Plan

Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

May 2, 2019 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

Caramel, cream cheese and churros. Roll it up in a ball and serve it with more churros for a simple and festive treat on Cinco De Mayo (or any day of the week!).

Cinco De Mayo! It is almost here and I have a simple and delicious Dulce De Leche dessert cheeseball to share with you today. Add an easy sweet treat to your celebration and dessert table at your 5/5 party.

If you know me, you know that I would eat cake over steak any day. But when it comes to Mexican food, cheese dip and tacos usually win out over sweets. So this year, I think I will have my queso and then my dessert “queso” ball – the best of all worlds. See what I did there? I promise the cheeseball is better than my jokes.

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Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

I had been eyeing the new Cinnamon Toast Crunch churro cereal at the store for the last few weeks. The box was doing a little Cinco De Mayo dance on the store shelf every time I passed it. Begging me to buy it and make some type of seasonal treat.

I was originally thinking about some kind of churro trail mix but then I thought about using those cinnamon sugar sticks as a dipping agent for a rich dessert cheeseball.

The dulce de leche dessert cheeseball is stuffed with caramel and served with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros. It is rich and full of all the traditional tastes you love in Mexican dessert cuisine.

What You Need:

You only need a few ingredients to make this dulce de leche dessert cheeseball for your Cinco De Mayo party. Here is your simple grocery list:

8 oz Block of Cream Cheese

4 Tablespoons Butter

Nestle’s La Lechera Dulce De Leche

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churro Cereal

Directions for Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

Add the softened cream cheese, softened butter and powdered sugar to your bowl and mix until smooth. (This mixer will be your BFF)

Spread the mixture onto parchment paper (I use a reusable silicone mat) and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Open the dulce de leche and spread 1/3 of the can (up to 1/2) on top of the cream cheese layer. If you use 1/2 can it will be very caramel heavy. If you prefer to taste more cream cheese over caramel, go with only 1/3 of the can. Save the rest and make mini no bake dulce de leche pies.

I went with 1/2 a can to give you a visual reference.

Place it back into the freezer for 15 more minutes.

Fold the parchment paper or silicone mat in half making the cream cheese mixture into a “sandwich.” Then working quickly start to mold it into a ball form.

Crush 1 cup of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch churro cereal and roll the cheeseball in the mixture.

Return the dulce de leche dessert cheeseball to the fridge for about 2 hours so that it can finish setting up.

Serve with additional churro cereal or even cinnamon sugar pita chips for dipping.

What is your favorite Cinco De Mayo food or dessert?

9 Things To Do If You Aren’t Losing On THM

April 19, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

As with any weight loss plan, there can be ups and downs with the pounds falling off. If you are stalled on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, you should review these 9 things to get back on track.

Trim Healthy Mama is a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. After my 2nd pregnancy, it helped me lose 60 pounds of baby weight. But as with any plan, it can be frustrating if you are not losing when you are following the guidelines.

Do you feel like you are doing all the right things and still not losing? Or losing way too slowly?

I understand how frustrating that can be. You are dedicating time, money and sacrifice into a plan and you want to see results. And if you are like me you want to see them yesterday!

Here you will find 9 things to do if you aren’t losing on THM. Some of these tips are easier than other but they are all good things to consider. You deserve to be rewarded for all your hard work cooking those THM meals and avoiding the sugar that surrounds us these days.

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.

9 Things To Do If You Aren’t Losing On THM

Try these 9 tips to ensure that your plan is the most conducive to losing weight and leading you to a healthier lifestyle.

Review the Trim Healthy Mama Plan

If you haven’t read the book, you need to. Obviously I love blogs and other info that you can find on the internet but you really need to read the book if you haven’t.

OK, Off my THM soap box.

Next, get your book back out. Skim through it again. Do you have a good grasp on how to create each meal? Are you accidentally creating unintentional XO’s because you don’t fully understand the plan?

You might have understood it at one time and then things got cloudy. Whatever the reason, reviewing the plan can help to ensure that you are following the plan correctly.

Stop Eating Off Plan

So if you read about my start with THM, you know I ate a stinking cupcake on day one on my THM plan. And I’m not talking about a Gentle Sweet laced cupcake stuffed with other on plan ingredients. On day one, I ate one of those huge, $5 a pop gourmet cupcakes with sugar oozing off the top.

It was my Birthday. Who else even decides to start a diet on their birthday other than me? It isn’t smart. Anyway, I went off plan for a cupcake and then I got right back on plan 3 hours later. Grace people, grace.

