Plan

Cooking Through Trim Healthy Mama Week 1

January 5, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Week 1 of cooking through Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

2020 has started off with quite a few changes for our family! They are all good and positive changes but changes none the less.

On January 1, I started a new a no spend January challenge. You don’t realize how often you pull out your debit card until you make a resolution not to! The other change has been recommitting to a Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. The Christmas cookies and parties derailed me a bit but I’m back on plan 100% this week.

And it feels good. Aside from just being back on plan, I have also started my quest to cook through the entire Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

This is cooking through Trim Healthy Mama Week 1. The first week of exactly what I made, what I thought, tips and tricks & costs!

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.

Cooking Through Trim Healthy Mama Week 1

Here is what I made on the first week:

Cashew Chicken Pg 65

Lentil Soup Pg 89

Cheeseburger Pie Pg 149

Winter Wonderland Sip Pg 405

Cranberry Wassail Pg 406

Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook Recipes

Cashew Chicken Pg 65

Overall Impression: Everyone in my family really liked this recipe. I thought it was nice to have an Asian sauce that I could make without resorting to a bottle of Teriyaki sauce that would surely be off plan.

Total Cost:

Chicken: $5.66

Sauce : $2.11

Veggies $2.33

Cauli Rice $1.87

Total: $11.97

Tips & Tricks:

The sisters use their blender WAY more than I am willing to. The sauce works just fine in the skillet. Just throw it all in the skillet that you cooked the chicken in and save yourself some dishes.

I also used a frozen asian stir fry blend of veggies to make it quicker (no washing/slicing veggies). The blend I used had the little mini corn cobs, so you would want to avoid most of those.

Subs:

I omitted the fish sauce because I didn’t have it. I also used Xantham gum in place of the Gluccie. I also used the same amount of gentle sweet as a sub for super sweet.

Lentil Soup Pg 89

Overall Impression: My husband and I were the only ones that ate this soup. I thought it was good although not overwhelmingly amazing.

Total Cost: <$4

This was incredibly inexpensive and made a ton! Like a literal ton. We have eaten about 8-9 bowls and have about 1/2 left! I will freeze the rest for some easy and cheap lunches later on.

Tips & Tricks:

I soaked the lentils in the crockpot for several hours and then cooked the soup in the slow cooker on low for several hours. Making for a cheap and easy meal.

I recommend adding a Light Laughing Cow wedge to your bowl to add a little extra flavor and creaminess. And Tabasco. Lots of hot sauce!

Subs:

I omitted the nutritional yeast and Just gelatin because I don’t keep it on hand.

Cheeseburger Pie Pg 149

Overall Impression: This was pretty good to me but the rest of my family really liked it so it changed it to a win for me.

Total Cost: 13.32

Tips & Tricks:

I topped it with ketchup, mustard and sliced jalapenos.

Subs:

I made this exactly according to the cookbook with the exception of using regular table salt in place of the mineral salt.

Winter Wonderland Sip Pg 405

Overall Impression: I have pretty much fallen in love with this. A head cold was making me feel pretty crummy this week and the peppermint really helped to give my sinuses some relief. And it tastes like winter in a cup.

Total Cost: .70 per batch (so several mugs full)

Tips & Tricks:

A mini crockpot is great for this sipper. I made it up in the morning and put the sipper in the crockpot on low. Then it was ready all day for a quick and easy cup.

I actually made this several times. The first time I resisted the strong urge to ignore the blender instructions and just stir but I went ahead and used the blender.

The second time, I skipped the blender (because I don’t have time for all that). It definitely did taste better when blended. I’m not sure why but trust me and get your blender out.

Subs:

The only sub that I made was using 2 year old Gentle Sweet in place of the Super Sweet. A few things – first, I didn’t die from old Gentle Sweet! So that was cool. Also, I used the same measurement as the Super Sweet and it was plenty sweet for me.

Cranberry Wassail Pg 406

Overall Impression: This was good and I liked it. I wish I had not made it the same week as the Winter Wonderland Sip because I loved that one so much.

Total Cost: Approximately $3.50 (I can’t remember how much I paid for the fresh cranberries exactly and they are now out of stock at the grocery)

Tips & Tricks:

Definitely don’t forget the filter to strain out the fruit. After I strained the liquid off, I took all the cooked fruit, spices and cinnamon sticks and put them in my mini crockpot with some additional water. I let it simmer and it made my house smell wonderful!

Subs:

You may not believe it but I didn’t sub one thing!

