THM My Journey Begins, The Guide pt 1

I Started a new eating plan in the beginning of January and Have been waiting to post till I could really talk about it.

It's called Trim Healthy Mama and is taking the internet by storm. It's faith based and real food based. And honestly I love it!

There's a bit of a learning curve and I have a few friends who want to join me on the adventure so I thought I'd share the tips and Tricks, as well as favorite products, that helped me get started and moving on it.

Some background, I come from the SAD(standard american diet) but had slowly been transitioning to more real foods over the years since having Sweetness. We've had some seasons in life where I was back on that pretty much entirely and the mom guilt has set it. I Always wanted to be the mom who makes all her kids lunches from scratch and puts together healthy snacks, packs lunches instead of fast food, and doesn't really touch processed foods unless really necessary. And with this plan I can be that mom!

I received the books for Christmas. My thoughts were this is overwhelming and I can't do it! But I found this handy cheat from pinterest that helped me get my feet wet:
http://www.gwens-nest.com/trim-healthy-mama-book-review/
This page has a downloadable "quick start" guide which tells you what chapters to read to get started along with some handy tips.

Next since I mostly shop at aldi i perused some pins on what to buy there:
http://laslimfemme.com/what-does-a-trim-healthy-mama-buy-at-aldi/
http://darciesdishes.blogspot.com/2015/12/trim-healthy-mama-aldi-shopping-list.html

The main things I buy where on there with just a few additions like stevia and nut milks. Which brings me to this list:
http://workingathomeschool.com/2015/08/12/starting-trim-healthy-mama-for-only-8
Which for those of us on a tight budget was super helpful.

So then I implimented the plan like this:

• first few days I printed the lists of S and E meals and taped them to my fridge.
• First week I ate as normal but compared my meals to my lists to see which category they belonged in. This helped me figure out how to redo my meals so they worked in the THM world.
• I did a week of S meals only for my first week "on plan", as recommended on many pages and facebook groups. I found these printable lists super helpful to keep on my fridge and refer back to over and over:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/26/e0/7f/26e07f23d67daed668660af4d07043e8.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/b6/46/a2/b646a2cbbc933136f7134a705b911f96.jpg

• The next week I decided to stick with my real plan of breakfast, lunch, and snacks/desserts. And went forward. I found several yummy things between the cookbook, pinterest and the HUGE group on facebook.

Armed with my list and a few recipes I wanted to try I went forward. I shopped. And I meal planned.
My first meal plan wasn't fancy but I knew if I wanted to make this work I'd need lots of sweets the first few weeks or I would feel deprived. This eating plan is sugar free, high protein, and low carb. It's so yummy. But let me tell you the no sugar thing wasn't easy.  So I wasn't afraid to experiment and try new things. As well as throw many a failed attempt away or pour down the drain! lol

I discovered I love Good Girl "Moonshine" which isn't moonshine at all but has a bite to it which I liked. And there are many variation recipes on pinterest. Remember REAL GGMS will have ginger and apple Cider vinegar though!

• I spent a LOT of time in the kitchen the first month. I stayed up late a lot after all else in the home went to bed and prepped ahead and baked. I finally got into a rhythm as my first month came to an end.

The one thing I kept reading over and over again was to make the plan work for you. So I decided since I am blessed with a husband who loves to cook, And eat out to fellowship with friends and family, That my "make it work" would be to do the plan for all my snacks/desserts, and breakfast and lunch. If we ate out I'd get what was on plan or close to it. If he cooked I'd eat what was on plan and not stress about the rest.

The scale didn't move the first month AT ALL. In fact when I did weight myself I had gained 2 lbs! I was frustrated to say the least. But I remembered to measure myself and when I did I was shocked! I'd dropped 2 inches in my bust, and hips, and 1.5 inches in my stomach at the widest part! The next month the scale finally moved and I'd lost 4 lbs. This may not seem worth it to some but let me tell you this is NOT meant to be a fast weight loss diet. It is meant to be slow and safe for your body, and easy to maintain once you finally get to goal weight. For those of us with less to loose this takes longer. So 4 lbs in 2 months is wonderful! And even more so for not being 100% on plan.


