Stacy Craft

Name: Keto Sausage Rotel Stuffed Mushrooms
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 roll breakfast sausage ((hot or mild)); 1 can Rotel; 1 block Cream cheese; 1 package Baby Bella Mushrooms; 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese ((optional))

E Meal On Trim Healthy Mama

August 20, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

The basic principles of an E meal on Trim Healthy Mama explained plus recipes and shopping tips.

Today in our A to Z Trim Healthy Mama series, we are on to letter “E.” If you need to catch up on the whole series, click here to read everything you need to know about THM A to Z.

E is a letter that you hear a lot about on THM because it is one of the two main meal types that you will use. An E meal is referred to as energizing in the book and that is because it has carbs in the meal.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

An E Meal on Trim Healthy Mama – Defined

An E meal is an option for you when following the Trim Healthy Mama plan yet lots of new THMers are a little intimidated by the process. Especially if you have followed a low carb or keto diet for a while, those carbs in an E meal may be scary!

So what exactly is in an E meal on Trim Healthy Mama? Healthy carbs and lean protein.

What is not in an E meal? Fat. You are allowed a very small amount of fat in these meals ( 5 grams or less / 1 tsp) but they should not be a major source. This gives you the option to have a very small amount of mayo or butter as an example.

Healthy Carbs to Eat in an E meal

There are many different ways to get your carbs in an E meal. You still want to anchor your meal in protein and since you limit your fats in an E meal it should be a lean protein.

Here are some healthy carb options to include in your E meal.

Sweet Potato
Brown Rice
Brown Rice Cakes
Beans
Sprouted Bread (Ezekial, Pepperidge Farm Sprouted, Aldi Knock Your Sprouts Off are some options)
Fruits with Higher Carb Counts (Apple, Pear, Mango, 1/2 Banana, Black Cherries, Clementines or Oranges)
Quinoa
Sprouted Pretzels
Baked Tostitos
Power O’s Cereal
Starchier Vegetables like Carrots, Corn in small amounts

How Many Carbs Should I Eat

Many of us have followed low calorie diets in the past or even keto where you need to strictly watch the number of calories or your macros. I love THM because it is more relaxed with counting and recording things like that.

Of course you need to be mindful of portions and if you stall, I even recommend checking your caloric intake for a few days among other things.

But in an E meal, you do need to make sure that you are getting enough carbs to make it an E meal and that you are not taking in too many carbs at one time.

The recommendation is 20-45g of net carbs per meal. I don’t typically spend a lot of time trying to count my carbs but I am mindful of it.

THM E Meal Ideas

You can have an E meal for any meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks. Many find it easier to eat E meals for any meal other than dinner. I think that is because traditionally the E meal seems more “diet” than the S meals due to their lack of fat. My family is usually more excited about ground beef tacos topped with cheese and sour cream (S) than a piece of lean fish, steamed broccoli and brown rice (E).

So I often use my E meals during the day where I am more willing to make different meals for different family members. You eat what mama cooks at dinner, no special requests!

Here are some ideas. Please note that these are just general ideas to get you into E territory. Don’t forget to add plenty of non-starchy vegetables or additional protein to complete a well rounded meal.

THM E Meal Breakfast

2% Cottage Cheese with a higher carb fruit (mango, pear, apple as examples)
2 pieces of sprouted bread with a Light Laughing Cow Cheese wedge, cinnamon and stevia with some turkey bacon
Light String cheese and higher carb fruit
Egg Whites “Toad in a Hole” with Turkey bacon
No Sugar Added Make Ahead Baked Oatmeal

THM E Meal Lunch

Sprouted bread sandwich with lean lunch meat
Sweet Potato topped with leftover grilled buffalo chicken
E Tuna Salad with Eggs on Sprouted Bread

THM E Meal Dinner

15 minute White Beans and Turkey ham
Easy Black Bean Tacos
Crockpot Zevia Pulled Pork on a Sprouted Roll or Bread
Chicken Taco Soup with beans

I hope this explanation of an E meal on Trim Healthy Mama gets you eating those healthy carbs and helps you to succeed on THM. Join us next week for letter “F” in the A to Z series.

