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I had some excitement today and I couldn’t wait to share it with you!
For the back story, I had a birthday several days ago and Pookie asked me what kind of cake or other dessert I’d like to have, but stipulated that since the restaurant they were taking me to for my birthday dinner wouldn’t allow us to bring in our own dessert, we would have to have a separate little birthday celebration just for that. Well, I’m all for celebrating twice so that was fine with me. Then, as is the way with things, stuff happened and then more stuff happened and Birthday 2.0 seemed to get bumped and bumped and bumped some more and I finally received my delicious treat today.
What did I request, you ask? As you may know, I don’t eat the SAD (standard American diet) stuff. I know, I know, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I ate something hideously bad for me on my birthday, but I’ve learned that it’s not worth it. It makes me feel rotten (now that I know what it’s like to feel good all the time) and then there are additional portions of it in the house for days. After flipping through various Trim Healthy recipes, I suddenly remembered exactly what I wanted and told Pookie to make me the Cake of Wonders.
This recipe, from page 37 of the Trim Healthy Indulgence cookbook seemed to be the talk of social media, the podcast and all over the Trim Healthy community ever since the cookbook came out but I just hadn’t gotten around to making it.
I’m giving it an absolute 5-Star review. Even though Pookie didn’t give it a topping of chocolate drizzle and an arrangement of fresh berries on top as shown in the photo in the cookbook, I don’t see how the taste and texture could be any better. Esther Allison hit the ball out of the park with this recipe. This is fit to serve at any wedding. It is that good!
Yes, I am a Trim Healthy Certified Coach, but no, I am not a retailer of their products. When I recommend this cookbook and this recipe, I am not gaining anything from it but your smiles and happy tummies.
Also, the pie crust recipe in that book is out of this world. I think I’m going to bake one sometime and just eat it by itself! That’s how good it smells while it’s baking. Right now, Esther’s Peanut Butter Cup Cake is featured as a free recipe on the website, so be sure to print that out.
If you do need support in your journey to better health and weight loss, blood sugar control, hormonal balance, etc., head to the Contact page or my Food Freedom pages on Facebook and Mewe and let me know. I’ll give you all the info on group sessions which I conduct locally in person as well as details on private coaching in person or by phone. Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!
The Trim Healthy Mama Plan is a great way to boost your immune system, reduce inflammation, and certainly to lose weight safely and sustainably if you need to do that. I know that many people want to steer away from the standard American diet because they know it’s taking a toll on their health, but they just don’t know how to be happy doing it. That’s what I teach.
If you’ve tried Esther’s Cake of Wonders, leave a comment and let me know how you liked it. I’m curious – what is your favorite dessert that you’d miss most if you decided to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle?
And (sigh), as is the way of things, I didn’t get to share my cake with Lil’ Snookie today. More stuff happened. But you know what that means? It means I’ll freeze slabs of it between slips of waxed paper and then we’ll have Birthday 3.0 in a few days. I know how to manage this birthday thing.
When I first started to really eat healthy, like many other people, one of my thoughts was “What in the world am I going to eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas?” It’s all “frankenfood” – or haven’t you noticed?
At first, I just considered it a time to splurge and I knew I had the grit and determination to get back on track afterward. After a year or two of that, I realized it wasn’t worth it. I felt horrible after those meals!
These last few years, I’ve developed a plan that enables me to indulge in all the yummy foods without feeling the least bit deprived on the holidays. Deprived is something I have no intention of being. I am a volume eater and I can really put the stuff away!
Now, as a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach, I knew my clients needed to be able to do the same. Most of them have never been through an entire holiday season during which they needed to try to stay on plan.
That’s why we’ve been focusing lately on how to put together a fabulous Thanksgiving meal that won’t raise your blood sugar, mess with your hormones or negatively affect your health in any way. We all acknowledge that it is a day of feasting and there may be a level of calorie intake that doesn’t occur during average daily living, but that doesn’t mean the ingredients have to be destructive to our health. Also, in THM eating, “crossover” (XO) meals might not help with weight loss, but they are definitely on plan and after all – it’s a feast!
