My Weekly Meal Plan!

***This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your purchases!***

I am back in the game peeps!! I am not able to guarantee I will post a weekly meal plan every week, but I will when I am able to!

For me, I realize that when I have a plan for EVERYTHING I am going to eat in a day, I do much better! So here is my plan!

For those new to my blog, I create recipes and share ideas that are allergy friendly.

This weeks plan for 1/3 - 1/9

Breakfasts - always egg free
S - A Home with Purpose Porridge, I add berries and protein powder (have this twice)
S - Blueberry Scones  I may use cranberries instead and add orange zest YUM! (will have these twice)
E - Chocolate Banana Muffins page 283 from the THM Cookbook (will have these twice)
S - Breakfast Sandwiches using Just Like Grandmas Rolls  and beef breakfast sausage patties

Lunches
S - Sandwiches on Just Like Grandmas Rolls with lean deli meat and all the fixings! Earth Milk (I will have this twice this week)
S - Sesame noodles ( a recipe in the works, if its delish, I will be blogging about it!)
S - Just Like Campbells Tomato soup with chicken
S - Salmon fillet and cabbage
S - Leftover soup (will have this twice)

Dinners
E - Sweet potato oat soup page 102 from the THM Cookbook
S - Cornbread Mexican Pie (I will make egg free and update my blog with results!) page 132 THM Cookbook
S - Suas and Cabb page 58 THM Cookbook
E - White Wicked Chili page 37 THM Cookbook
S - Lemon Drummies page 51  THM Cookbook
XO - Tacos! (in my world they are just best when I plan for a xo)
E - Cowboy Grub page 59 THM Cookbook

Snacks
FP - Fat Stripping Frappa (3 times)
S - Skinny Chocolate and Tea (twice)
E - Chocolate Banana Muffins (twice)

Desserts
S - Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar (twice)
E - Pineapple Upside Down Cake page 290 THM Cookbook (twice)
FP - Cookie Bowl Oatmeal with berries (twice)
S - Chocolate Cupcakes with this as frosting: http://simplyhealthyhome.com/dairy-and-sugar-free-chocolate-sauce/

Have a great week everyone!
With Joy ~ Tina 

2016 THM Accountability and Challenge Group! JOIN ME!!

We are almost there!! The beginning of 2016!

Have you heard? I started an unofficial THM Accountability and challenge group? 
What will that look like??

We will have a WEEKLY challenge! 

Daily meal check ins!

Share our workouts!

Encouragement and friendship!

Accountability!! 

Join us as we begin the year off right! Rededicating our health journey or perhaps you are just starting out! We have a variety of ladies joining us, new and seasoned!

I am looking to regaining my weight loss goals and most of all, I am so excited to share this journey with others!!

You can find this group on facebook HERE!

Made with Love

I wanted to share a little more of my heart with you all today.

Something I noticed happening over this year was with all the craziness as mentioned in my previous post, was that cooking became a burden. It was just a chore I begrudgingly did because we needed to eat. I made THM treats so I could do my best to try to stay on plan, but it had lost it's joy.

Prior to my THM lifestyle change, I LOVED to bake. It was one of my love languages to my family. I would make fresh bread for my families sandwiches, breakfasts etc. Cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, muffins. I truly enjoyed making yummy foods for my family and I truly did it with love. Something therapeutic for me to feel the dough in my hands...my brain knows the food is done before the timer goes off....then watching their faces.....I love it all.

Then THM came in to my life. With my food intolerances I realized baking was going to be a huge learning curve now and I was really missing this area of my love language for my family. So, I dug in and played and experimented and guess what happened? Oil of Joy, my blog was born! I was having success, my family was enjoying my baked treats again and again I was making delicious things with love...and excitement!

Fast forward to 2015, such a hard year. I was in survival mode, which was appropriate for the time. I had to do what I needed to make it all work, and by the grace of God I did. But I am not there anymore. I am now free to enjoy making things with love once again, but I have realized that I am not. I am still making things because I have to, until this week. One evening this week I was just sitting and reflecting on the jobs that needed to get done around the house, making food was on that "job" list.

