THM Carrot Cake

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
Here's another dessert (carb) that is on plan.

Carrot Cake           E                                                  8 servings 
1 3/4 cups oat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp.ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup stevia
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup egg whites
1/3 cup water
1 Tbl. lemon juice

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Add together and blend well. Bake in a sprayed round cake pan at 350 degrees for 19 minutes. Cool in pan and then cool some more on a rack. Add frosting. Keep the cake in the refrigerator. Dividing the cake into 8 slices keeps the fat at 2.25 grams per serving.

Frosting
3 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 Tbl unsweetened almond milk
3 packets of stevia
Dash of vanilla.

Easiest THM lunch

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
One of the easiest meals ever is just a salad with grilled chicken!

So simple it really needs no explanation! Just use some good leafy greens, your favorite veggies and throw on your grilled chicken. I like to keep this as an E but leaving off the cheese and using a low fat dressing. I try to keep these ingredients on hand as a go-to meal.

THM Dinner in a Pocket

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
This is a dinner that Rick and I enjoy often. It is a good way to use up meats and veggies in the fridge. In the THM plan these meals are called Hangry Pockets, a play off of the product Hot Pockets, because you can freeze them if you wish and enjoy them on a day you are rushed for time.

The steps from the cookbook are these:
1. Choose your protein: frozen or fresh white fish or salmon, chicken tenderloins, ground beef, turkey, stew beef, tuna, etc

2. Chose your veggies:  Choose quick cooking veggies if they are raw. Otherwise you can steam them a bit first. ) zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, kale, bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

If you wish to add a grain or sweet potato (E meal):  1/2 cup cooked brown rice, wild rice, or quinoa; or a small to medium sweet potato thinly sliced or diced.

3.  Choose your healthy fats and flavorings: 1 Tbl of butter or coconut oil for S meal; 1 tsp. for E or FP)

Mineral Salt, soy sauce, tamari, liquid aminos, parsley flakes, cilantro, minced garlic, diced chili peppers, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, Cajun seasoning, nutritional yeast, cumin, lemon slices, mustard, Italian season or oregano. For S feta or other favorite cheeses

Here is how it looks when I do it.

First I assemble all the ingredients I am using. My meal of preference is chicken and I like the thinly sliced breasts that I can find at Aldi. I have done salmon, too, and it was delicious. I chop all the veggies really thin - broccoli, squash, carrots, peppers, onion. This is one of the only meals that I use rice in. Minute rice has a package of two little containers that I half between the two meals. I like to use the wild rice but sometimes I can only find brown.

Then I cut pieces of parchment paper into large heart shapes:

At this point I put it all on the paper and add salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and usually shredded Parmesan cheese. This is what is looks like with everything in:

I think I purchased the nutritional yeast at Walmart. It has a nice cheesy flavor (and is also very good on popcorn).

Next the edges of the papers are folded in twice all the way around:

Then they go in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes depending on how you like your veggies cooked. Here it is on the plate:

This is a great way to kick up the flavor. I can only find this at Publix:

Have fun experimenting with these for a delicious, quick, healthy dinner!

THM Pineapple Upside Down Cake

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
I thought you might like a dessert!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake   E                                    Serves 1
1/4 cup pineapple tidbits in their own juice, drained
3 Tbs. oat flour
2 Tbs. egg whites
1 Tb. lowfat Greek Yogurt
1 T water
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 cup Stevia

Spray a small baking dish. Drain and place pineapple in the bottom. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes. May be topped with non-fat whipped cream. We eat it right out of the dish!

I blend oats ahead and keep a good supply. Lock-n-lock containers are great for storing them!

For the pineapple in this recipe I like to use this:

I divide one container into two dishes. These 2 cup pyrex are great:

I double the above recipe to make one for each of us. Yum!

THM Breakfast or dessert

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
This morning I tried something new for breakfast:

Yes, a chocolate waffle. Who wouldn't like having that on their eating plan? Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Waffle    E                         1 serving -makes 2 large waffles
1/3 cup old fashioned oats, ground into flour
1 generous tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg whites (or 6 tablespoons of egg whites from a carton)
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
5 tsp of Gentle Sweet (or sweetener of your choice)
Pinch of mineral salt
Dash of vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Place the ground oats in a bowl and add the cocoa, egg whites, almond milk, Gentle Sweet, salt, vanilla and baking powder. Mix well.

Spray waffle iron and allow to heat. Pour in the batter. (This made 3 waffles on my iron).

The recipe would make a fun dessert with some Greek yogurt and berries on top. I ate mine with Greek yogurt this morning. And speaking of that...

Today's tip: this yogurt makes a wonderful E snack!

No fat, 15 grams of protein and 7 carbs (when the fiber is subtracted). Plus it is delicious! I love the coconut cream, strawberry and peach.

THM lunch - chicken salad

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
I don't have to tell anyone how to make chicken salad. To go along with the THM plan, you just need to decide if you want it to be an E or a S meal.

Cook your chicken however you like - boil, bake, or even use rotisserie from a store. I like to keep mine in an E setting so I use celery, some cranberries and bell pepper - I like yellow, red or orange better than green in this dish.