Some of the recipes I’ll be mentioning here are from the Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks. They are such a valuable resource even for those of you who may not be interested in losing weight or doing the plan, but who are interested in fabulous and simple recipes for real families living real lives who want to be healthier. You can find them here or you can also check with your public library or places such as eBay and maybe catch a bargain. I use all three of their cookbooks all the time, so this has proven to be a great investment.
NOTE: The Trim Healthy Mama site is down as I am typing this due to the mad rush caused by their Cyber Monday sale, so please be patient.
In my weekly Food Freedom group sessions, we’ve been focusing on the countdown to Thanksgiving by demonstrating and taste-testing a different recipe each week leading up to the big event. Here’s the menu that my class taste-tested and agreed would let them feast while staying on plan.
Turkey: That’s a given in most households at Thanksgiving and it’s a great healthy choice. We’ve been brining the bird at our house for years and recently I noticed on the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook page that they have brining instructions that are very similar to what we are used to doing. Scared of having a dry bird and ending up with a scene at the big dinner that resembles the one in the Christmas Vacation movie? Brining is simple and totally prevents this disaster. See the THM version here.
Coach Barb’s Stuffing-to-End-All Stuffings: All I can say here is that I’m gonna try. I have adapted my stuffing recipe to fit the THM plan as a crossover (XO) and I think it’s the best stuff ever. There are two camps when it comes to stuffing and mine falls into the “throw-everything-in-there-but-the-kitchen-sink” category. Some folks are fall into the “brothy-bread-with-some-seasoning-and-you-might-need-a-spoon” category. I’ll try to get the recipe posted here before the big day. If you’ve been eating healthy for a while, you know there will need to be some bread changes here from the type of stuffing you grew up with or the boxed version.
Mashed Fotatoes: There are a lot of recipes out there that call for substituting cauliflower for those high-glycemic, carb-bomb taters we were all taught to eat, but this one is yummy. It’s found on page 219 of “Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook”. I make it exactly as directed. The only tip I can offer here is to stick close during the cooking process and then get the cauliflower straight into a colander and toss well right away to get every last bit of water out. That is the most important thing to remember.
Basic Gravy: This gravy is delicious and it’s a Fuel Pull (FP) or can be made with pan drippings and/or heavy cream to make it even more delightful. Doing this will, of course, swing it over into the “S” category, but hey! It’s Thanksgiving! Check it out on page 483 of “Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook”.
Green Bean Casserole: This one recently popped up on the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook page and I couldn’t resist demonstrating it for my class. It was a hit, so you can get the recipe from the THM Facebook page post of November 1, 2021 or use the slow-cooker version in the post on November 21, 2021.
Macafoni and Cheese: I confess to not having tried this one yet, but it looks and sounds so yummy that it is on my list to make soon. I also spotted it on the THM Facebook page post of October 29, 2021.
Pumpkin Silk Pie: We were all so impressed at how decadent this simple pie is. You can also make it into squares, but I tend to think of Thanksgiving as Pie Time, don’t you? The crust, made with almond flour, is a mixture that goes from the food processor into the pan and is pressed into place with your fingers. The filling goes into the blender, which takes the pumpkin from its usual fibrous texture into a smooth-as-silk delight. I topped mine with homemade whipped cream by simply pouring the cream into the mixer, adding 1/8 Tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon or two of Gentle Sweet, a splash of vanilla extract and a tiny bit of freshly ground nutmeg and whipping on high speed. I can’t say enough good things about this pie! (see photo.) You’ll find it in “Trim Healthy Table” on pages 410-411.
Pumpkin Muffins: If you absolutely don’t have enough time to make the pie for this special occasion, try this recipe on page 272 if “Trim Healthy Future”. They are a super-simple dump ‘n stir type of recipe and the Cream Cheese Icing (with the Maple Burst flavoring added) on page 372 is the perfect crowning glory. These are so easy and so yummy that I could seriously form an addiction to this healthy dessert and have to start hoarding cans of pumpkin.
If you need support in your journey to better health and/or weight loss, head to the Contact page and let me know. I’ll give you all the info on group sessions which I conduct locally in person on a weekly basis. Private coaching can be done in person or by phone. Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!
The Trim Healthy Mama Plan is a great way to boost your immune system and we all need that right now, don’t we? Leave a comment when you try these great recipes and tell me how you like them.
Offer up some extra thanks this season to the One who blesses us with all good things!