My philosophy is that if I am going to go off plan, it should be for something I consider amazing. Mexican cheese dip, a big glass of wine or a delicious cupcake. I try to make it a planned and conscious choice to go off plan for something I really want. Not just a handful of my kid’s goldfish. Not. Worth. It.

But if you are experiencing a stall in your weight loss, evaluate the number of times you are choosing to going off plan or perhaps unintentionally going off plan. Sometimes you may feel like you are just going off plan once a week or once a month but it might have added up on you.

If you are deviating from the plan consistently, it could be derailing your efforts.

Evaluate Your E and S Meal Frequency

How many S meals are you eating a week? How many E? There is no magic number as to what you should be eating, however, if the weight is not coming off it is something to consider.

When you are first starting out, it is easy to kind of avoid E meals. They are scary to those that have been avoiding carbs like the plague before THM. And let’s be honest, bacon and cheese can sound more appealing than brown rice.

Enjoy those S meals but make sure you are getting in some E’s too. I have seen lots of people report that after they started to balance out their meals and include E meals, they started losing more weight.

One of my tips is to do an E snack if you are struggling with getting your E meals in. I sometimes find it easier to grab an apple and a string cheese at 3 pm than cooking a low fat/healthy carbs E meal for dinner. Find something that works for you.

Curb Eating Out

It is really easy to just go completely off plan when you are eating out. If your will power is not in a great spot, the temptation can push you into making a poor choice at a restaurant. If you are doing this often, it may be pushing you further from your weight loss goals.

If you attempt to stay on plan, it is still harder when you are out. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it and you can definitely make the best choice available. But since you are not preparing the food, you never really know what is going on in that kitchen.

If you do need to eat out, you can find some of your best Fast Food options to stay on plan here.

Exercise

I know, I know. No one really wants to hear that. But if you are losing slowly, a great boost can be exercise.

You don’t have to become a marathon runner, just a brisk walk after work or play some ball with one of your kids. Getting active is beneficial not only for your waistline but also your mood.

Count Calories

I am throwing the worst two right in the middle of this list! First I say exercise and now count your calories. If you are like me, one of the Trim Healthy Mama “selling points” was that I wasn’t going to have to count calories. I hate it.

Stay with me. Just try counting those calories for a couple of days. Do you have lots of high fat dairy? Indulging in too much red meat or high fat proteins? Has your Lily’s chocolate treat become more of a meal?

The truth is, you don’t have to count calories on THM and I love that. But if you are eating 4,000 on plan calories a day, you probably are not going to lose weight. Although you don’t have to count calories on Trim Healthy Mama, if you want to lose those pounds you should be reasonable with your caloric intake.

Do a Fuel Pull Cycle

If you evaluate your meals and you are eating too many calories, you may want to try a Fuel Pull cycle. I think of this as the THM cleanse.

It gets you back to making sure you are eating plenty of lean items and tons of non-starchy veggies. These are great filler items that help keep calories down while bulking up your plate and keeping you full. So when you switch back to your normal S, E & maybe even some FP meals or snacks you will incorporate more of these calorie friendly foods in your plans.

Helping to keep that caloric intake reasonable should help you get closer to your goals.

Reduce Your Frankenfoods or Personal Choice Items

The sisters created this plan in a manner that is actually very basic. It focuses on whole foods, protein and sprouted grains. In fact, when people complain about it being too expensive, it is often because they have gone too far with the frakenfoods and special ingredients.

The personal choice items are typically convenience foods designed to help you stay on plan when time or circumstances make that difficult. They are a better choice than some other prepared items and help Drive Thru Sues and other THM followers stay on plan (because who really has time to make their own mayo?).

If you read the book, they do ask that you limit your PC items. And if you stop losing weight, this is one of the first things that I would cut out or reduce.

On Plan Items High In Natural Sugar/Starch

In a recent poddy, Serene and Pearl discussed some of the foods that had once been considered by many to be forbidden on THM. Bananas, corn, honey and potatoes are some of the key offenders.

The sisters were pretty clear that these are foods provided by God and they are not off limits. However, if you are trying to lose weight and not just maintain, check your portions of these items.

So are you eating 3 bananas a day? If so, that is too much to lose weight due to the natural sugars.

Succeeding on Trim Healthy Mama

I hope these 9 things to do if you aren’t losing on THM help you to rise above your weight loss slump. Stick with it and meet your Trim Healthy Mama Goal!