7 Ways To Save On Back To School Expenses

August 18, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

7 easy ways to save on back to school expenses for your kids.

Getting kids back to school ready can cost a pretty penny.

In order to keep these expenses under control, there are several easy ways to save money. These 7 ways to save on back to school expenses will lessen that back to school burden that can occur if spending gets out of control.

And with all that extra money you are saving, you will have a little leftover to show those teacher’s how much you appreciate them!

Our “Back to the Grind” coffee gift and the “Back to School would be totally Nuts without you” are two of our favorite gifts that are cute and inexpensive!

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

7 Ways to Save on Back To School Expenses

Check out these 7 ways to save on Back To School expenses and still has your kids ready and prepared for their first day.

Shop Tax Free

Many states do a tax free weekend a week or two before school starts.

This is a great way to save some extra cash on any items that you need to buy. It is especially beneficial if you have a big ticket item like a fancy calculator or a computer that you need to purchase.

Check the parameters of your state’s program, some allow more than others to qualify for the tax free exemption.

Evaluate Real Clothing Needs

The start of a new school year practically screams for you to buy your kids a new wardrobe.

But you certainly don’t have to! If you live anywhere like us, it is still in the mid to upper 90’s when school starts in August.

So summer clothes are pretty much a must. I know kids grow so fast and you need a new set of clothes almost every season for a while. But those summer clothes I bought in April or May still fit.

You may end up needing to buy some fall clothes but you can probably wait a month or two before incurring that expense.

Buy Used Clothing

There are tons of places that you can buy really high quality used children’s clothing very inexpensively.

If you don’t know about and use BST groups on Facebook, you are overspending.

Have brand specific kids that will only wear XYZ Brand? I bet they have a BST group for it.

I love putting my kids in brands like Mini Boden, Hanna Andersson, Polo and of course smocked dresses for the girlie. I wouldn’t dream of paying full price for these but I can often find very gently used for about Target prices.

I explain all the ins and outs of Buy, Sell, Trade here. This is not your neighborhood yard sale site. It ships to your door and it is amazing.

Almost Amazon good. Almost.

You can also search your local goodwill or consignment shop if you like the old fashion thrill of the hunt.

Reuse Backpack / Lunchbox

Especially if your kids are a little older and out of the character backpack phase, you could reuse the same backpack or lunch box for a second year.

Or since I still have some little’s at home, it is very reasonable to reuse my son’s paw patrol backpack for a second year of MDO. They hardly use those anyway!

The savings on this can really add up.

Pack Lunches

Depending on how much lunches cost at your school and the extras that they buy, you could easily spend $500-$700 a year on lunch.

Not to mention that they may only eat the unhealthy options and it will be hard to know.

Brown bagging their lunch fare can be a really easy way to save money.

I also love that it helps to teach responsibility and independence if you involve them in making the lunch. My kindergartener enjoys helping!

Here are lots of school lunch ideas that I send to school often. And bonus, they are peanut free, just in case your school or an allergy requires that.

These are some of my favorite Lunchbox helpers to make packing lunch a breeze.

I have been using this stuff for about three years now with no need to replace! It is all top notch quality. You won’t have to replace these as often, therefore, saving money.

Save 5% at Target

If you use your Target REDCard debut, you will save 5% on your entire purchase.

Combine this with school supply sales and cartwheel coupons and the savings can be pretty substantial.

Use Earned Giftcards to Help With Expenses

Earning gift cards in your spare time can be a great way to offset the cost of starting back to school.

I have been using Swagbucks for years as an easy way to collect points that can be exchanged for gift cards to use for birthdays, back to school or Christmas gifts.

You can do some tasks like answering survey or polls or watching videos to earn points.

My favorite way is simply using their search engine to earn points. I set the Swagbucks homepage as my default web browser.

By searching as usual at home and at work, I typically get enough point to get around $100 to $150 in gift cards a year.

