Category: THM style Recipes

♥ THM “Pay Off Day” yummies

Are you stuck?  Are you stalling?  (This post is teetering THMers) Are you wanting to give up thinking you’ll ever get back on track Trim Healthy Mama stlye?  Maybe you have used the Trim Healthy Mama plan  with great-great results — weightloss, strength, energy, and confidence.  Yep, me, too.  Maybe you drifted away and gained back ten of the many more pounds you lost.  Yep, me, too.  Maybe you’ve tried to get back on track dozens of times.  Yep, me, too.  Maybe you’ve read or followed Sheri Graham, Gwen’s Nest, the THM books, THM websites and/or all sorts of Pinterest THM linked photos, tips and tricks.  Yep, me, too.

So what are we waiting for?  What are we doing, anyway? I don’t know… I don’t know what it takes to get in that THM zone where you won’t, can’t, don’t want to: veer off plan.  I know that when I was all in, I. was. all. in.  And then life happened… ten pounds came back to roost and… yep… all year, that’s where I’ve been.  All year.  Well, maybe a pound up, a pound down.  You know… boing, boing, boing… goes the scale, up one, down one, up one, down one.   It would have been more had I not had my eye on the plan’s principles at least one, maybe two meals a day.

I know the plan works.  I know it does.  And I know I can do it.  I know I can.  I did it.  And then I didn’t.

I took the time to tell you all that to say again:  What are we waiting for, anyway? Christmas? Ten more unwanted pounds?  A New Year?  Another “magic key” to success?  O-yeah… that’s what I have for you today.  ~wink~

I don’t know why in the world I haven’t made recipes from the new TrimHealthyMama Cookbook I’ve looked through dozens of times.  I love perusing the book.  Really, I do.  But now… I’m working my way through it—as in cooking my way through it.  I’m telling you — if you’re a nutcase like me — run, don’t walk — to the kitchen and make Pay Off Day Candies (p 381).  Make Skinny Chocolate (p 377).  Yes, both of them.   Put them in your fridge.  Go about your day… If noting else, get on the *three hour* eating plan.  Seriously.  Do it.  The old  THM way will come back to you.

 

 pamelaspurlingthmpayoffdaycandy1   pamelaspurlingthmpayoffdaycandy

Put the candies in the fridge… I know, you’ll taste them to see if they’re set.
I did, too. They were perfectly yummy!
Go ahead, do it… wait three hours for your next meal.
You can do it—We can do this together!  Yes, we can.

pamelaspurlingthmpayoffdaycandy2

And tomorrow morning, don’t feel too bad if you have two candies and two skinny’s for breakfast with your coffee.  I didn’t feel bad at all this morning.  They were delicious! And, yippy-skippy (o, no, not Skippy™) there are more in the fridge for later! ♥ pamelaspurlingthmpayoffdaycandy3

THM ♥ mama’s recipes

teacuppamela

It’s a beautiful day here!  Sunshine always seems to change my outlook — sort of, no matter what I’ve got to do, if the day’s a sunny one, generally, my attitude is sunny, too!  It’s taken me all these months of ‘working at’ the Trim Healthy Mama plan to get confident enough to begin sharing some of the different recipes or how I’ve learned to use the different recipes in the book — but every day I learn something new!  Ever a “free-styler” I have to really work at following the recipes.  But I’ve come to see and really appreciate the beauty of the THM plan is that once you have the basic understanding of meal guidelines, you can adapt the plan to your personal tastes, etc — and the recipes can be tweaked to fit your personal THM-style.  I have begun to call THM a method rather than a diet.  A diet (for most of us) is a temporary fix that is repeat over and over with the same results — some weightloss and the inevitable return of weight.  And then some.