First when you have a sweet craving, make a GGMS or peanut whip. I don't know why those two thing helped so much but they did.

I didn't buy much extra stuff. I splurged on a few flour alternatives, (almond and coconut) and bought nut milk(cashew and almond as I wasn't sure which I'd prefer. Cashew is my favorite).stevia in packets from aldi,and a few dairy products like 1% cottage cheese, Fat free greek yogurt, 000 oiko's drinkable yogurt was on sale so I grabbed a few of those and lots of cheese!

And with that I went on my way! I'll make another post with my favorite recipe links soon. and part two of this info. My hubby has gone on plan with me too and that has changed up a few things. as have my kids eating habits and such because I don't buy a lot of the junk I used to anymore.

I've also saved my menu's and such so if anyone is interested in that I'll gladly post those too. Till next time!

Apple Cider in the Coffee Maker

It's been nearly a MONTH since I posted last. So I thought I'd do a quick one with a new "life hack" I've discovered. Perhaps this is not news to anyone else but It was to me so I wanted to share.

Backstory:

We no longer have a microwave. I accidentally nuked the 'wave for 20minutes with nothing in it and it fried. So we decided to go without one and see what happens. I really only used it for two things anyway and both were easily remedied.

Then Fall happened. In the south our winters aren't super cold but they are windy and wet. And this year has been no exception. I saw R.W. Knudson's Cider& Spice, No sugar added, 100% juice and knew it would be fabulous.
But then, wait, no microwave to heat it in! And I don't own a tea kettle(I know that is definitely going on my "to buy" list now)!!!!
So I had to come up with some easy way to warm just a little up at a time.

And since necessity is the mother of invention....

How to Warm Cider in a Coffee Maker

I'm trying to get with the times. Pinable images. ;)

First Pour your desired amount of cider into your carafe.

 Next remove the basket where your coffee filter/grounds goes.

This is what it looks like Empty :) You can see the top of the carafe through the hole in the top of the coffee maker.

 Place the carafe on the coffee makers warming plate.

 Turn on, wait about 5-10 minutes, swirl to mix spices in and serve!

 Easy peasy! Essentially you COULD use a coffee/soup warmer like one of these:
Click here to find this model which I have and love. But I found that these do better for keeping hot things warm not warming cold things up. ;) and I like how much faster my coffee maker works!

AWESOME Cheese Sauce

I've been wanting to add my cleaning and cooking tips to my blog for awhile so this is the first installation in that trend! I'm a homemaker and while I'm crafty I'm a homemaker first. I want to share the things I've learned doing what I feel called to do as well as what I make for fun!
(though cooking yummy things is hardly work)

We were making nacho's tonight and I decided to write down how we make our cheese sauce. It get rave reviews when we make it for family and friends. Hubby has taken it to work with chips in the crockpot many  times and it's required when they do potluck meals. lol

Here's how to make it:
Ingredients:
1/4 Stick of butter
1/6th cup of flour (half of a 1/3)
1 cup milk (we use 2% or vitamin D)
1 cup of cheese (Read tut before measuring out) I recommend Kraft Mexican blend TACO cheese. It has a light seasoning to it and tastes WONDERFUL melted.
Paprika and red and black pepper to taste

NOTE:I also strongly recommend a nylon whisk and non stick pan. This stuff will stick and become like glue when it cools. The nylon whisk is flexible enough to get in all the crevices of the pan, and mix well without scratching the pan. We got ours at Target for less than 5.00 and use it ALL the time.


Melt Butter in pan on medium heat.
Add Flour and salt and whisk together till smooth.
Remove from heat and add milk then return to heat, (if you do not remove from heat it can scorch in the time it takes to measure milk and add it.)
Stir Constantly till well blended, slightly thickened, and when you stop stirring it starts to bubble. It will be steaming hot.
Here's how you can tell it's thickening properly. the edge of the pan will crust a little and the milk will stick a little.
Add cheese, Do not pack the cheese to measure it.
Stir till cheese has melted.
Remove from heat, add seasoning, and stir in.
Turn burner on low, Serve and enjoy!

I highly recommend you rinse your pan, and soak it before washing. It helps so much(even on nonstick pans)!


Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!