It might not be life changing but it can definitely help with incremental expenses!

I hope these 7 ways to save on back to school expenses helps you this year to save and keep more of your hard earned money in your pocket!

Keto Sausage Rotel Stuffed Mushrooms

August 18, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Keto sausage rotel stuffed mushrooms combine the cream cheese based rotel that you love served up in a baby bella.

Rotel dip is delicious. I even like the kind with a big block of orange processed cheese. My sister has always preferred the cream cheese variety and requested it frequently at holiday dinners.

You don’t have to completely give up your favorite cream cheese rotel dip if you are doing a keto/low carb/ Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. You just need to switch up your dipper of choice!

Baby bellas make a delicious serving option for these keto sausage rotel stuffed mushrooms. Make them for a snack. A party Appetizer. Breakfast! You won’t regret it.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Keto Sausage Rotel Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms are a popular party appetizer even for your non-keto friends. It is always nice to make something to take to a party that will please the crowd regardless of their dietary choices. These mushroom bites will do just that!

Keto sausage rotel stuffed mushrooms are nice because if you want to make two options (keto vs. non-keto friends) you can do it easily. Just make your filling up in the crockpot. Add tortilla chips for eating the rotel for those that choose to (non-keto) & then use some of the filling to make these delicious stuffed mushrooms.

What You Need

These keto sausage rotel stuffed mushrooms use just a few basic ingredients that can be found at any regular grocery store.

For my Trim Healthy Mama friends, this would be considered a NSI (no special ingredients) S Meal due to the fats in the cream cheese and sausage plus you get the benefits of mushrooms that Pearl and Serene rave about.

So to make these cheesy mushrooms you need:

Baby Bella Mushrooms (You could also use whole white mushrooms)
A block of cream cheese
Can of Rotel
Roll of Breakfast Sausage (hot or mild)
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Making Low Carb Stuffed Mushrooms

Creating these rotel stuffed mushrooms is pretty easy! I made them on the stovetop this time but you can also use your crockpot to make it even easier.

First, brown the roll of sausage. Drain excess grease if needed.

Once the sausage is browned, you will combine everything but the baby bella mushrooms. You can add the browned sausage and other ingredients to your slow cooker on low or just melt it together in your skillet.

After the cream cheese, rotel and sausage are combined, then you are ready to stuff your mushrooms.

Wash and dry your mushrooms. Remove the stems and place them on a baking sheet. I like to use one like this to prevent soggy mushrooms.

Spoon in about a teaspoon to a tablespoon (depending on the size of your mushroom) of filling into the cleaned mushrooms.

Top with a pinch of cheddar cheese. My husband wanted his without the shredded cheese because he is a cream cheese purist. I tried both but definitely preferred the mushrooms with the shredded cheese. The cheese formed a little crust on top that helped to hold in all the creamy cream cheese mixture and I liked the extra texture.

Other Easy & Delicious Keto/Low Carb/ THM S Recipes

Here are some other keto recipes that you will want to add to your weekly meal plan.

Salsa Verde Queso Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

Keto Parmesan Crusted Pork Chop

Mac And Cheese Zoodles

Ultra Easy Baked Chicken and “Rice” For One

2 Ingredient Keto Creamsicle Drink

I hope these easy keto sausage rotel stuffed mushrooms give you a simple appetizer idea for your next get together! College football is starting up soon and I know they would go over great at a tailgate or watch party.

Keto Sausage Rotel Stuffed Mushrooms

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

10-12 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

1 roll breakfast sausage (hot or mild)
1 can Rotel
1 block Cream cheese
1 package Baby Bella Mushrooms
1/4 cup Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

10-12 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

1 roll breakfast sausage (hot or mild)
1 can Rotel
1 block Cream cheese
1 package Baby Bella Mushrooms
1/4 cup Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash mushrooms, remove stems and dry.
Brown the roll of sausage and drain excess grease if required.
Add the cream cheese and can of rotel.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture cooks out some of the liquid and the cheese is melted.
Add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the rotel mixture to each mushroom.
Top with a pinch of shredded cheese if you are using.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Back To School Would Be Nuts Without You Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea With Free Printable

August 13, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

An easy and inexpensive Back to School gift for your child’s teacher that can be put together in just a couple of minutes. Make the first day of school special for your kid’s new teacher too!