Today I want to
take a moment to make a confession. I
have fallen in love.
After decades of self-study in the area of health in order to understand my own issues and do the best I can for my family, I have, at last, found a resource that seems to be custom designed for me.
I’ve never struggled with obesity. In fact, aside from a couple of photos of me as a chubby toddler, I spent most of my life in the string bean category. Well, maybe a string bean with hips. That is, until I went through something that is just about the biggest hormone screwer-upper ever – chemotherapy. You can find more about that part of my story here.
As I sat in the
chemo room listening to the others chat, I heard women saying that they’d
gained as much as forty-five pounds during treatments. Forty-five
pounds! The patients and their
care-givers blamed it on the steroid anti-nausea drugs. At that point, I didn’t care as much about
the cause as I did the result. The idea
of that type of weight gain stayed in the forefront of my mind and at the top
of my prayer list for the next four months.
Well, I didn’t
gain forty-five pounds, but I did gain fifteen and in the following years, that
fifteen has tried it’s best to turn into twenty. As is my body’s tendency, it wanted to pack
itself disproportionately below the waist, which may have paid off if I’d lived
during the Renaissance and cared little for my modesty. In those days, there was a demand for those
who would, at artists’ requests, recline on couches with a bunch of grapes in
one hand and a dove perched upon the other.
I tried various diets and joined the well-known support group that counts points. Since points were much simpler to count than calories, this worked for me. In fact, it worked for me two or three times. There seemed to be two issues. They declared that “points are points” and we could consume them in any combination. After a while, I learned that some foods’ points stuck to me like glue while others slipped off effortlessly after a period of over-indulgence. The other issue – and this one bothered me most – was that while this farm girl had been taken off the farm, the farm appetite hadn’t been taken out of the girl. I wanted more food, dagnabbit!
After a prolonged period of stress, Stage 3 Adrenal Fatigue showed up, stayed much longer than I preferred, juggled my hormones even further and, if I may cling to that comparison, dropped all the balls. My holistic M.D., along with treatment, advised a diet that would go easier on the glands and I gave up sugar and most grains.
A couple of years later, a long-time friend of mine lost around thirty pounds. I had to admit that she maintained more joy than anyone I’d ever known on any type of “diet”. She absolutely glowed and was enjoying herself. I asked about it and she told me about Trim Healthy Mama.
Further inquiries
led me to understand that the food on the THM plan was nearly identical to the
recommendations of my doctor. The only thing
– and it seemed such a logical thing – that they recommended to people who wanted
to trim away the pounds would be to separate carbohydrate fuels from fat fuels
at mealtimes.
After toying with
the idea and reading bits and pieces of their plan for a while as I was coming
out of the adrenal struggle, I took their plan and began stepping into it at
the beginning of this year, studying it and putting it into practice one day at
a time. Finally, I have enough food to
eat! I promised to grant myself grace to
go off plan from time to time and to feel no guilt should I decide to go ahead
and use up some off-plan ingredients along the way instead of throwing them
out. I think they’re all gone now (if
you don’t count Smuffy’s cheat stash).
I needed to make friends with a few new special ingredients to help me in separating fuels, being kind to blood sugars and getting the extra protein I needed in my diet. I’ve embraced a lot of new ingredients over the years, so it didn’t rock my world much.
I now have their plan books and cookbooks and since I have a big yard with lots of weeds to pull, have listened to over 130 Trim Healthy Podcasts (or, as we call it in THM Land, “The Poddy”) as of this date. I feel like I’ve completed a crash course in getting to know the authors, Serene and Pearl.
I have lost several
pounds and as my hormones steady themselves further, I’m sure the number on the scale will continue to drop as I
feast on real food and avoid even some of the healthy ones that are known to
spike blood sugars and set off hormonal chain reactions.
In case you haven’t had the realization yet – hormones are everything! Messin’ with those will make you ugly inside and out, if you get my drift.
The best part, or
what is referred to as a “non scale victory”, is that I feel good and do not
feel the slightest hint of deprivation.
In fact, “junk” tastes like junk and I know that’s hard to believe if you’re
still addicted to the SAD. What a
perfect name for the “standard American diet”!
I’ll post more about my journey with Trim Healthy Mama in the future, but today I wanted to share with you some of the great meals and treats I’ve discovered on this plan and give an honest review.