Learning a method of doing something and having good results over a length of time seems to replace the old way of ‘behaving’ or doing things.  Most of us cannot stick with a *diet* bcz we miss so many things or we are overcome with temptation, we cheat, we figure we can never lose weight, we give in to the temptations that made us fat and unhealthy in the first place and then, to make matters worse, we give up.  And get fat.  And unhealthy.  And the cycle repeats.  Over and over again, we recycle the same problem.   The bizarre thing is that when we’re not dieting at all, we don’t call eating a cookie or candy: cheating.  We’re just eating.  We’re just eating cookies and candies… O, we might feel like we shouldn’t eat many of them, but we don’t generally call it cheating unless we’re on a diet.

That ought to spark a lightbulb going on in our minds!  How can we stop dieting and start eating so that we stop the enticement of cheating?  And stop loathing our food decisions?  And our bodies?    Intro: THM.

rosecolouredglasses

The beauty of the THM method, of eating and living is that you will learn and continue learning and exploring all sorts of new ways to prepare and eat healthful and satisfying meals.  I wouldn’t tell you this if it weren’t so—I couldn’t tell you this if I hadn’t already been traveling this path.  Perhaps that’s why I’ve waited this long to really delve into sharing specifics and, now, recipes.  I thought it wise to start right in with:  Candy!

skinnychocolates

In the book, the basic recipe is on page 371… I know, right?!?!
All the way to page 371 and you find out about  (S) Skinny Chocolate?!?!  Yes.

I make these and call them Mama’s Candies… The candies are in a jar (or two) in the fridge if you want one. Or two.

I make them in my “mini muffin” pans lined with mini-muffin papers.  I do this primarily bcz it’s easier to pop them out of the pan with they’re set and it’s easier for me to take them where I’m having a cuppa coffee. :o)

I quadruple the recipe in the book and make 72 candies — they’re approximately 50-55 calories each.   Though the THM plan is not a calorie counting plan, it’s wise to know approximately what the value is so that you don’t go overboard eating stuff.  In this way, I know that I am perfectly, perfectly fine with having a couple of these each day with no worries at all.  In the beginning, as with *cream* in my coffee, until I calculated the calorie content, I was a bit more freestyling! ~smile~  And am still okay with all that early learning… it all worked out fine.

So here’s my recipe — I line 3  24-cup Mini muffin pans with mini muffin papers or liners (thus the 72 candy size recipe).  Determine a flat area in the fridge to set the filled pans.

And then, in a measuring bowl I place…
2 Cups very warm Coconut Oil
1 Cup Cocoa
4 Tblsp. *ground Truvia
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1+ tsps. Vanilla

I either use a whisk or my stick blender to thoroughly blend all the ingredients.  Then, I pour the chocolatey-goodness to fill each lined muffin cup.  Then you’ll see that there is still some chocolately-goodness left in the measuring bowl.  Lick your fingers clean. Unplug the stick blender… yes, you know you wanna… then wash it, too.
Set the filled muffin pans in the predetermined level place in your refrigerator — stack, but stagger them so the cups rest slightly  beside each other not *in* each other.  I know. ;o)
In an hour or two, you’ll have “mama’s candies.”  Proceed with caution.  And… these are an *S* And you won’t feel well if you eat all you think you want.

* I grind Truvia & the Sea Salt in a coffee grinder I have dedicated solely to this (and herbs)  purpose.  When I don’t grind the salt, also, it’s kind of grainy in the smooth chocolate.
You can make these on a flat lined cookies sheet, too… but I found that the snapping off a piece here and a piece there was too much freedom for me.  I needed the discipline of a couple of pieces – not part of a slab of chocolatey-goodness.  I’ve also used candy molds, too.  Choose your best method…

Next time, Good Girl Moonshine !

http://store.trimhealthymama.com/default.asp

♥

THM = preparedness; sincerely.

NEW!  TrimHealthyMama Online Store

Mteacupany women are enjoying great success following the Trim Healthy Mama book & eating style or plan.  But many women aren’t.  I notice this many times as I read the different posts on the Facebook THM group “encouragement page” [my description] and the number of comments  that are either negative or reflect a lack of being able to stick with the THM meal plans.  Many women are simply feeling defeated as they try to “stay on plan.”