Preparing for back to school is a lot of work. You have new clothes to find, school supplies to purchase and backpacks to pack. But as you prep your kids to return to school, you want to acknowledge the new teacher that your child will spend the year with.

Last year we did the “Back to the Grind” Coffee Teacher gift for the first week of school. The coffee gift was nice because you could grab the item that you need at the grocery or drug store. Let’s be honest, making a gift easy to buy increases the likelihood that I will actually get it done.

So just like the coffee teacher present, this back to school would be nuts without you teacher appreciation gift can also be easily purchased at a grocery or drug store. Stick the free printable on and take that baby to school!

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Back To School Would Be Nuts Without You Teacher Appreciation Gift

So I may or may not be struggling with sending my sweet girl to kindergarten this morning. She has been begging to go for weeks so at least she is excited. And actually as I write this at 6 a.m., she just came in my room (without being woken up by me) fully dressed in her first day of school outfit. Ready to go!

It is funny how the mind works. On the one hand, I am excited for her. To see what she will learn, to see her new friends and to see her embark on a new chapter in her life.

But on the other hand, my mama heart is just a little sad. Big kid school signifies what I have known for a while. She is not a baby anymore. She will probably have to deal with some things at school that I won’t be able to immediately fix. And I will want to but as we move to this chapter, I will focus on teaching her to be able to stand up for herself. To be kind (although she doesn’t need many lessons in that). To be confident. To be herself.

Ok, while I go sob in the corner, we can get back to these cute little Back to School Would Be Nuts Without You teacher appreciation gift.

What You Need

You know what else I love about this little teacher gift? You only need two items!

I can’t ever remember to pick up the cute colored baker’s twine or ribbon or washi tape to elevate my gift giving. So I made the printable super colorful. No bow needed!

Here is your supply list:

Nuts – You could do a package of mixed nuts or chocolate covered almonds like I did
Free Printable

Just attach the printable with a little piece of tape.

What I Love About This Teacher Gift

Easy – You can find nuts at pretty much any gas station or grocery store. No special trip to a specialty store.
Gender Neutral – This would work for male or female teachers! I love that because male teachers tend to be a bit harder to buy for.
Inexpensive – You can buy one of those individual packs of nuts for usually around $1. You can choose to get a bigger package but it could be done for $1. A teacher gift doesn’t have to be expensive to show that you care. The package that I used was right around $5 at my local grocery.

Back To School Would Be Totally Nuts Without You Free Gift Tag Printable

To print, just click this Link. It will take you to a PDF page to print the tags.

Cut the gift tags and attach to the teacher’s gift. The end. You are done.

Will anyone else be joining me in a good cry after making up their back to school would be nuts without you teacher gift today?

BBQ Smoked Sausage And Couscous

August 12, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

A 15 minute meal that will cost you less than $5 to prepare. This BBQ Smoked Sausage and Couscous is a weeknight family meal that everyone will enjoy!

School is about to start and that has had me working on a big list of easy meals that I can get on the table quickly. Between homework, extra curricular classes and some kind of family time our nights will be jam packed soon. Not to mention nighttime routines like baths, lunch packing and setting clothes out for the next day.

I need some super easy meals that will get everyone full without spending an hour in the kitchen prepping and cooking. This recipe is one of my go to meals when I haven’t planned something for dinner because even if the sausage is frozen it comes together really quickly.

Once you have made it a time or two, you won’t even need a recipe! This BBQ smoked sausage and couscous recipe is versatile, easy and cheap.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

BBQ Smoked Sausage And Couscous

My little boy started exclaiming “a hot dog, a hot dog” today when he saw his plate on the table this evening. He loves hot dogs (and even though this isn’t a hot dog that just shows you how easy this will be to get your kids to eat!) It combines saucy sausage with cheesy couscous. What’s not to like?