And remember, just because the scale is not moving doesn’t mean you are not progressing. If you see other signs of progress, don’t be discouraged by the scale. Are your clothes fitting better?

Take pictures of yourself. Do you look thinner? Show the comparison to a family member or post it on a THM Facebook group. Sometimes you are your own worst critic. Be proud of your progress! You are strong!

Be sure to check out all of my THM resources before you go!

5 THM Meals with 1 Rotisserie Chicken

7 Day Frugal THM Meal Plan

Easy Weekly THM Meal Plan with E and S Meals

5 Things I Don’t Do on THM

My 60 Lb THM Weight Loss and 2 Week Meal Plan

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

April 6, 2019 by Stacy Craft 2 Comments

Are you loving that you can have crunchy store bought pork rinds on your low carb lifestyle but struggling to find something to dip those little piggies in?

29 easy low carb, THM S and keto friendly dips are listed below to help you in your snack sessions.

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.

What is the hardest part of staying Low carb or Keto for you? For me it is when I am invited to some type of social event. There are always tons of yummy dips and treats there to tempt me off my diet.

Instead of falling off the wagon, just take one of these yummy low carb dips for pork rinds and a big bag of skins to curb your need to dip!

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

Creamy and cheesy dips are one of the best part of a keto/low carb diet, right? They are so decadent and taste like you are cheating! But what do you dip into those delicious dips? Pork rinds of course.

And I have a low carb confession. I really don’t enjoy pork skins plain. I like the crunch that they provide but the taste is just a bit overpowering for me. So I find that some kind of dip really helps to mellow out the pork rind’s flavor.

I actually don’t follow a Keto or low carb specific diet. I have lost 60 lbs postpartum following the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. On THM, they recommend that you eat every 3 hours.

Although there are several things on the plan that I don’t do, if I do eat an afternoon snack some of these dips are easy enough to be used then!

And if you are joining here on the THM journey, all of these are going to be used with “S” meals or snacks.

Dip Ideas for Pork Skins

Guacamole

Tuna Salad

Ranch Dressing mixed with hot sauce

Tzatziki

Salsa

Egg Salad

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Dip

Easy Pimento Cheese

Sour cream, lime juice and hot sauce

Roasted Cauliflower Hummus – great option when traditional hummus is not friendly on the carbs.

Grilled Avocado Hummus

Warm Ranch Crack Chicken Dip

Mississippi Sin Dip

Mustard

Chicken Salad

Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke dip

Cheese Dip

Salsa mixed with Sour Cream

Crab Dip

Sausage Cream Cheese Rotel

Cream Cheese sprinkled with Everything Bagel Seasoning

Creamy Feta And Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Creamy Cheddar Bacon Dip (just omit the Ritz & sub your Pork Rinds)

3 Layer Mexican Dip

Cuban Ham Spread

Dill Dip

Instant Pot Hot Onion Dip

Chorizo Pizza Dip

So if you are like me and don’t just LOVE pork rinds, try them with some delicious dip. And then bread your pork chops with them too!

Beach First Aid Kit for Kids

March 30, 2019 by Stacy Craft 6 Comments

Beach trips are fun for kids of all ages (and adults too)! But getting a beach boo boo can cause a major meltdown if you are not properly prepared.

My DIY beach first aid kit for kids is geared toward little ones but it can be easily modified to provide relief to any beach goer young or old.

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.

Beach First Aid Kit for Kids

Keeping the proper first aid items in your beach bag and at the condo (or home if you are lucky enough to live near the beach) is essential to a relaxing trip. No one wants to experience minor ailments, but especially when a little one experiences the issue a tiny problem can be dramatized into much more!

If you have a properly packed beach first aid kit for kids, you will be prepared to tackle any problems that the surf or sand may bring. And if you have a long trip to the beach, be sure to read the less than $15 must have road trip items for kids to make your drive easier.

What to Pack in Your Beach Bag

In the beach bag, I want first aid items that can help me address minor injuries that may occur on the beach or in the ocean. These are the items that I find useful:

Bandaids

Not just any bandage either. You need super cool bandaids.

We were at a Mother’s Day Out function the other day and my daughter fell down. No blood. No scrape. But the tears, oh they were flowing.

Another mom reached in her purse and pulled out a cute little character bandaid for her. You know what? The tears magically dried up. And I quietly swore to always keep fun bandaids on me. At. All. Times.