I don’t know why this is, exactly, but I think it has a lot to do with the proliferation of diets, programs and diet foods many women have tried (and failed) or have tried with  some success but as soon as the diet was ‘over’ or abandoned, the weightloss was erased and the weight increased.  Again.  There’s some strange psychological phenomenon that seems to occur with weightloss — especially major weightloss.  It’s like there’s a goal weight or a certain length of time for the ‘diet’ and then when either are achieved, the dieter rewards herself with food  — lots of the old “recently forbidden” delicious foods — and, just like that:  all that work, all that sacrificing, all that time spent straining toward the goal… Poof! Gone.

I know.  I know this all too well.

So what’s made *success* with THM different?  Is it the actual plan?  Is it all the camaraderie and support?  Is it the Thirty-Five dollars for the book?  Is it sheer desperation? Is it Skinny Chocolate? Is it all the incredible before/after photos?  I don’t know.  I really don’t know what it is specifically.  But one thing I do know — and that is, for me, it’s been a Spiritual journey.  And a preparedness journey.  Sincerely, both.

It’s been a Spiritual journey bcz the Lord has met me every day “where I’m at” food-wise.  It’s taken me years and years to realize that one of my natural bents has not been discipline or preparedness.   My ‘natural bent’ is not discipline — it’s haphazardness, really.  My natural inclinations are to just do whatever, whenever and eventually cover all the bases.  My natural inclination is to wing-it and hope for the best outcome.  So, I sincerely must determine to not follow my natural bent, to not fall into my natural inclinations.  And to do this, I have to intentionally determine I will or won’t do something, I will or won’t think something.  And, that’s where the Spiritual component (for me) comes in.  I’ve really had to seek the LORD and His work in my life to get to this point and, by the grace of God, He has met me at every single turn — He has already been there at every single point of need.   Sincerely, He has.

And, it’s been by His grace that I have been able to be prepared —– even when I didn’t think I was prepared!  He has enabled me to gather what’s been needed, He’s enabled me to make the choices I’ve needed to make and He’s given the grace to turn from things I *never* *ever* *ever* thought I could turn away from.    And so, much to my great amazement, I’ve stayed “on plan” for five months.  For five months I have not strayed from the plan—–even though I’ve done it feebly, or probably not 100% correctly — I’ve probably had incorrect proportions for meals, eaten meals in an incorrect order or time-frame, etc., etc.  But what I mean to say is that for five months I’ve not had any of all those things I thought I could never do without, all those foods I thought I loved and all those foods I thought I had to have.  And, five months of not knowing the taste of *many* foods and meals I’ve prepared.  For a taste-as-you-go sort of cook, for a taste-and-see-if-it’s-good sort of cook, this is nothing short of amazing for me.   To not have tea with milk and honey every morning and every evening before bed is amazing.  To not have a grande mocha coffee or two, every single morning is also amazing to me. Sincerely, it is.

So about THM preparedness… you gotta know that this is probably (second to the Spiritual aspect) the most important thing.  A failure to plan is truly a plan to fail.  If you can’t get this, then probably no “diet” anywhere is going to help you.  I know this personally—with many years of assorted “diets” behind me —– many years of wishing to lose weight or, rather, to maintain weightloss or many years of hopelessness for weightloss behind me.    But THM is and has been different for me… because it’s a way of living, planning, eating and succeeding.   Sincerely, it is.

Preparedness has meant that I have gotten all sorts of foods I never used in daily cooking.  It has meant that I made a portion of a cabinet solely dedicated to THM foods.  It’s meant that I don’t just eat what ever – when ever – how ever  I want.  It’s meant that I don’t eat everything everyone else is eating.  It’s meant that I have all sorts of special foods to acquire — foods to go along with or in place of all my family’s meals and you know what?  I’m totally okay with that.  Sincerely, I am.