Then I mix it with Kraft's fat free mayo. That might not be my first choice in flavors but I have gotten used to it.  If you want to make it a S you could use regular mayo (Duke's does not have any sugar) and some nuts.

You need something to have with that chicken salad. Most breads are not on this plan (I will discuss some that are later). Here is a great alternative:

This can be ordered from Amazon and it is freshly made before they ship it. The wrap itself is FP (fuel pull) because it only has 1.5 g fat and 4 carbs when cut in half. We order 3 packs at a time and I cut them in half when they arrive.

Then I wrap the halves in foil and return them to the bag to put in the freezer.

 You can cut one of the halves into 8 pieces and put them on parchment paper to microwave for a minute and then turn into nice cracker/chip pieces to have with soup, taco salad, chili, etc These have made a big positive difference in our eating plan.

A Choice for Dining Out

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
Since it is Sunday and we usually eat out after church, I wanted to share one choice for doing that.

Burger King will fix a "low carb" dish out of any of their hamburgers. They look like this:

Pictured is a whopper with cheese. They will allow you to substitute a salad for the french fries. It is made of very good lettuce and has tomato on it. I brought my meal home and added carrot, cranberries, bell pepper, cucumber and dressing. It is a great meal!

Today's tip: Wendy's will also do their burgers without a bun!

THM Almond Meal Pancakes

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)

Here is a breakfast dish that we have enjoyed and I have served to quite a few guests who seemed to like it also.

Almond Meal Pancakes   S                                 Serves 1
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 almond meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Whisk eggs. Stir in applesauce and vanilla. Mix almond meal and baking powder together. Add to egg mixture. Spray and heat a griddle pan to med-low. Put 1/4 cup of batter on pan. (I like to add a few dried blueberries). Cook the first side thoroughly to be able to turn it. Pancakes will be thin. They freeze very well.

Almond meal might be a new ingredient for you. It is not as fine as almond flour and that makes it a good choice for these pancakes. I buy it at Walmart and also get the Great Value Unsweetened Applesauce.

I am sharing this single serving recipe because it would be a good way to try it and see if you like it. I usually quadruple it and then we have the pancakes on Saturday and Sunday. I like to serve sausage with it.

In the THM program when you add carbs to a fat meal, or fat to a carb meal, the meal then becomes a cross- over meal. It is still healthy but you are using both kinds of fuels and thus will not have the weight loss advantage. You don't want to do that very often if your goal is weight loss. If you are at the weight you desire, it is perfectly fine.

A word of caution about syrups. They are very high in carbs and can put this meal into cross-over territory very quickly if you do not watch the amount that you use.

I like to put a little stevia in some 0% Greek Yogurt and use that on top of my pancakes.

THM has a recipe for syrup but I have not made it.

Basic Pancake Syrup - FP
1 cup water
2 1/2 to 3 TBS Gentle Sweet
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/2 tsp. butter extract
1 - 2 pinches mineral salt
1/4 tsp. Glucomannan or Xanthan Gum

Put all the ingredients (except the Gluccie or Xanthan Gum) in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over med. heat. Reduce the heal to med-low and whisk in the Gluccie a little at a time (whisk like crazy so it doesn't clump). Allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.

So that introduced two new ingredients which I will go into more on another post. THM sells the Gentle Sweet mixture. You could try Stevia instead. The Glucomannan is a powder from the konjac root and is used to thicken things. It is starch free. Xanthan Gum is available in grocery stores, is also starch free, and thickens.

THM Egg Muffins and Oatmeal

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
Let's talk about breakfast options. First I need to tell you about a third type of meal:  Fuel Pull (FP).
This is a meal or a food item with less than 5 grams of fat and less than 10 carbs. They are very, very good for weight loss! I will give some samples of them in a future post. When you think about beginning on this plan, an easy way to do it is to just change one meal a day for a week or two until you get the hang of it. Here are two of my favorite options:

Egg Muffins  S, E, or FP                                                                    12 muffins
Whisk 8 - 10 eggs (I use 9) and season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Fill muffin holes with veggies such as green peppers, onions, mushrooms and meats such as bacon bits, diced sausage, turkey, ham, tuna, or leftover ground beef.
Pour egg mixture into each muffin hole 3/4 of the way to the top.
Top each with cheese (1 cup total).
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until set.

For an E or FP choice, use all egg whites and very lean meats like turkey and a very small amount of low fat cheese such as mozzarella.You can add a small bowl of fruit to the E breakfast.

Today's Tip:
Bed, Bath and Beyond sells Gotham Steel Ti Ceramic muffin pans and they are excellent. These egg muffins are the worse for sticking even in a well sprayed pan. They come right out of the ceramic pan! Makes the clean up so minimal!

Oatmeal   E
I don't have to tell you how to make oatmeal. You will want to use Old Fashioned Oats or Steel Cut Oats to get the most nutrition. To make this for 2 people, I use 1 cup of oats and 2 cups of liquid. You can do all water, all almond milk or some of both. I like to stir some protein powder into each portion when cooked and top with blueberries, fresh or frozen.