I didn’t make everything that I had hoped to make this week but overall I was happy with all of the recipes that I tried. Hope you will continue to follow along as I cook my way through the entire Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook!

Lavash Lasagna Cupcakes – THM S

January 4, 2020 by Stacy Craft 4 Comments

Joseph’s Lavash lasagna cupcakes combine all your favorite lasagna flavors into individual savory cupcakes that work for a Trim Healthy Mama S meal and they are gluten free!

Dragging my sweet husband onto all of my get healthy plans is something that he is pretty used to by now. We have been happily enjoying Trim Healthy Mama for the last few years but when we first got married I pulled him onto the Weight Watchers train. (Which he hated by the way because he was always hungry).

But the one thing he did like was the savory cupcakes that I made using wonton wrappers. I saw the idea on Emily’s Bites and created tons of different dinner cupcakes for us to enjoy.

Since we both loved those creations for dinner, I wanted to come up with a way to enjoy them on THM. Since wontons are sadly not on plan, I went with a Joseph’s Lavash bread as the base!

And let me tell you, these Lavash lasagna cupcakes are so good! Even my 6 year old that at first balked at the idea of a lasagna cupcake ended up eating two!

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.

More Popular THM Meals:

30 Minute Queso Chicken With Cauli Rice – THM S

Inexpensive Black Bean Tacos – THM E

Turkey Ham And Beans – THM E

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops – THM S

Lavash Lasagna Cupcakes

Inside the Lavash lasagna cupcakes is the traditional lasagna filling that you would find in the regular pasta dish. But instead of noodles, the Lavash bread stands in to make these cute little cups of Italian goodness.

Ingredients:

Ricotta Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 Egg

2 Joseph’s Lavash Breads

Pizza Sauce/Marinara/Favorite Pasta Sauce

Ground Beef

Garlic Powder/Parsley/Pepper

Since I’m doing a No Spend January this month, it was nice to be able to create this meal with things that I typically keep in my fridge/freezer. I buy Joseph’s directly from their website and store in my freezer and I always have a jar of sauce in my pantry and tons of cheese. The only thing I don’t typically have on hand is the ricotta but I had some leftover from a recipe that we made at Christmas so it worked out great.

Easy Meal Prep Hack:

Whenever I buy ground beef at the store, I come home and brown it. Let it cool and separate it into 1 lb portions and store it in the freezer. It makes a weekday spaghetti, cheeseburger soup or pie super quick and easy to prepare. Just thaw and use in your recipes.

Preparing the Lavash Lasagna Cupcakes

Making the Lavash lasagna cupcakes is super easy. First, brown and drain the ground beef if you are not using the meal prep hack.

Next, you will mix up your ricotta cheese mixture (all the cheeses, an egg and seasoning).

Prepare your muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Cut your Lavash bread so that you get 12 squares from each bread. Mine are not perfect or even the same size so I wouldn’t worry about that.

*Update: these are really more like rectangles. Either way, just get 12 pieces from each Lavash and you will be fine.

Press one Lavash square into each muffing tin well (10). You will have a few extra pieces of Lavash left over.

Toast the bottom layer in the oven for 2 minutes. The bottom layer will actually be pretty soft after the baking but toasting it before prevents it from being soggy and falling apart.

Layer the Cups

Now you are ready to layer the Lavash lasagna cupcakes.

Separate your ricotta cheese in half. Using 1/2 of the mixture, place about a 1/2 of a tablespoon of filling on top of each Lavash cup.

Next, add about a tablespoon of ground beef to each cup.

Then add approximately a teaspoon of pasta sauce. I like to use a smooth sauce without any big chunks of tomato. Smooth it to mostly cover the beef but don’t use too much because it will get soggy.

Top with a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese.

Add a second Lavash square to the top of each cup. Gently press it down to allow for the next layer of filling.

Repeat all the steps again, ending with shredded mozzarella on top.

Bake

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Watch it towards the end of the baking time to make sure the uncovered portions of the Lavash don’t burn.

Allow the Lavash lasagna cupcakes to cool for a couple of minutes before using a butter knife to gently release them from the pan.

How Many Cupcakes Can I Eat in A THM S Setting?

If you cut your Lavash into 12 squares, you will be able to have 3 cupcakes in an S setting on Trim Healthy Mama.

Pair it with a big green salad to fill the rest of your plate.

These little guys are surprisingly satisfying. The edges on the top give you a couple of crunchy bites, while not traditional in regular lasagna, I find it very yummy. The rest of the Lavash bread becomes soft and makes for a tasty noodle substitute.