What You Need

Smoked Sausage
Parmesan Couscous
Chicken Broth
Pale Ale Mustard Based BBQ Sauce
Parsley (For Garnish – Optional)

Directions

Start by slicing the sausage in about 1 inch pieces.

Pour 2/3 cup chicken broth into a skillet over medium heat. Add in the sausage.

Allow the sausage to absorb/cook down almost all of the liquid and the sausage to brown slightly.

Once almost all of the liquid is absorbed, add 3 tablespoons of bbq sauce to the sausage and simmer for about 5 minutes on low. The small amount of chicken broth combined with the BBQ sauce will create a thick glaze.

Meanwhile, prepare your couscous according to the package directions.

To serve, spoon couscous onto the plate and serve the sausage on top. Sprinkle with a little parsley.

I usually serve this with a side salad or tonight, we ate it with a bag of frozen green peas that I warmed while cooking the BBQ smoked sausage and couscous.

Why I Love This Meal

BBQ smoke sausage and couscous is a meal that I have been making for about 6 years now. I love it for several reasons and I will share those with you! These little tricks may make this a staple meal in your house too!

My whole family loves it! All the kids, teens to a 1 year old love it. No one ever complains and they always eat their meal.
It is so versatile. Don’t have Parmesan Couscous? Use regular. No chicken broth? Saute the sausage in olive oil or a dry white wine. No Pale Ale Mustard BBQ sauce? Use a traditional bbq sauce. I have done all of these & it is always still yummy.
I always have the ingredients! Just about every time I go to the store I grab a box of couscous and a rope of sausage. So I always have the stuff to make this simple supper.
Inexpensive. The cost to make this meal is low and makes for a budget friendly family meal. Read more about this below.

Cost of BBQ Smoked Sausage and Couscous Meal

Aside from the ease of preparation and the fact that my kids will eat this without complaints, the cost is my next favorite thing. Since this meal uses just a few simple ingredients, you can keep your costs down while feeding your family.

Smoked Sausage – $2.50
Couscous – $1.55
Pale Ale BBQ – $3.19 At Kroger (.319 for 3 tablespoons)
Chicken Broth – $1.35 32 ounces ( .22 for 2/3 cup)

Total: $4.589 or about $1.15 per serving

This recipe feeds our family of four. We do have two small children at our normal dinner table so they are not big eaters but my husband is a big eater and it works out to serve our family well.

If my husband’s teen girls are over, I will double the recipe.

Favorite Cooking Necessities

Other Easy Family Friendly Meals You Will Love

10 minute Black Bean Tacos

1 Rotisserie Chicken, 5 Lunches

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Crack Chicken Puffs

Pimento Cheese Chicken Spaghetti

BBQ Smoke Sausage And Couscous

Cook Time

Servings

Ingredients

1 Smoked Sausage Link Rope (14 oz)
2/3 Cup Chicken Broth
3 TBSP Pale Ale BBQ Sauce (or Your Favorite Bbq Sauce)
1 Box Parmesan Couscous
1 Tsp parsley (Optional Garnish)

Cook Time

Servings

Ingredients

1 Smoked Sausage Link Rope (14 oz)
2/3 Cup Chicken Broth
3 TBSP Pale Ale BBQ Sauce (or Your Favorite Bbq Sauce)
1 Box Parmesan Couscous
1 Tsp parsley (Optional Garnish)

Instructions

Slice the smoked sausage into 1 inch pieces.
Add 2/3 cup chicken broth to a medium skillet and add sliced sausage.
Cook sausage/broth over medium heat until most of the broth is absorbed and sausage is lightly browned.
Reduce heat to low and add 3 Tablespoons of BBQ sauce to sausage and mix until all pieces are well covered.
Sprinkle with parsley if desired.
In another pot, prepare the couscous as directed on box.
To serve, place desired amount of couscous on plate, top it with the BBQ smoked sausage.