I wondered how it had become a job and not a love anymore, I realized that along the hard journey of this year, I had let that go but I want to reclaim it.

I want to encourage you (and me) to find the love of cooking and baking for your family, to spend the time not as a chore, but as an act of worship to the Lord, as an act of Love for your family and for yourself. When I make/bake THM foods for my family now, I know not only are they going to be satisfied by delicious flavors and happy tummies, but I am also nourishing their bodies. I also love and am so thankful I can be a full time mom. It's been a joy to be home with my children for these past 20 years! It's also so easy to feel like these daily tasks are meaningless, to not take pride in them or to just get them over with. However, I want to remind myself, I love to cook and bake. I love the creativity involved, the joy on their faces and the delicious sounds they make as they devour my latest creation.

Last night, before bed I was feeling inspired again, ready to enjoy the creative art of cooking and baking. I decided instead of just finding something to eat for breakfast, I would get up and create something delicious! I did.....I played with my S scone recipe and made cranberry orange scones with a protein london fog tea. It felt GREAT to enjoy the time in the kitchen, playing with ingredients, coming up with ideas. The house felt warm and the air smelled heavenly as they baked. Food really is one of my love languages, I am glad to have learned it in such a way as to heal and not harm my family.

Now it is time to start remembering why I cook and bake for my family. So it can be Made with Love.

With joy ~ Tina

PS - you can find that new addition to my scone recipe in the link above, I have added it as a variation to my original blueberry.

Trying again...an update in my THM Journey

I have thought a while about sharing this particular part of my journey, but I decided I wanted to share it for anyone else who has fallen but is getting back up to try again.

Sometimes I feel like I have not really fallen off the THM wagon, but rather I was drug along the side of it, bumping and scraping all the way. I am always on THM, I may have a few bad days or some off plan meals, but I am never fully "off plan". I don't think I could ever go back to my previous way of eating, it's made that much of a difference in my life. You can read my original story HERE. 

For those of you who have followed along on my blog, you may have noticed we have had a very hard year in our home. In the spring of this year my husband was diagnosed with MRSA in the bursa sack of his elbow. It was a very, very (stress VERY) hard time. He had to go on a series of antibiotics administered multiple times a day through a line installed in his arm. We are eternally thankful and give glory to God that he is 1. HEALED and 2. he only missed a total of one and a half weeks of work through that horrible ordeal . (We don't have sick time, so any time off is just lost money and I am a full time mom, so it makes an impact.) God was there. My husband ended up having a severe reaction to his antibiotics and was hospitalized for a day. While I share our hardships let me just say, I was gifted essential oils through a dear friends mother to help my husband through this time. We had friends praying for us as well. I am so very thankful for praying family and friends. To sum this story up, my husband has now recently had a follow up MRI to check if he needed surgery and he does NOT! So, we are finally finished (as of about a month ago) with that whole situation. Here is a post I did about what I make for my husbands lunches. In that photo he had just recently been diagnosed. That day I was smiling, but inside I was scared.

Shortly after my husbands ordeal my mom got very sick and entered the hospital with a diabetic wound that nearly ended up taking her life because of complications. Her story is found HERE and HERE. I then spent the remainder of this summer managing her care. Spending days at the hospital, then organizing in home caretakers, meals, grocery shopping, doctors appointments etc etc etc. I did this in addition to taking care of my own family and home. I am again, so thankful and praise God for saving her life, for healing her and preserving her foot and leg and giving her the ability to live again. She is continuing to improve every day.