So here’s the net-net for you… get the book.  Read it from page one to the end.  O, I know… it seems so much more efficient to just get the facts— you know, tell me the menu plans, define S and E and FP and Crossover for me.  I don’t have time for all the rest.  I just want to get started.  I know.  I thought those same thoughts.   Here’s the deal:  The facts start on page one.  The conversation begins there and ends with your filling in notes on the several blank pages at the end of the book.    And in the middle somewhere, is the click.  The click where you’ll ‘get it‘ and really begin to follow the plan.  Just remember, if you just want the facts … they start on page one.  Sincerely, page one and every next page thereafter.

And your counter just might look like this on any given day:

THMtruvia

Ground Truvia…
little jars, shakers, etc., etc., and  a “coffee grinder” dedicated to my THM “sugar” etc.
Totally worth it.
And, as my husband recently said, it’s worth it at twice the price. 😉  Sincerely.

the comforting hedge

teacuppamelaFour months ago I began the THM journey and what amazes me is how simple it’s been to stay the course with no intention or temptation to quit or get it over with.   I’ve never stayed with a plan in my life—but that’s not to say I’ve not tried a whole bunch of plans, diet-shakes, crash diets — only sticking with them for a few days or even a few weeks but always going back to the whatever, whenever way of eating.  The THM plan is so simple… the freedom is incredible.  There is so much freedom — but that freedom is totally NOT a whatever-whenever way of eating.  If it were, it would be the “fat, sick mama” diet… that’s pretty much where many of us, to one degree or another, have come from—and isn’t that what we never want to be again?!?!

This is the freedom I mean: freedom from sugar and food addiction! It’s staggering.   Freedom from a mocha or two every single day… freedom from tea with milk & honey every morning and every evening… freedom from snacking and snacking and snacking… and never feeling satisfied.  Freedom from cookies, candy, cakes and bread.  And yet… and yet!  I do have alternatives to these favourites—delicious alternatives to these favourites!  And I never feel like I don’t “get to have” this or that… bcz I do get to have so many delicious foods.  All the foods I get to have are delicious foods!  Freedom to control eating food instead of being controlled by eating food is unbelievably freeing.

We never know how comforting hedges are
until we stop kicking against them
and start seeing them as protection.

THMbookshelf

I can agree with the Psalmist, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places… (Psalm 16)  Somehow, the Lord is helping this girl — this carb addict to press on and to have freedom from the things that weigh me down.

For me, the journey to health has been a spiritual journey—I truly was not sure I could do it.  So, you see, it truly has been a spiritual matter for me.  Food’s had me in bondage and so I’ve had to pray for freedom from bondage to food.   Interestingly, it’s not that it’s the THM but what God’s doing in me using this method.   I shared this with a friend of mine the other day.  The whole book’s been a training ground for me—it’s forcing me to face and SLAY these giants in my life.  Every day I am attempting to follow the plan as best I’m able with the ingredients I have — it may seem feebly or haphazardly done sometimes. But I do it every day and I press on every day and I will keep on pressing on every day. And God is with me, strengthening me and helping me to say yes to what I ought to do and to say NO to what is not best for me. Sincerely, it’s amazing to me—bcz I am not given to regimens—it’s a battle for me for every regimen I’ve ever followed.  And this? Yes, this one… I was *SURE* I was going to fail — SURE of it!  But I have not failed–even following it very clumsily — very blindly — I have pressed on — every day I have pressed on and it’s astonishing to me to look back now on four months of this way of living & eating… pressing on each day.

And isn’t that our walk?  To press on? To press on even if we have feeble knees?  To press on even if others aren’t with us?  To press on even if we don’t have all the whatever it is we think we need?  To press on even if the way isn’t as smooth as buttah??? To press on even if others mock what we’re doing?  To press on even if we ‘feel’ like we’re alone?