Lavash Lasagna Cupcakes

The recipe makes 10 Lavash Lasagna Cups.

Servings

Ingredients

1 cup Ricotta Cheese (Part Skim Milk Variety)
1/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese (Plus additional for sprinkling)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 Egg
2 Lavash Bread Rectangles
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup Pasta Sauce/Pizza Sauce

Servings

Ingredients

1 cup Ricotta Cheese (Part Skim Milk Variety)
1/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese (Plus additional for sprinkling)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 Egg
2 Lavash Bread Rectangles
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup Pasta Sauce/Pizza Sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown ground beef and drain grease.
Cut each Lavash to result in 12 squares per Lavash (resulting in 24 total squares between the 2).
Spray a muffin pan and place one Lavash square into each well (10 total).
Toast the bottom layer of Lavash in the oven for two minutes.
Meanwhile, make the Ricotta mixture. In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, garlic powder, parsley and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Once the bottom layer of Lavash is toasted, you are ready to layer the lasagna cups. Separate the ricotta mixture in half. Using 1/2 of the mixture, add about 1/2 of a tablespoon to each lavash cup.
Add about a tablespoon of ground beef to each cup.
Add approximately one teaspoon of pasta sauce to each cup. Gently spread the sauce to mostly cover the ground beef/ricotta in the cups. Don't add too much sauce or you will end up with soggy cups.
Top each cup with a couple of pinches of mozzarella cheese.
Add a second Lavash square to each cup. Gently press down to form a cup but don't push hard enough to make the filling spill out the sides.
Repeat the layers on top of this Lavash bread. Ricotta mixture, ground beef, sauce and ending with another generous sprinkle of mozzarella.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Start watching around 12 minutes to make sure the exposed edges of the Lavash don't burn. You want them slightly browned but they will burn quickly.
Allow the cups to sit for 3-5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin using a butter knife.

No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker

January 1, 2020 by Stacy Craft 4 Comments

Learn to implement a no envelope digital budget tracker to keep track of your finances right from your phone. Perfect for those that like to shop online or just don’t like carrying cash!

If you have been trying to budget for any time at all, it is likely that you have heard of Dave Ramsey. I remember first hearing of him while sitting at my Grandmother’s kitchen table and listening to my Mom and uncle discuss his books.

If you follow his simple “baby” steps, you can be debt free. Sounds great. But it is not easy.

While I haven’t read his book (I’m on the waiting list at the library), I have listened to his radio show many times. One thing that you pick up quickly is that there is no time for crying or whining about why you need XYZ. Dave is very clear in wants and needs. And you need to cut out the fluff.

That is one reason that I am doing this No Spend January Challenge. To cut out unnecessary spending and have extra money to save.

So according to the principles Dave sets forward, if you can’t afford it (meaning you can’t buy it with money that you have right now), you don’t purchase it. This is where his popular cash envelope system enters the picture. It is a simple concept yet so many of us don’t follow it. Only buying what you can afford will prevent debt.

My No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker accomplishes the same goal but in a different manner. I will explain how to use the digital budget tracker but we will dip into the Dave Ramsey envelope method first.

(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 Dave Ramsey’s Envelope System

Keep in mind that this is just an overview and I’m sure that there are plenty of details that you can gain by reading the books and listening to the radio show.

First you would create your budget according to his guidelines.

Next, you separate each category out and create a cash envelope for the group. So for example, you might have an envelope for groceries, one for entertainment and one for clothing.

Each week you would fill your envelopes with the cash that you have budgeted for each category.

So if you had $100 in your grocery envelope, you take that up to Kroger. What you don’t take is a credit card. Since you only have $100 cash, you can only buy what you have the money for right there and then.

Basically it eliminates unnecessary purchases and overspending.

No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker

I like the envelope system because it is the ultimate in holding you accountable. If you don’t have that credit or debit card in your pocket, you are not going to overspend because you can’t.

But with a little self discipline, you can apply the same principles of following a budget but without the pesky cash envelope system to deal with.

3 Reasons I Don’t Use The Envelope System

But I also know that the envelope system is not something I felt would be doable for me. If Dave read this, he would probably say it is lazy and to be honest he would be right. Here is why I don’t use the envelope system.

