New Blog Name and Simple Foods

I believe a person should blog about what they are passionate about.  I am passionate about my faith, my family and being frugal.  I am a little less passionate about my pets, the chickens and homeschooling but they are up there as well.

I have several posts in the works.  For instance, does canning save you money?  Can raising chickens save you money?  Do I need to buy expensive homeschool materials?  All my answers based on my life long experience of living in Alaska.

Right now I am working on the goal of reducing my grocery costs.  I am doing this by simlifying our food choices.  We are very simple people with simple taste but if you could see in my pantry right now, it is anything but simple.  Why in the world do I have five different flours?  Two shelves full of spices?  I haven't counted but I think I have over five different sweeteners.

The answer is because I have been dieting for the past five years trying to lose weight.  In those five years I have tried at least three different diet plans that all come with their unique ingredients and all to no avail.  I ditched the diets and my budget and body are thanking me for it.

Now I am simply eating when I am hungry, I am eating only whole foods and not eating later in the evenings.  I feel fantastic and my clothes are fitting better.  Not sure about weight loss because I also ditched the scale.

Last month I spent under $400 for our food, including household items and pet food.  This is good news for us because some months I was spending almost $800.  Yikes!  It was a wake up call to quit buying expensive, processed diet foods for Trim Healthy Mama.

So what's on the simplified menu now?  Plenty of beans, eggs, smoothies, oatmeal, cakes, cookies, pizza, tacos and coffee.  All whole foods, all under $400 which is amazing for an Alaskan family.  

Stay tuned and I will give up the details!

Starting Over - Trim Healthy Mama

It's time to refocus and I really want to mean it this time.  I'm going to do my best to get back on track with my diet, exercise, weekly to do list and my yearly goals.  I'm starting over on my diet on Monday because our company should be departed by then and more importantly, the pie should be gone.

Amish Rhubarb Pie

I am struggling in the diet department trying to find a plan that works.  I've decided to go back to Trim Healthy Mama and customize it a bit to see if that helps.  I think it is a sustainable plan that works for most but I wasn't seeing results.  I've narrowed down the problem to my gallbladder.  The plan depends on separating the fuels of carbs and fat.  My gallbladder and I are fine with the carb part but eating a lot of fatty meals irritates the gallbladder and I resort to eating a lot more carbs than intended. I briefly tried JUDDD (alternative fasting days) but I worried I wasn't letting my gallbladder expel enough.

To customize the Trim Healthy Mama plan I will depend on coconut oil as my main source of fat. My favorite way to use coconut oil is in Bulletproof coffee or tea.  Although the plan discourages BPC as a meal,. I am planning to start my morning with one and have another as a snack.  I will still be heavy on the "E" meals but maybe I can see results.

Here is my THM gallbladder customized plan.  Another thing I should point out is my house is pretty low on groceries right now.  Due to the local Borough and town fleecing locals and tourist alike with a tax on all foods, I am protesting with my dollars by not buying any groceries locally and traveling to the nearest city that doesn't charge any sales tax.  After the summer months when they lift the tax on food, I may feel less stubborn about buying at our local stores.  I mean really people, a 7.5% tax on eggs?  By the end of my month, our house is out of fresh produce and fruit and we are eating the frozen stuff.

8:00 Bulletproof Coffee or Tea (Coffee or Teecino with 1 TBSP of coconut oil and sweetener). If I am hungry I will eat a fatbomb (currently I have Peanut Butter Cheesecake in the freezer) or some homemade greek yogurt with blueberries or peanut butter powder mixed in or a boiled egg.  This will always be a "S" meal.

Big cup of creamy bulletproof coffee.

11:00- Mostly "E" soup and sandwiches.  This week I am planning:

* Zest of the Southwest with a small amount of canned chicken.  If I need more I will pair it with a Wasa cracker and Laughing cow cheese.
* Loaded Fotato Soup or leftover lentil soup with a Toasted Turkey Sandwich.  I make my toasted turkey sandwiches by lightly spraying a slice of sprouted bread with coconut oil and layering on a wedge of laughing cow cheese and a slice of turkey and toasting it on the griddle.  Some days I will skip the soup and eat a full sandwich with a side of Kimchi.
* Steel Cut Oatmeal with blueberries.  I will whisk in some egg beaters for the extra protein

2:00 Snack time.  This will include another BPC or BPT with a fatbomb, greek yogurt, boiled egg, Wasa cracker and LLC.  My other options will include smoothies that I will add either chia seeds or MCT oil in to get some good fats or a coffee cake MIM.  I will strive always to make this a "S" meal.