I share all of this not to whine, but to get to the point, trying again. Let me share this little tidbit of information so you can see the full scope, one day my daughter and I headed out to finally get a grocery shop trip in, I had been managing our family meals day by day, moment by moment, it was all I could do. When we finally made it out to this particular planned shopping trip, my daughter looks at me and asked me, do you remember the last time we did this? She caught me by surprise, why was that even in her mind...so I told her no, I really couldn't remember. She told me it had been 3 months. Three months since I had meal planned and my family had sat down to a regular meal all together. Three months since I had my kitchen and pantry stocked like it usually is. It may sound silly, but it was quite a shock for me to realize that this one basic thing, had been so neglected for so long.

While I was busy caring for others for so many months this year, I had not been caring for myself. I would do the best I could to stick to plan, but I would have many days of way too many hours between meals or snacks, or too many crossovers or just sometimes I had to eat what I could get my hands on. I would have spurts of really good days and boy could I tell a difference in how I was handling things when I was eating well, but I just didn't have time to plan or bake or cook.

Sadly, although I have not weighed, I am pretty sure I have gained back my weight from where I started on THM. I don't want to weigh yet, it just feels like another burden I cannot bear at this time. Instead, I am focusing on regaining my momentum. I am meal planning, I am baking and cooking and prepping again.

I am trying hard to not look at this as a failure, although sometimes it's hard not to. I run a blog and motivational groups as well as a THM store. Yet, I couldn't hold it all together. I gained weight...I struggle with feeling like I am not the best representation of THM.

What I will say is this, I did NOT return to my old usual coping mechanisms for the most part. I would have looked for junk food during such a stressful season before THM. I now find I would rather have a cake in a mug than a store bought cookie. Skinny chocolate really does sooth a frazzled, teary heart, not just the tummy. I would also say, I have the best tool ever, THM to return to full force and I KNOW it works and I will lose this weight again and I will reflect on this season and hopefully be better prepared when a rough season is thrust upon me again. (Let's all hope and pray that is not for a VERY long time, ok?) So, I am trying again. I will be on THM for life, I already know that, I just hope I will spend that time maintaining in the future rather than trying to lose weight I have already lost before. I hope as I encourage others, I will also be encouraged and motivated and excited.

Have you ever fallen off the THM bandwagon? Are you also looking for motivation. I would love to invite you to join me in my Facebook Accountability and challenge group. I will cheer you on and you can cheer me on!

Thanks for reading, I hope my story helps you get back on plan if you have veered off the path. <3

With joy ~ Tina

THM Accountability and Challenge Group!

Hi ladies! I am just so excited! I decided to start a Trim Healthy Mama (unofficial) Accountability and Challenge Group!

What is it going to be like? Well, we will kick off officially on January 1, 2016. That's a Friday ladies, yes, are starting on a Friday and not waiting until the usual Monday start day!

Each week I will offer up a challenge for us all! On Sundays I will post a meme indicating our challenge and within that thread how we are all doing that week! I will be mixing it up each week and I have already written up the first 6 months of weekly challenges!

I will also post a daily meme where we can check in, offer encouragement and keep each other updated on how our journey is going.

I have already decided to start a pre challenge mini challenge - we will be doing a 4 day NO CHEAT challenge. December 20, 21, 22 and 23rd! A great way to kick some of that sugar out of our system and set our minds on our lifestyle and how GREAT we feel when we stick to the plan!

If you would like to join this group you can find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/514579302038332/

You can also click on the accountability group picture above, it's linked too!

I am just so excited to get this kicked off! I am already encouraged just by planning our weekly challenges and watching you all join and share your stories and excitement!

If you need to stock up on THM items, you can order through me privately or you can shop through my THM store located here. Thank you for any purchases made through my affiliate link below! They help support my blog habit and bringing you yummy egg free creations! <3

If you are in need of the books they an be found here:



Thanks ladies! I am really looking forward to a happy, healthy new year!

With Joy ~ Tina

My THM Cookbook Tips and Tweaks for the Allergy Mamas

Hello mamas!