I have direct deposit of my pay checks for a reason. I hate going to the bank and I don’t want to drag two kids to the bank to get cash.
Online shopping is my jam. (I’m guessing Dave wouldn’t like that either!) However, if I can stick to my planned budget, I don’t see anything wrong with online shopping and I buy lots of essentials online at better prices that I can get at the grocery or big box stores.
Safety. I live in what I would consider a very safe suburb but the major city that we live near is consistently ranked in the top 20 most dangerous in the US. So having a few hundred bucks cash on me is something I prefer not to have. If someone steals my purse, they will get a debit card that I can quickly cancel and a bunch of diapers, goldfish crackers and whatever other kid junk has settled to the bottom!

Alternative to The Envelopes

Even though I don’t want to carry around 10 envelopes filled with cash, I still see value in the overall concept of Dave’s plan.

As an alternative, I have created a no envelope Digital Budget Tracker that you can keep on your phone to track your expenses on the go! Use the template created and modify it to fit your specific family needs.

How To Use The No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker

Using the no envelope digital budget tracker is quick and easy.

Download the Google Sheets app to your phone (It is free!)
Open the No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker Template
Personalize the Budget to meet your needs!

There are several sheets contained in the file (look at the bottom to see the different tabs). All of them have built in formulas but you can manipulate the fields to reflect the dollar amount that you wish to spend per category. And you can even add or chnage categories to better reflect your monetary and savings goals.

Standard Monthly Expenses

The first sheet is your standard monthly expenses.

You will see at the top a section for the “total monthly budget.” You can change this number to whatever your total monthly income is at this time.

Next, you will see a variety of normally recurring bills that you may have. Fill in your expenses to reflect the amount that you owe.

Groceries & Household Consumables Sheet

The next tab that you see is for groceries and household consumables. Included in my consumables are things like toilet paper, shampoo, diapers and wipes.

I assumed one weekly trip to the grocery store but there are plenty of lines if you go more frequently.

You can set your budget at the top and then fill in your expenditures each time you spend money in this category (just like you would if you were using the cash envelope system).

The “total remaining budget” cell will automatically update as you enter expenses, giving you the exact amount of money that you have left for this category.

Remaining Category Sheets

There are a few other category sheets that I have already set up so that all you need to do is plug your budget and expenses.

Entertainment & Luxury Self Care (Movies, Travel, Makeup, Nails, Etc)
Gifts & Home Improvements (Birthdays, Save For Christmas, New Bathroom Towels, Home Decor)
Miscellaneous – I set this one up for your personal expenses (Hobby expenses, Debt repayment etc)

What are your budget goals this year?

No Spend January

January 1, 2020 by Stacy Craft 18 Comments

Learn how to have a no spend January and stay on budget for the New Year.

Starting off a new year (and a new decade) always feels like a good time to get right. Eat better, spend less, read more, waste less and spend more quality time with family and friends seem to always top my new year’s resolution list.

My eat better plan is already underway. You may have seen that I am planning to cook my way through the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook this year. Every single recipe! It seems a little daunting but that is the goal.

With eating healthy in 2020 covered, the budget is the next thing to tackle. A no spend January seemed like a good way to start off the year right and recover a bit from December expenses.

(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.)

Check out this Free No Envelope Digital Budget Tracker!

A 2019 Budget Confession

When I started this blog, I wanted to share the frugal and money saving tips I learned over the years.

About 10 years ago, I moved across the US to Houston, TX. The expenses of a long distance move, quitting my job and some other life circumstances created a need to save money.

Through the help of a few blogs, I taught myself to coupon and save money and was able to be very frugal for a few years. It really saved us during that time. We sold a house that was too much for us and moved into something much more reasonable. I drove my car even when I wanted a new one.

Coupons and buying right got us things for pennies on the dollar. We cooked at home and took day trips to the beach instead of an expensive vacation (I miss being that close to the beach).

And slowly we climbed out of debt. We added to savings. I got a new job at an amazing company and we were settled. Not rich but comfortable.

Then the baby came. We moved across the US again, this time to Tennessee. We did act frugally in our initial move by living with my mom for a year to save money while we built our house.

And then another baby. Sometime during this period, I got tired. A new mom to two littles (with little sleep) and moving just took a toll on me.

So my spending just got out of control and my frugal habits took a backseat to the kids. Convenience took precedence over frugality.

Thankfully we have positioned ourselves to have room in our budget to allow for this occasionally but just because we don’t have to monitor every penny anymore, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t monitor it.

So whether you have to monitor every cent right now or you are just trying to save more for retirement, a vacation, a down payment for a house… a stop on spending can help everyone regardless of your financial circumstance.