5:00 Dinner  This time of day will again be a lot of "E" meals.  This week my fridge says I can enjoy:
*  Beans and Rice.  It's a crock pot meal that I make weekly and love.
*  Breakfast Burritos. I will use egg beaters or egg whites and a low carb tortilla.  I will pair this with a smoothie or some roasted green beans.
*  Pizza Bites.  This is the only "S" meal I am planning on and only if my gallbladder says yes.  I will have a side of frozen vegs.
*  White Bean and Chicken soup with a side of frozen vegs.

8:00 Snack (if needed) - I have on hand popcorn, greek yogurt, fat bombs, cheese and olives, cookie bowl oatmeal and smoothies.  I will try keep it to a small portion.

I have found that I can be satisfied without making any type of baked goodies.  I just can't find any that I enjoy and it's easier to make a smoothie if I get a sweet tooth.  I do have a secret stash of dark chocolate in the house in case of an emergency.

I'm pretty sure that most of my weekly menus will look a lot like this one.  When I have fresh produce in the house it will change up a bit.  I will have an apple with soup and more salads based meals.  I will make more green smoothies (spinach, strawberries and cottage cheese) versus this weeks protein powder based smoothies.

For hydration I will drink water, a daily shrinker and an occasional Winter Wonderland or fruity GGMS along with my BPC or BPT.  On days that I feel cold I will drink hot tea.

Dino guarding my Shrinker

Lovin' life with a diet plan in hand....

Trim Healthy Mama Weekly Menu

I'm super excited because I finally worked out an eating schedule that works for me!  I'm making it through the day without getting hungry and over-eating.

8:30 - eat breakfast

11:30 - eat lunch

2:30 - snack

5:30 - dinner

9:00 - hot tea w/dark chocolate on a stressful day (ha! I mean everyday).

Seems simple enough, but it took me awhile to figure it out and I am still on a time crunch in the morning so I'm looking to making more pre-made morning meals.

Here's what I'm planning to eat this week.

Breakfasts:  Steel-cut oats (E), Healthy pancakes (never made them last week), fried eggs (S), cheesy omelet (S), Cottage Toast (E), Savory Protein Muffins (S or E), Breakfast Quinoa (E)

Lunches:  Bean Burgers (E) from the freezer (yay!), Tuna on "S" Bread (S), Waldorf Salad (FP), Nicey Ricey Salad w/leftover Quinoa (E), Pea Salad (S) - this is a maybe, Savory Protein Muffins(S or E), leftovers

Dinners:  Roasted chicken (S), Chicken Pot Pie- S (Satisfying Eats), Egg roll in a Bowl (S), Skillet Pizza (S), Quiche (S), Bean Burgers (E), Better than Chef Salad - S (hopefully I will have some leftover roasted chicken for this).

Snacks:  Savory Crackers - S (Satisfying Eats), Boiled or Deviled Eggs (S), Yogurt w/Berries (S), Popcorn (E), Baked Oatmeal Muffins (from the freezer and my life before THM but amazingly still on plan if I only eat one) - E

Drinks:  Kefir shakes, GGMS, The Shrinker and Pumpkin Pie Sip

I have all the groceries I need in the house for this week and a good day in the kitchen will knock most of this list off.  If it doesn't work out I have a back up plan...

Last week, I was on plan at least 90% of the time but I didn't always eat what was on the menu.  I ate more taco salads than I planned and the only pizza I managed to make and eat was skillet pizza.  I didn't make the Quiche or pancakes so they are on the list again.

For the rest of the family I am planning on making Cornbread Casserole, Tuna Casserole, Bread and  a cake with sprinkles to cheer Stormy up.  She has not been feeling well the past week.  So far I have already made the bread, cake and Cornbread Casserole.

