What??? Greek yogurt??

I have always had a hate/hate relationship with yogurt.  My mom always tried to get me to eat it growing up, I tried to eat it when I dieted in college, I tried it again when I had babies because it was good for them too, right?  Noooooooo.....YUCK!  I hated every, single, slimy, icky bite.  Didn't even matter how much sugar they could cram into it!  BUT.  Things have changed.  I've been doing THM for 5 weeks now and I've tried quite a few interesting ingredients and have actually liked them!  This "drive-thru Sue" never really thought I'd like flaxseed, glucomannan, stevia, coconut oil, let alone like and CRAVE them!!  SO, I had a couple of ladies who where encouraging me to use 0% greek yogurt instead of sour cream for my E bean burritos.  Uhhhhhh......nah.  I said "thanks", but didn't plan on trying it.  Then I walked by the dairy section of WalMart.  And that yogurt was just calling my name.......I bought it and brought it home and put it in the fridge where it sat for a whole week without seeing the light of day.  Every time I opened that fridge, it was the first thing I saw!  Ugh.  So this morning I made a bean burrito, opened the greek yogurt, spooned it on, took a bite and..................................................................................................





I actually liked it!!!!  Oh, yeah!!  It was SO yummy!!!  I was SHOCKED!  Then I decided to try it in a smoothie (who is this girl???!!)  And it was the best thing ever!!  So creamy!!  So smooth!!  So yummylicious!!!  Here's my recipe!

Dana's Very Yummy Greek Yogurt Smoothie!

This is a FP smoothie!!

3/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk
2 handfuls of frozen strawberry slices
2-3 tsp of Truvia
3 shakes of pure Stevia (with only 3 of the small holes open)
2 Tbs lime juice
1/2 scoop of Swanson whey protein powder
1/2 cup of 0% Fage greek yogurt
4g of inositol powder (this is a supplement that I've just started taking for insulin resistance)

Throw all of it in your blender and mix until smooth!  Feel free to adjust these amounts to suit your own tastes!!  Makes 3-4 cups of smoothie!!  Yum!  Enjoy!!

Happy Thursday!
Dana

P.S.  I was so excited about the smoothie that I forgot to give my week 5 update!  Oops!!  I didn't lose anything or gain anything this week!  And for the first time EVER.....I'm truly ok with it!  I know that I ate well this week and that almost everything that went in my mouth was a blessing to my body.  I also have PCOS and since this past week I ate a LOT more E meals, I think my body just doesn't know how to process them well at all.  I'm just letting my body do it's own thing, in it's own time.  Wow.  What a blessing to my usually hyperactive brain!  No more looking back over the week before to find where I "messed" up!  WooHoo!  And I got into my favorite pair of capri pants!  I'll take it!

Pizza Night!!

WooHoo!!!!  It's pizza night!  And this bread/pizza dough recipe is the BEST EVER!!  No, really.  It's the best thing since....well, since sliced bread!  ;)  I made it up on Monday and let it ferment in the fridge all week...no kneading, no stirring, no poking.....just mix it and forget about it!  The recipe came from one of my all time favorite THM blogs, Gwen's Nest!  Click HERE for the recipe!
For my THM's, this is an E meal......a super yummy one!! 

My delicious E day started with this yummy Fat Stripping Frappa, recipe on pg 240....I know what you THM's are saying....that isn't an E meal!  LOL....well, I really wanted a smoothie for breakfast!  So a FP it was!

Then I had breakfast for lunch!  Toast, egg whites, turkey bacon....yummy!!

 

 

 

And for dessert (3 hours after dinner!!!  ;)  Peanut Squares!  It reminds me of Peanut Butter Pie!  OMGosh!  Scrummylicious!!!!  (pg 377)

 

 



Happy Thursday!!
Dana

Week 4!!

It's been 4 weeks since I started THM!  I'm still loving it and, drum roll please.......

I'm down 8.6lbs from my starting weight and 30.8lbs from my all time high!  WooHoo!! 

I'm SUPER thrilled!  There's definitely been a learning curve, but it's been totally worth it!  My first week I had a headache for about a week from not eating any sugar, BUT there have been NO sugar/junk food cravings!  That is amazing!  I've had 3x of off-plan eating....
once was chicken nuggets from Chik-Fil-A and a Kripy Kreme donut.....the nuggets were ok, but the donut made my tummy VERY unhappy. 
The 2nd time was late, late, late one night when I was really hungry but was out of my usual healthy snacks and I ate 2, single-serving bags of chips and 1, single-serving bag of animal crackers.  No bueno, either.  Yuck.  
The 3rd was a dinner at Taco Casa and instead of making my taco salad a wonderful S meal, I ate it like it came....tortilla shell and all....my digestive system let me know for a few days just how much it did NOT appreciate this intrusion!!  LOL!  I'm definitely not in the purist camp, so I know I will not eat on plan ALL the time, but it is my goal to do what's best for my body. 