A Look At January 2019

So the confession continues. I am going to share what I spent last January as a benchmark for my no spend January 2020.

To say I was shocked at these totals is an understatement. I knew I was a little lax but when you actually total it all up, it is really hard to believe.

Clothes – $119.88

Fast Food – $191.10 (included a couple of Family Pizza Nights)

Amazon – $543.05 (there is just no justifying this! But it did include 3 Fire Sticks for our TVs because we cut cable and started streaming only and our tv’s were too old to support Hulu)

Gas – $77.09

Grocery – $619.78

Target – $55.42

Macy’s $76.81

Hobby Lobby $83.30

Grand Total : $1575.33

It is important to note that lots of my expenses were what I would consider necessities. Examples would be bar soap, detergent, mouthwash, toothpaste etc. This project will be a good test to see what is really a necessity and what we can use instead of buying new.

No Spend January 2020

As you can see, a no spend January in 2020 could save me a lot compared to January 2019. Are you wondering what a no spend January is?

Basically, you set rules on what you can spend (set bills etc) and cut out all or most other spending. So at the end of your no spend time period, you should be left with money that might have otherwise been spent to use for savings, debt payment, vacations, or education funds. Whatever your personal goal is.

No Spend January Rules

The cool thing about a no spend period is that you can make the rules that work for your family.

Here are the rules that I plan to follow for my no spend January:

Clothes: $0

My goal is to spend zero on clothing this month for my entire family. We all just got several new clothing items for Christmas and we should all be able to use the items that we have.

Fast Food/Eating Out: $0

No eating out for 1 month. It will be better for us and would be a $191.10 savings from last year. I can’t believe I spent almost $200 on fast food and pizza last year. Embarrasing.

We have gotten in a bad habit of grabbing takeout after my daughter’s dance class once a week. The crockpot is going to have to step in for the win on these late nights.

Amazon: $0

Truth? I really wanted to give myself a $100 allowance for emergencies. And then I thought what in the world. Is an Amazon emergency a real thing? No it is not. My love affair with Amazon is officially on hold until at least 2/1.

Groceries: $450

In 2020, I would like to get this down to closer to $400 for the month but since I have not been doing great on the grocery side of things, I want to be realistic and ease into things.

My grocery budget is a little finicky because we have our 2 kids that live with us and then we have 3 step daughters that are over various times though out the month. So some days I may have 4 at my table and other times it might be 7.

Target: $0

Sorry Target, if I have to break up Amazon, you are gone too.

Gifts: $100

We have 5 birthdays in January in our immediate family. I am budgeting $100 for gifts but I did pre purchase a couple in December during after Christmas clearance.

Other Rules of Spending

So here are the other rules that I will follow in my No Spend January month:

Pay all set bills (Mortgage, Childcare, Utilities, Internet, TV Streaming Service)
Gas
School Expenses (If you have kids in school, you know it is $5 here, $10 there for something every week it seems. I will only participate in needs during the month of January. I also promised my daughter that she could buy 4 lunches at school this month & that will come out of my grocery budget)

Plan & Update

I will be sharing a blog post and also social media updates throughout the month about how the no spend January is going.

Any tips/tricks or struggles that I come across will also be shared!

Join Me in January?

Will you join me on a no spend January to start this decade off right? What would you do with the money saved in your no spend month?

Cooking Through The Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook

December 31, 2019 by Stacy Craft 2 Comments

Join me on a journey of what are sure to be ups and downs while cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

As mid-December approached, I started to look past the Christmas festivities and start thinking about the new year and resolutions.

So as you can tell from the title my goal is officially set. I will be cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook in 2020. Every single recipe, made in my kitchen.

Things I like. Things I don’t. Easy and more difficult. Special ingredients and NSI. I am doing it all THM style.

(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.)

Why Am I Cooking Through the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook?

Well that is a complicated question. Aside from maybe hoping (ok dreaming) that Pearl and Serene might see me out there in blog land and invite me to come see them…. I mean I am only just a couple hours south of them in Memphis!

Anyway, aside from that, I have some other more reasonable and practical motivators for working through this cookbook.

Burnout

Ready for some straight up honesty? I have not been doing well on plan for probably the last month or two. Even though a big part of my blog is devoted to THM, it certainly doesn’t mean I am perfect or always on plan.

Lately I have had quite a few recipes that I had dreams of creating a THM version of that have just flopped. They are not blog worthy to share with ya’ll and to be honest a lot of them were not even family table worthy (because none of us in my house liked them).

And it is so frustrating to cook and not enjoy your creations.