Rick and I usually eat oatmeal 5 mornings a week and then I do different things on the weekends. This assures us 1 meal a day that is an E.

THM White Chile and Chicken Veggie Casserole

(To read the explanation of the THM eating plan see my post on 1-9-18)
Today I am going to share two more recipes with easy ingredients. If you put one new dish in your menu for each week, by the end of this year you could have many options for healthy eating!

I have served this chicken casserole to several people and they have all like it!

Chicken Veggie Casserole -  S
3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken
1 8oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup cottage cheese (I use 1% fat)
1/2 cup 0@fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I use shredded, not the green can)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups frozen spinach (do not thaw)
1 med zucchini diced
1 med yellow squash diced
1/4 onion diced
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. mineral salt

(I also like to add some chopped red pepper - adds to the flavor and color of the dish)

Be sure to dice all the veggies into very small pieces so they cook well. I believe, but am not certain,
that using the frozen spinach adds moisture gradually as the casserole bakes. Mix all ingredients (reserve 1/2 cup cheddar cheese). Pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until bubbly. This recipe came from http://mymontanakitchen.com  and you can find many THM recipes there.


White Chili    E 
2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 (15 oz) cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed, drained
2 cups chicken broth
2 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups seasoning blend (onion, celery, green pepper)
1 (14 1/2 oz) can corn, drained
1 tsp. mineral salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

(I like to add a can of green chiles to this for more flavor.)

Place chicken in the bottom of a large crockpot. Blend 2 cans of beans with the broth and put in crockpot. Add all other ingredients and cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Before serving remove chicken, shred it and return to the crockpot for 30 minutes.  Serve with yogurt if desired. This recipe makes a large amount and does freeze well.

Today's Tip:  If you live in a town with an Aldi grocery store, you will save a lot of money on your groceries. I always go there first and get everything that I can and then finish at another store. Particularly you will save on all the canned goods in the chili recipe.

THM Eating Program

I am going to use this blog site to describe our progress with the eating plan we are on and share tips and recipes for anyone who might like to try it. The plan is called Trim Healthy Mama and is most usually abbreviated as THM. It was created by two sisters from New Zealand who had tried lots of eating plans and found one that worked great. The basic starting principle is to not eat both a fat and a carb in the same meal. Your body will burn both but if you give it both, it will burn the carb which is easier and store the fat. Give it a fat and it will burn that or give it a carb and it will burn that. Makes sense to me. You also begin by getting rid of white flour, white sugar, white potatoes and white rice from your meals. If you just do those two things, you will see a lower number on the scale.

I tried this plan a bit when we were in Panama but it was difficult to consistently find things that I needed. In January 2017, I went completely on the plan and by April I had lost 17 pounds, By July it was 25. I stayed there because unfortunately I started making little allowances here and there and stopped losing.

Here we are in January 2018 and I am plan on plan 100%. I would like to lose 15 more pounds making a total of 40.

Let me give you an example of one of the delicious recipes we eat and don't feel like we are "sacrificing" at all.

Broccoli Ham Quiche   S

Crack 6 eggs and whisk.

Add ½ cup heavy cream, salt and pepper

Add small amount of chopped onion and bell pepper (optional)

Steam broccoli (half of a large head), chop and add to egg mixture.

Add chopped ham or crumbled sausage. (I use ½ of a 9 oz pkg of ham)

Mix well and pour into greased 9 in square pan.

Top with ½ cup cheddar cheese

Bake at 400 for 25 – 30 minutes until firm.

This recipe serves 4 and freezes well.

The next time I make it I will take a photo. I just wanted to give you an example of a fat meal (in the THM Cookbook they are identified as S meals which stand for satisfying). An S (fat) meal must have less than 10 grams of carbs. This quiche does not have a crust and take takes out the carbs.

Here is an example of a carb meal (identified in the THM Cookbook as E for energizing). 

Banana Oat Muffins   E                                                 Makes 12 muffins

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup of Splenda or Stevia

1 egg

½ cup fat free Greek yogurt

1 ½ cups oat flour (just grind old fashioned oats in the blender)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

Put bananas in bowl. Add Splenda and egg and mix. Add yogurt. Mix dry ingredients and add to wet.  Grease muffin tins well. Fill with mixture and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. These freeze very well. I keep very ripe bananas in the freezer and thaw them when I want to make these muffins.

So there are two sample meals that do not require any special ingredients and are delicious.  It is important to allow 3 - 4 hours between meals and to mix up the kind of meals you eat. Maybe you eat all S meals one day and all E meals another day. I like to divide them so we have both types of meals in a day. For instance we might begin our day with oatmeal (E), have a soup with cheese for lunch (S)

and then the quiche (S)for dinner with a salad.

Today's Tip: It is important to have some snacks prepared that you enjoy. One of those can be 1/4 cup of almonds. I keep little bags of them in my purse in case I get hungry when I am away from the house.

If you read this and have questions, I will be happy to try to answer them. There is a great Facebook group for THM also. 

Happy Eating!!