Today, for lunch, I made “Mama’s Famous Meatloaf” (page 157 of the Trim Healthy Cookbook) and topped it with a sauce made from “Trim Healthy Ketchup” (page 482). It had great texture and was moist with good flavor, just as you’d expect from an old-fashioned meatloaf like Grandma used to make. However, we tend to like things with a bit more “zip”, so next time, I’ll probably make it my own by adding a bit more spice. I’m not sure why the topping is more orange than red as I did follow directions, but it was tasty!
The ketchup recipe
can be called a tomatoey sauce, but it is not ketchup to me. However, I had already developed my own
recipe without any refined sugars and it tastes just like Heinz. As soon as
I take the THM one and marry it to mine by having one of my kitchen lab
brainstorms, I’ll post it here on the blog.
What is meat loaf
without mashed potatoes? Well, it’s
fabulous if you serve up “Mashed Fotatoes” (page 264 of the Trim Healthy Table
Cookbook). Who needs all those starches
and carbs? Not me! I’ll never be sorry I left white potatoes
behind after seeing how easy it was to whip of this cauliflower version in the
food processor in a matter of seconds.
I found them
heavenly. Smuffy requests that they have
a little less garlic next time.
Smuffy’s been
growing okra in his garden, so I served it up alongside just the way we like
it. I stir together my own “baking
blend” with equal parts almond flour, golden flax meal and coconut flour. After slicing the okra into half-inch pieces,
I tossed it in about three tablespoons of this mixture and stir fried it in a
skillet I had pre-heated on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of refined
coconut oil and a tablespoon of real butter.
It’s browned and beautiful in no time at all.
All this made a
delicious Satisfying meal. (The THM plan defines “S” meals.)
I struggled with whether to assign this post to my “Thrive!” page because of the health benefits of Trim Healthy Mama, to my “Feed Me” page because it is good food or to my “Reviews” page because I can’t say enough good things about Trim Healthy Mama.
I have tried many recipes from their books and have only found a couple that I considered “duds”. Pearl and Serene, I don’t know what you were thinking. Perhaps they are a hit in Aussie culture, but “Slender Slaw” (page 266, Trim Healthy Table) and “Tzatziki Cucumber Salad” (page 266, Trim Healthy Table) are both odd. Not horrible – just odd – and not a hit at our house.
To give a completely honest review, I must make one negative comment on the cookbooks. Pearl and Serene, I love you, but whomever is compiling your indexes needs to be assigned to a new job. You’ll notice how many flags are protruding from the books in the first photo. That’s because, once you find a recipe, you’re going to have a dickens of a time finding it again, and I know how to use an index. Recipes need to be listed by under categories, by actual name and by featured ingredients. Just sayin’.
I’m loving “Wonder Wraps” (page 251, Trim Healthy Table) and the first recipe I made from this cookbook, “Creamy Garlic Spinach Spaghetti Squash Bake (page 135). That one got me off to a good start and I couldn’t wait to share it with friends. However, the day I attempted to do so tried my soul and you might want to brace yourself before reading about it here.
I have only two
words to say as I prepare to go downstairs and sneak a couple out of the
refrigerator – “Superfood Mounds”, people!
Forget about those candy bars we grew up with. Stir up a batch of these (page 424, Trim
Healthy Table) in a saucepan and get ready for awesomeness! Another super-easy treat is “Two Minute
Truffles” (page 422, Trim Healthy Table).
I’d make extra if I were you and skip dusting them. They are better when smooth.
In case you
haven’t met them, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett are sisters from “down
under” who have ended up in the hills of Tennessee along with their husbands,
children and extended family. After
writing a book to share with friends and acquaintances who asked them for the
science and “how-to” on how they stay so trim and healthy, they found
themselves on the best-seller list! Now
their sensible, scientific and doable approach is available to us all.
Thanks, Serene and Pearl!
Are you aTrim Healthy Mama? Are you toying with the idea? Never even heard of it? I’d love to chat about it so leave a comment!
What’s all the fuss about eating healthy? We shouldn’t just survive, we should thrive! Check out my Thrive! page. My Feed Me! page offers recipes with free printables. Not every recipe there is THM compatible, but most can be altered to work and I’ll try to make edits in the future to help you with that.
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