Don't you just love the new cookbook? It has been a HUGE hit in my home. My family is loving the recipes so far! Since those of us who deal with food allergies, I thought I would work my way through the recipes as I can and create a resource here for you with my personal tips and tweaks. As much as I would like to help everyone with all different sensitivities, I am not able to, so this resource will be coming from my main issues which are eggs, wheat, some dairy, almonds, sunflower seeds and peanuts. Be sure to check back here regularly, I plan to keep updating this as I work on each recipe.

First, I use this recipe to replace the THM baking blend, I sub in hazlenut flour for the almond called for, I would imagine just about any nut or seed flour would work so you can fit this to your needs.

http://www.runamokmama.com/blog/runamok-mamas-quick-mix

I feel this mix works very well as a direct sub for the THM Baking Blend, but I am able to customize it to fit my food sensitivities! There are many other wonderful mixes out there, I just feel this one has been a very good sub for the recipes in the cookbook.

I am not able to give you full recipes from the cookbook here because of copyright laws and well its just not the right thing to do. :)
So please, buy the cookbook if you don't already have it! It's so worth it!!

I will add pictures as I am able! I sure hope you find this list a blessing and again, check back often, I plan to update as I am able!

With Joy ~ Tina :)

On to the recipes!

Page 275 - Brainy Blueberry Muffin- The baking blend is a gamechanger for egg free mamas. As soon as I saw it in person I knew it was going to work so well for subbing in S recipes! I was so excited!! My sub for this and the MIM recipes when using homemade or purchased baking blend  is a chia egg. So simple, I heat up my tea kettle, I measure out 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds, add in 3 Tablespoons of hot water and let sit for a minute or so to allow it to thicken. In the dish I am making my MIM I first put the coconut oil in, I then pour my hot chia egg over the oil and stir to melt. Then I add in the rest of the ingredients adding in the frozen berries, if using, last. If your muffin is too dry, add in a Tablespoon or so of water to get to a mixable, but not watery consistency.  Works fabulously! (note, without egg, these never come out as fluffy and large as one made with egg, but this still comes out great and muffin like!!)

Page 283 - Chocolate Banana Muffins - I made these dairy free by using the applesauce sub listed in the recipe. For the eggs, when I combined all the wet ingredients, I added in 2 teaspoons of flax meal, mixed together and allowed it to sit for a few minutes to thicken a bit. I also subbed in 3/8 of a cup of sweet blend as my family loves it! (Sorry, that's the only photo I had of the muffins, pictured above is the Strawberry milk page 438 which I love with the muffins for breakfast, and the Stovetop Granola Crunch page 254, so yummy!)

Page 332 - Chocolate Berry Wedding Cheesecake - Oh mama. This cake is wonderful. This was the shining star at our thanksgiving dinner this year. I decided we would try this using the goat cheese  from Costco that comes in logs. This allowed the folks who are dairy sensitive in my family to enjoy this, cream cheese would not work for our family. So, I used 22oz of goat cheese in place of the cream cheese called for. For the eggs I subbed in 1/2cup of sprouted tofu. I placed the tofu in my blender with 2 Tablespoons of coconut milk and whirred it up. I then used between 6-8 Tablespoons of coconut milk to thin out the mixture while mixing it up in step 2. Mine didn't pour into the crust so much, it was a bit thicker, but still came out amazing!! For the crust, I used 1/2 cashew meal and 1/2 coconut flakes and followed the basic recipes on pages 323-324 of the cookbook.

I also made slim belly jelly on page 478 and I made this AMAZING chocolate sauce from Simply Healthy Home. http://simplyhealthyhome.com/dairy-and-sugar-free-chocolate-sauce/

That sauce recipe is a keeper for about a thousand other things...like eating off a spoon. :)

Page 177 - Super Salmon Patties - My family loves this dish, it's also very quick and easy. This one calls for eggs, I use a simple and basic chia egg, basically 1 Tablespoon chia soaked in 3T warm water until thickened. Depending on how much salmon I use, I use 2-3 of these just like called for in the recipe. I have also made this with the oat sub suggested and tonight I made them with the Run AmokMama baking mix sub. Came out great as usual!