Taking a detour!  Calling all other Blogger bloggers!!  (that sounds weird!)  I'm having an issue with my pics!  When I upload them, Blogger automatically puts a white frame around them!  Like this....

I'm pretty much hating that.  Any ideas on how to fix this?  I found a website that had me change the html code, but it did not work.  Suggestions, ideas or just pointing me in some direction that my have some kind of answer would be fantastic! 

Happy Wednesday!!
Dana

P.S.  I finally found a website that could help me remove that annoying border around my pics!  Click here to see the site I used!  Thank goodness!!  LOL!

Gardening.....

I live in Texas and usually by mid-May I'm overflowing with squashes, tomatoes, and cucumbers out of my garden.......this year, I'm just getting started!  We've harvested a few red potatoes and about 10 squashes total......I'm not complaining, but I AM excited to see my garden FINALLY giving us some fresh produce! 

(Northerners, please don't throw your store-bought tomatoes at me!!  Just remember it'll be 100+ degrees in just over a month here!  When my garden is giving up the ghost, yours will be in its hay day and I'LL be jealous!  ;)

Today, I had sautéed yellow squash and zucchini with onions for......breakfast!  LOL!  I'm just so excited to have them!  It was so yummy!  That and a link of Feta and Spinach Chicken Sausage from Sprouts and it was an excellent S meal!!

And I thought I'd share some pics of my girls in my garden.....

 

 

Have a happy Tuesday!!

Dana

Chilled Avocado Soup.......Finally! ;)

Since I promised a week ago to share my Avocado Soup recipe.....I figured I should make good on it!  I used an avocado recipe of Martha Stewart's and changed it up so much that it isn't even similar to the original!  (except for the fact that they both use avocados and are chilled!)

Chilled Avocado Soup (Martha Stewart Recipe altered by me)

THM peeps, this is a S soup!

Ingredients

·         3 ripe avocados (I used 6 small)
·         1 ½ cups kefir (I make my own, so this is what I had on hand)
·         ½ cup half&half
·         Several dashes dried dill
·         1/3 cup diced onion
·         1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
·         1 teaspoon coarse salt
·         2 shakes cayenne pepper
·         2 T Lime juice

Directions

1.    Halve and pit avocados. With a spoon, scoop out flesh and transfer to a food processor.

Add all ingredients and blend until smooth. 

The soup will be pretty thick at this point so add chicken stock until it is a soup-y consistency.
2.    Cover the blender and refrigerate until the soup is well chilled, at least one hour.
This makes about 6 healthy servings!

Bon Appetit!!
Dana 

 

Waffles!!!!.....

Good morning!  I have a BIG announcement today!!  ;) 


I ate WAFFLES for breakfast!!!!

I know, you are all shocked and surprised!  LOL!  j/k!  I'M shocked and surprised!  After eating low carb for YEARS, this Trim Healthy Mama way of eating is amazing!  I LOVE being able to eat carbs AND lose weight!  So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

E Waffles - this recipe made 4 waffles for me!
1/2 cup dry old fashioned oats
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup egg whites (I use Great Value brand in a carton)
dash or 2 of salt
2 tsp Truvia
2 shakes NuNaturals Stevia (small holes)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda (I use aluminum-free)

I started by pulling out the nut/seed blade for my Magic Bullet and giving the oats a spin.  It made oat flour and made sure we didn't get big chunks of oats in our waffles!  (but if chunky waffles are your thing, go right ahead and leave them whole!)  :P
Then I blended everything in my food processor and it looked just like regular waffle mix!  If your mixture seems a little thick, add some water.....but only a little at a time!  (don't ask how I know this!)I would like to add, since there is NO oil in this recipe, you will need to spray your waffle maker EVERY TIME you make a waffle!  Just a little squirt will do, but it is necessary!  Trust me!  ;)  (don't ask how I know this either!)

Now for the "syrup"
4 oz of low fat cream cheese
between 1/8-1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 shakes NuNaturals Stevia (small holes)
1/4 tsp vanilla
maple flavoring (I used some sugar free maple syrup)

I blended all of that in my Magic Bullet, adjusting the almond milk until I had a good syrupy consistency!  I warmed up 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries and mixed in about 2T of the syrup and poured it all over my waffles!  YUMM-O!!! 


I'm so thankful that God guided my path toward this new, healthy way of eating!  It's been a wonderful, waffle-y blessing!!

Happy Thursday!!
Dana

Happy Tuesday!

Holy Smokes!  It's been CrAzY busy around here!  Whew!  I finally found stole a few minutes so I thought I'd share my super yummy raspberry sherbet that I whipped up this morning afternoon (morning/afternoon, what day is it?!)!!  It was so creamy and sweet and raspberrie-y (it's a word!!).....first the pic.....