And then vacations and holidays have occurred and I have been using the “well it is the holidays” excuse to eat poorly a lot. So I’ve gained a few pounds and I’m not happy with that.

A New Challenge

Originally, I was thinking of trying out one new THM project to test every month that I had not done before during 2020.

I was thinking homemade sourdough bread, maybe a new dessert recipe, possibly roasting a turkey. Just new things that I had not done before to challenge me in the kitchen and make the plan more exciting for me personally.

But then as I was researching what to pick, I got this crazy idea to start cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. The whole thing!

So now instead of just a loaf of bread, I will be tackling all kinds of new recipes and some oldies but goodies.

Demonstrating That THM Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

The last reason that I thought about doing this was because of a post I saw on Facebook recently (and to be honest, one that I see pretty often).

It went something like this:

I am about to start THM and I’m on a budget. I am going to buy $100 in special ingredients and that may put me over my food budget for the week/month etc.

I am very adamant about the fact that you don’t have to buy special ingredients to do this plan. And to be honest, at first this was my one reservation about cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook.

While the cookbook has plenty of NSI recipes, the books also freely use things that you might not have easy access to at a grocery store or that cost a lot more than a similar item.

So as I am cooking these recipes, I will share with you the cost to make the recipe, money saving ideas and any tips/tricks that I come across.

I will probably try out a few special ingredients in this project that I don’t typically use but will also likely modify some recipes to omit certain items.

Challenges That Scare Me on This Journey Of Cooking Through The Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook

If you have followed my journey of losing 60 lbs on THM since my last baby, you know that I started and quit THM after a month or two the first time around.

I largely attributed my failure to trying to incorporate a million new things into my daily routine (I am usually an all or nothing kinda girl). So with that being said, I am going to try and take this challenge of cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook at a leisurely pace. You know and not try and cook 393 new recipes in a month.

I have been on plan for about 2 years now but I don’t want to burnout or wear myself too thin.

Aside from that, I have a few reservations that come with cooking every single item in a cookbook. Think about it, normally you see something you don’t like in a cookbook and you skip right over it. But if I am going to prepare and try every item in the book, that means making some things that I don’t think I like.

But if THM has taught me nothing else, it has taught me to give things a try. I lived for 33 years not liking cottage cheese. And then I tried it because everyone in the THM community was doing it.

And I kinda love it. I make these cottage cheese bowls for breakfast/snack all the time. And I’m looking forward to trying a Cottage Berry Whip again for the first time in about 3 years (whenever I get to that recipe)

Other Scary THM Cookbook Things That I Am Sort of Dreading

Beets – I once got talked into a juice cleanse by a friend. I lasted for a day or two but when I got to the beet juice, I quit immediately. First, I am so thankful THM is not gimmicky with cleanses and other fads, just good, clean food. And I hope THM beets are better than normal beets because I really hate them!
Okra in Smoothies – If you read the 5 THM things I don’t do, hidden okra is in there. Don’t get me wrong – I love Okra. Fried, crunchy delicious okra made by my Grandma every Sunday. But stuck in my chocolate smoothie. I just can’t. But I guess I will if I am cooking through the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.
Tofu – No. No. No.
Cauliflower – I love some cauliflower things, like this Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken with Cauli Rice. But sometimes it is just not my favorite (especially if it is not covered well). We shall see.
“Feeding” Yeast – So I really want to make bread but feeding this creature that will be living and growing on my counter for my starter kind of freaks me out.
Anything that has “Purist” in the Title – I’m not a Drive Thru Sue but I am definitely not a purist either. And I’m not sure I’m worthy! HA
Double Fermented Kefir – I don’t feel like I need to say anything else. Kefir is terrifying and I don’t even know what double fermenting entails but I am sure I don’t want to do it!

I will be documenting the journey here on the blog and also on Facebook and Instagram! I hope you will join me in a quest to be healthier in 2020!

The Cooking Starts

I’ve started the project! Find the links to each week as they are posted here!

Week 1 – Cashew Chicken, Winter Wonderland Sip, Cheeseburger Pie and More!

Week 2 – (Scary) Secret Big Boys, Pearl’s Chili, Smarty Pants Stroganoff and More!

Week 3 – Deviled Eggs, BAM Cake and Wicked White Chili

Week 4 – Peanut Junkie Butter, Cabb & Saus and Chicken Pot Pie

Week 5 – Skinny Chocolate, Cry No More Brownies, Creamy Creamless Chicken, Cowboy Grub