We press on in faith bcz this is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it—-and if He uses a method to retrain and renew me such as the THM plan, then I’m thankful for His provision to help me do what I could not do on my own. ♥

Remember:  Gwen’s got a terrific Trim and Healthy Quick Start page that will show you how to get started and basically give you four weeks of basics — a page I wish I’d known about in the beginning of my journey.  Go take a look = print it!!

so many THM resources

teacuppamelaThere are so many Trim Healthy Mama resources to give you all the tools you need to succeed in changing your eating lifestyle and find “your trim” or you level of healthy weight and energy.  Along with all that, you’ll see that all these resources will give you ample instruction, inspiration to press on each day as you explore all the many meal and snack options along with daily doses of encouragement and a push now and then to run the race… or to get back up and keep running the race if/when you fall off course.  Joining the Facebook THM group will give you fantastic resources and inspiration — so will the Trim Healthy Mama author’s page.

Gwen has written such an invaluable book review — her synopsis, observations and beautiful photos and descriptions will ‘flesh out’ the book for you—-her investment and numerous resources she’s made available in the last year will become invaluable to you.  I could not more highly recommend you get the THM book—read it—and use Gwen’s site and resources. ♥

ALSO————See a whole bunch of Pinterest pages… here’s ♥ mine and then here are some others for you — just to get you started, the following links are “S” meals and snacks!
♥ S Snacks
♥ S Beverages
♥ S Breakfasts
♥ S Main Dishes – Hot

So, what’s an “S” meal or snack? An S meal is a Satisfying meal or snack — S meals have a foundation of protein and the fuel source is fat… fats like coconut oil or butter or nuts and seeds and some dairy products like cheese and eggs.  These meals have very limited carbs–but that’s not going to be a problem when you see the beauty of the plan and how you’ll have those options when you enjoy an “E” meal or snack.   Many nay-sayers think eating fat makes you fat–or fatter.  Not so.  You’ll soon see that food in the wrong combination and out of balance is what’s made you fat in the past and will make you fat in the future if you continue to eat that way.  I’m truly no expert in this, but I am really beginning to grasp the whole proper intake and combining of fuels for meals and snacks.  I’m finally getting the whole fat and sugar connection–the whole high carb connection to poor health and weight that’s not in balance.  I’m finally seeing it, living it, understanding it—and you will, too, once you read the book and start implementing the plan.

Here’s my hot tip for you———-do yourself a favour: Work at eliminating or just stop eating sugar.  Seriously—sugar will sabotage health and any sincere desire will be squashed and weightloss will fail when sugar’s in the mix!  Right next to heredity issues, it’s probably the biggest culprit behind the big behind, the big belly, the bad heart, the sluggish metabolism, sluggish bowel and the sluggish mind.  It’s probably the primary culprit behind a lot of infertility problems and insulin resistance.  Yep, I just said all that.  And yep, I’m not a doctor and not a clinician.  And, nope, nothing I write should take the place of your own studies, doc’s opinions, advice and recommendations.  Well, maybe I don’t exactly believe those last three (the opinions, advice & recommendations part).  But, they usually don’t agree with home-birth and/or home-educating children, either.  But, in the interest of total transparency, I had to add all that.  Nothing here should be construed as professional or medical advice, counsel or diagnosis.  That, too.

Want another hot-hot tip?   Work at spacing all eating to 3 hours apart.  Seriously.   You’ll be surprised  — if you’re not the skinny-mini type who forgets to eat or gets so busy she doesn’t know if she’s had anything to eat since yesterday or whatever — how often you eat.  Stop it.  I’m telling you, I had to/have to say this to myself *so* many times—pamela, stop it… you’re not going to die… you’ll eat again in an hour or two.  ♥ So, clean your house, study your Bible, teach your children, go for a walk with them,  finish one of your bazillion craft projects, clean & organize your pantry, bathroom, closet, school supplies, photographs, garage, fridge, dresser drawers… whatever… the point is that an idle mind with idle hands thinks of food, snacks on it and doesn’t even realize how much and how often it’s happening.