Jelly Fish Sting Relief

Sting Relief will be useful if anyone is unfortunately stung by a jelly fish. This is one of those things that you hope you don’t have to use but will be so glad you have it if it is needed. Web MD also recommends the use of vinegar and hydrocortisone cream.

Reusable Cold Pack

When prepping a beach first aid kit for kids, an ice pack should be on your list. I love this adorable pink pig reusable ice pack. Just throw it in your cooler and be prepared for any boo boos that an ice pack would instantly cure.

Electrolyte Freezer Pops

Staying hydrated is so important and my kids do not always drink as much water as they should. Popsicles though, they are always welcome. Instead of a sugary normal pop, these electrolyte pops help keep everyone hydrated and well.

Throw them in your cooler. If it is really hot, you may need to consume quickly if you are wanting them in frozen form but they are still good melted as juice!

Pocket Tissues

Trust me, a yucky sneeze is not something you want to be wiping up with your cute beach towel. We have these Paw Patrol tissues in our beach kit now. My kids always seem to have a runny nose from allergies.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen is of course a must for your beach bag. I look like a crazy person constantly applying sunscreen to my kids, I do not want burns on their perfect skin. This is the only sunscreen my kids can use without breaking out.

Hand Sanitizer

Yes, I know the ocean is right there for a little rinse. But before we start eating our snacks, I like to have a squirt of “Magic Soap” as my little calls it. It makes me feel better so we do it.

I got in the habit of doing this when we lived near Galveston, TX. The bacteria in the ocean there is regularly high and so I liked to rid as many germs as we could.

Baby Powder

I am sure you have seen this hack floating around Pinterest. Keeping sand out of mouths and eyes is kind of your part time job if you head to the beach with little ones. A bottle of baby powder might just help your sanity. It really does work to make your skin silky so that the sand slides right off.

I hope this beach first aid kit for kids helps you on your next beach trip. And if you are brave enough to take your baby under 1 to the beach, read this on the #1 item that you have to take with you. I just got back from the beach with our 8 month old & I could not have enjoyed the beach without it!

Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

March 30, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Egg-cite your kids with this iced honey bun Easter Egg treat that they can decorate exactly the way they like!

At my house, we love store bought treats that can be turned into holiday inspired desserts quick and easy! This year we have already made mummies from Little Debbie cakes and a turkey from oatmeal cream pies. For this honey bun Easter egg treat, all you do is open up the pastry, provide some embellishments and let the kids have fun.

(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.)

Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

A simple, no bake Easter treat for kids is great for everyone. The kids will have a great time decorating and of course eating their beautiful creations. And you will love the easy set up and not having to actually cook anything!

The iced honey buns are the perfect egg shape and the white icing on top provides a perfect canvas for all of your pretty pastel toppings. If you are looking for the iced honey buns at your local grocery, I usually find them near the cash registers on an end cap with other premade cakes and donuts.

The best part about this DIY Easter dessert for kids is that you can add just about anything on top of your honey bun that your kids like. I bought a couple of things and then raided my pantry for the rest.

Topping Ideas:

Cookie Icing or Gel Icing

Spring M&Ms

Starburst Jellybeans

Bunny & Carrot Sprinkle Mix

Fruit Loops

Gummies

Creating A Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

My five year old helped me make a couple of these treats after dinner the other night. I just opened up the iced honey bun for her and set out all of the toppings that we had chosen.

She had a great time applying the M&Ms, jellybeans, and icing into a perfect masterpiece. And she of course spent lots of time licking icing off her fingers and sampling her egg decorations.

After we finished decorating and of course taking some pictures, we wanted to test out that beautiful honey bun Easter egg treat that we had worked on. But the honey bun is a pretty large treat for the small tummies of my toddler and preschooler. I just cut about a third of it to serve to my 5 year old. We saved the other part of it in a ziplock bag to enjoy at another time.

These easy Easter treats would be a fun project for a class party or a Sunday school class that can do pretty inexpensively. If you wanted to make it even less expensive, you could buy the regular box of honey buns. These types of honey buns are a more appropriate size for young kids. Then top them yourself with store bought icing.

The icing would not be as smooth as the iced honey bun but I think it would work just fine. I hope you enjoy this easy way to interact with your kids on a simple Easter project.

Don’t forget to check out 39 Preschool Easter Basket Stuffers Under $5, Infant stuffers under $5, Personalized Easter Fillers for Kids and for teen girls.