I took a peek on the scales this morning and lost another pound, but my official weigh-in will be on Sunday.

Lovin' Life minus one pound at a time!

Trim Healthy Mama - Weekly Menu

This is my second week following the Trim Healthy Mama WOE.  I'm still figuring it out and I'm sure I have made some mistakes with separating my foods but I do feel that they just may be onto something here.  I thought it would be fun to journal my progression here and just see if I can be successful or not.  

I will be cooking this weekend for the week's menu.  That is my normal, I never cook during the week.  During the work week we just fend for ourselves with the leftovers or what I put up in the freezer.  I know, I know, a family should sit down and eat together and we usually manage that during the big holidays and a blue moon.  The main problem seems to be our individual eating schedules.  The teenager eats constantly, Stormy never eats and the mechanic eats one huge meal a day.  I am the only traditional 3 meals a day person in the family.  I endeavor to eat breakfast before work but often eat it on the way to work or worse yet, at work.  I'm sure it is not good for your digestion to eat while your boss shoots looks at you for not being at your desk.  At work, we don't have a set lunch time and eat on the run  in between patients, which I am sure is not good for your digestion either.  Good thing I like the Good Girl Moonshine sipper, which is good for your digestion.  By the time I get home I am starving and just want to pull something out of the fridge and heat it up.  

Here's my menu for this week and I better stay up late and get cooking!

Breakfast:  Steel cut oatmeal, plain and with the berry whip - E, Healthy Pancakes (new recipe to me) - E, Cheesy Omelet - S, Fried eggs over Canadian bacon w/nutritional yeast - S, Quiche - S (leftover from a dinner & a new recipe).

Lunches:  Sandwiches w/Ezekiel Bread, low in fat - E, Waldorf Salad - FP, Cottage Toast - E, Taco Salad - S, Pizza (leftovers) - S, and Easy Pizza Bites - S (recipe from Satisfying Eats)

Dinners:  Quiche (new recipe)-S, Pizza w/the speedy pizza crust - S, Taco Salad -S, Bean Burgers - E, Soft Boiled eggs - S, Cheesy Hamburger Helper (Satisfying Eats) - S, Deep Dish Pizza Pie (Satisfying Eats) - S

Snack and Deserts:  Yogurt w/Berries or Granola - S, Pumpkin Cheesecake (Satisfying Eats) - S, Fridge Fudge - S, Hard Boiled Eggs w/salt and pepper or deviled - S, Roasted Garbanzo Beans - E, Raw Veggies and Cottage Cheese- FP.

Drinks:  The Shrinker (I'm in love with this sipper), Good Girl Moonshine and I want to try a Pumpkin Pie sipper.

I'm planning to make for the family a big pot of Goulash, homemade bread and cookies, all of which will be off limits to me.

So far this weekend, I have went shopping and have all the ingredients I will need.  I have boiled eggs and pulled out cooked beans from the freezer to make the roasted garbanzos and bean burgers.  I also pulled out some frozen pumpkin to make the cheesecake.  I made the taco meat in my crockpot and just have to hide enough of it to make myself two meals.  Once the mechanic and teenager find it, it will be long gone.  I baked bread today as well.  

Tomorrow I will get up and try the Healthy Pancakes and freeze the leftovers for next week.  I have several different pizza ideas planned and I will cook all of them together.  I should be able to freeze some leftovers for next week as well.  That leaves the bean burgers, roasted garbanzos and cheesecake to make.  The Quiche sounds easy enough that I should  be able to tackle that during the week.  I'm staring at the Cheesy Hamburger Helper on the menu and wondering if that will actually happen, it kind of seems like I have a full day in the kitchen tomorrow.   I will throw the goulash into the crockpot for the family.

There it is, hopefully I will be able to freeze lots of it and make next week so much easier.  I'm sticking pretty close to the recipes in the THM book, and just grabbing a few favorites from Satisfying Eats and Wheat Belly books that I own and love.

Lovin' life in the kitchen and I mean all day in the kitchen!

PS - I lost 3 pounds last week!