How about an “E” meal?
“E” meals are Energizing meals… meals that have a base of protein and moderate carbs.  E meals have very little fat (one to two teaspoons at most!).  The possibilities for E meals and snacks as endless as your imagination and supply of vegetables!  There is a catch here, however, and that is the high starch potato.  So no. Not that one.  You will never miss it once you find out all the benefits you’ll reap by not eating it and by discovering all sorts of other foods you’ve been neglecting bcz you’ve opted for potatoes out of habit.  You’ll be able to break the potato habit, trust me.  If I can eliminate sugar and honey and potatoes and chocolate syrup, you can do it, too.  Seriously.

You can give these E Breakfasts a go! Or, these E Dinners, or these E Snacks.
Or, again, remember:  you can go to Gwen’s Nest and find just about anything you’ll need for the THM journey… she’s careful to explain S meals, E meals, FP meals, S Helpers and Crossover meals.   Click here for her excellent Quick Start Guide to THM — and her more in-depth pdf/printable Trim and Healthy Quick Start page that will show you how to get started and basically give you four weeks of basics — a page I wish I’d known about in the beginning of my journey.  Go take a look = and print it!!

I share all this to tell you, you’re not alone, you can do this, you can be trim and healthy and you can access loads of resources so that you can be done with excuses for why you can’t lose weight.  Or why you can’t lose weight and keep it off.  I know, right?!?!? I sound like a reformed__________ who thinks they know it all and everyone else should, too.  Yep, it sounds like that… but I don’t know it all — but I feel like the blind man who received sight… and said (paraphrasing), this I don’t know and that I don’t know… but I know that whereas I was blind, now I see.  The Lord has helped me to grasp something I previously could not grasp, He has helped me to do and keep doing something I’ve never been able to do.

If I can do this, you can do this. Truly. ♥

homemade almond milk

teacuppamelaI want to share a really simple, delicious and inexpensive alternative to “store-bought” almond milk.  I hope you try it and enjoy it.  I’ve made this twice now and am really thankful for it! You’ll find a number of recipes in the Trim Healthy Mama book calling for almond milk.  I found it to be pretty expensive at the grocery store — plus, from time to time I haven’t been able to get to the store, so this method is a nice alternative for me.

I fill a quart mason jar about 1/3 full of raw almonds and then I fill to the top with water.  I let this stand over night and pour off the water in the morning–refilling with fresh water.  Before bedtime, I pour off that water and refill with fresh.  The following morning, I pour off the water and put 1/2 of the soaked almonds and 1 and 1/2 cups of fresh water into my food processor and blend (with the blade attachment) for several minutes.    Pour that portion off into a strainer over a bowl.

almondmilk2   almondmilk3   almondmilk4

Ialmondmilk5 then pour the rest of the soaked almonds into the food processor along with another  1 and 1/2 cups of water and, again,  blend very well for several minutes.   And then pour the final amount into the strainer over the bowl.

If I had a blender, I might be able to do the whole process in one blender pitcher. But since I don’t, I just use this method.  It works out pretty well.

After I allow that mixture to strain through the strainer, I take a clean strainer and line it with a paper towel and put that over a clean bowl and then I pour the strained almond milk over the paper lined strainer in order to more finely strain the milk.

almondmilk6  almondmilk8  almondmilk9

I let that strain for several minutes and lightly squeeze or press out the milk.
Then I have some beautiful almond milk to chill in the fridge or use in a smoothie or whatever  other recipe I might like to make!  Try it!  I think you’ll like it!   You can add some vanilla to it, too! Yum!

almondmilk10    almondmilk-11

You can dry the “mash” in the oven — and then use it as ground almonds or almond flour in your recipes.