Page 298 - Bust-a-myth banana cake - Oh, this is a YUMMY cake! My daughter was thrilled and said it tasted just like the banana bread I used to make! YAY! That's high praise, as in my pre THM life, I would consider myself a pretty good baker. :) (Part of why I needed THM, lol)

This cake calls for both eggs and greek yogurt, neither of which I or my daughter can have. In place of those I used 1 cup of applesauce and 2 scoops of collagen. Worked beautifully. This cake is a keeper! I have another banana cake on my blog here: Zucchini Banana Bread. Which is also yummy and quite a versatile recipe! So now you have some yummy options! Enjoy!

Linked below is my Affiliate - any purchase you make helps support my egg free baking habit and blesses my family. Thankfully it adds nothing to your purchase price and we are so appreciative of all who use it!

S - Stuffing ~ Dressing ?? Delicious for sure! Egg free, Gluten Free

*This post contains affiliate links. Using them costs you nothing extra but does give me a little kickback from the THM store. Thank you for your support, I truly love bringing you allergy friendly yummy recipes that help us all achieve our THM goals!*

I call it stuffing whether or not I stuff it in my turkey. Some folks call that dressing. Dressing is what I put on a salad. So stuffing is the bready, buttery goodness that makes me feel like it's Thanksgiving. It also makes my tummy incredibly happy.

Personal secret I will share....I was a carb junky pre THM. My thanksgiving plate consisted of lots of carbs. The perfect plate had mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy and a nice fluffy roll. No turkey. That was a waste of precious tummy space for more carbs. Ugh....it makes me a little nauseous now to even think about the overload. Carb coma for sure.

Today it is MUCH different! I now enjoy some chicken breast (since turkey tends to give me sinus issues, weirdest reaction ever), I make a low carb cranberry sauce and this will be my first year to have an on plan stuffing! I am SO excited! Of course, it meant a huge sacrifice for me, I had to make a trial batch so I could share this with you before thanksgiving. Oh the struggles of blogging....(although sometimes the struggle is real when I mess up, lol)

This is a very basic recipe, you can jazz this baby up with some chicken or beef sausage, more herbs and spices etc. I like the basic simple kind of stuffing. It's what I grew up with...it tastes like Thanksgiving to me. Oh, and theres a good amount of butter...which makes this not dairy free...sorry folks if you are looking for that sub, perhaps refined coconut oil and some butter flavor?

Now, I also must say, it is HARD for this very amateur blogger/photographer to get a good picture of stuffing that doesn't resemble something like kibble. Sorry about that, you will just have to trust me, besides, stuffing isnt really pretty anyway, right? RIGHT!

                                           

On to the recipe!!

First you need to make a batch of Just Like Grandmas Rolls

Now, after they have completely cooled, or maybe even make the rolls the day before, chop them up into cubes as best you can. Place them on a baking sheet and broil for between 8-12 minutes until they are pretty much dry.

Basic Holiday Stuffing:

1/2-3/4 cup butter (you decide how buttery you would like this to be)
1 onion chopped
4 celery stocks chopped
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
3 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
approx 1-2 cups chicken broth (this can vary depending on how dry or moist you like your stuffing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a dutch oven melt that beautiful butter. Saute your onions and celery until soft. Add in your seasonings, including salt and pepper. Stir in your dry "bread" cubes and coat them well with that seasoned buttery goodness.

Begin to add your broth, mix well, continue to add and mix until you have achieved the desired texture.

I know some folks like theirs quite soft, others like a little more texture, like me. So I have left you some variables here to play with, enjoy the art of making a wonderful stuffing!!

Pour your stuffing into a baking pan or just bake in your dutch oven if it is oven safe. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. Oh the smells are heavenly!


Happy Thanksgiving! I will share my cranberry sauce recipe with you early this week!!

With Joy ~ Tina

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