipes that are easy and vetted. Follow the recipe, measure things, and keep it simple at first. Make different types of dishes using similar ingredients so that you can see how they interact with different preparation methods and temperatures. Once you’ve done it enough times, you’ll be able to wing it, eyeball ingredients, or throw in some of your own.
What keeps you going, every day? Who are your greatest cheerleaders/supporters?
What drives me the most is my passion for food, photography, and writing. I’m very logical at my full-time job writing software, so having the creative outlets that blogging provides is a welcome change. The other thing that drives me a lot is my readers. Seeing people make my recipes puts the biggest smile on my face. Finally, watching my husband and daughter enjoy the meals I prepare makes it all worth it.
Maya was kind enough to share with us her recipe for Cajun Onion rings. Maya says:
“I was inspired to create them when I was missing those onion rings at restaurants that taste so amazing – and make me feel the opposite. I love transforming unhealthy dishes like this into healthy ones, made with gluten-free, low carb, and natural ingredients. I think the cajun seasonings make these onion rings unique, and it also gives them a gorgeous pop of color. They go really well with my spicy appetizer dipping sauce.”
Maya, thanks so much for spending time with us here on Cookies for England! We really enjoyed getting to know you and finding out more about your delicious recipes! 🙂
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which just means that we get a few pennies if you purchase through our link. I never recommend products that I don't personally use and love. Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m excited to be featured here on Cookies for England.
It was my pleasure! 🙂