Now the recipe:

Raspberry Sherbert (for my THM friends, this is a FP snack!)

Add 1/2 c. ff cottage cheese, 1/2 to 3/4 c frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), and some Truvia or a tiny shake of NuNaturals Stevia Extract in a bowl.  Use an immersion blender to combine.
(I used my Magic Bullet and it worked ok.  I had to add about 2T of liquid to get to mix)
This will remind you of a raspberry sherbert! 

Credit for this yummy recipe goes to   ~Amanda Wylie

Avocado soup and Loaded Cauliflower posts to follow soon (hopefully!).

Happy Tuesday, Y'all!!
Dana

A tease.....

Just wanted y'all to know I have some yumminess lined up for next weeks post!!  I've been cooking up a storm and experimenting with some new recipes!  Creamy Avocado Soup and Loaded Cauliflower Casserole!!  Mmmmmmmm.......so very yummy!!  Hubby is on his way home from San Francisco and I'm SO ready to see him! 

Happy Weekend, Everyone!
Dana

A Yummy Midnight Snack....

Well, it's not really midnight.....it's actually about 3am.  My sweet hubby is out of town this week and I barely sleep when he's gone.  SO!  I thought it was the perfect time to do some late night snacking and baking!  (What else would you have done?! ;)

First, a snack was needed!  I bought some Light Wasa crackers the other day and as I opened the wrapper, my first thought was........cardboard.  These crackers look just like cardboard!!!  Uh-oh!  I've been following the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan for 2 weeks now and I've tried a LOT of new foods, all of them have been so yummy and NONE of them looked like cardboard!  LOL!  I was having flashbacks to my mom's "diets"......you know, rice cakes and tuna fish?!  YUCK.  So I plowed ahead thinking, "I'll try a bite, maybe it won't be too bad.  Maybe."  I spread Laughing Cow cheese on it, then sprinkled some nutritional yeast, sliced a juicy tomato and laid it on top.  Then I grabbed my Himalayan salt (love that it's pink!  so pretty!) and my Herbs de Provence and sprinkled it all over the top.  Here's what it looked like......

I took a bite......and........it was WONDERFUL!  Nothing like cardboard at all!  Thank goodness!  The cracker had a kind of nutty flavor, but the crunch!  Oh the crunchiness of that cracker was heavenly!  I'd been really craving chips.....crunchy chips, and these hit the spot!  This ain't your mama's diet!!  LOL!  (btw, this snack was considered a S Helper because of the carb content.)

After this lovely snack, I started craving something sweet and warm.  I've had several lovely smoothies lately, but no warm, soft cookies!  So off I went in search of a cookie recipe and I found one!  A Peanut Butter Chocolate  cookie!  The recipe is on page 387 of Trim Healthy Mama.

 

 



They turned out beautifully!  So yummy!!  I ate 2 and was totally satisfied!  They were SO delicious and I'm sure I won't get to enjoy many more of them once my girls are up and about in the morning!  I may have to hide a couple to savor with my morning cup o'espresso!

Happy snacking and sweet dreams!
Dana

The First....

Well, it's my first blog post!  My goal is to post about something every week for at least one year.  It probably would have made more sense to start on January 1, but I say let's break with convention and fly by the seat of our pants!  LOL....as you come to know me you will find this statement hilarious.  I do NOT fly by the seat of my pants.  Pretty much ever. 

I suppose I'll start by saying 'hello' and telling you a little about myself!

Hello!!  My name is Dana and I'm a sah-wife of a wonderful man that I've been married to for 15 years this month and a sah-mom of 2 beautiful girls!  I homeschool them (the girls, that is) and try to stay on top of keeping our smallish house clean.  We live in the country and have a garden (that is hating this cold Spring we are having this year, I might add!), 2 dogs, 1 rabbit and about 25 fish (who knew one boy fish could wreak such havoc!!).  We love the Lord and, if we aren't at home, we are most likely at our church!  I enjoy cooking (more on that later), crafting, teaching, crocheting, gardening and going to Disney World (much to my hubby's dismay!). 

So, about the cooking.  In my quest to better our health (mostly mine in the form of shrinking my waistline), I've delved into quite a few interesting recipes and diets.  Recently I've found this eating plan

and I am LOVING it!!  I just finished my first week eating "clean" and I lost 7 lbs!  Pretty good!!  I'll share some recipes that I'm enjoying and some of my experiments too!  ;)

I also promise to post pictures.  I can't stand blogs that don't include pictures!  If I wanted to read a book, I would!  LOL!  I read blogs to feed my inner child's love of storybooks....full of pictures.  ;)

Ok.....That's all I have time for today!  I've got to run (well, drive) to the grocery store, finish school with the girls and have dinner on the table for my hubby!  Thanks for joining me!

Dana