Delay in Posting

I apologize for my delay in posting. I had wanted to add a new menu, but time hasn't allowed it. There has also arisen another issue. One of the reasons I stopped THM the last time was due to the IBS flare up I had. Many on-plan foods that I was eating daily caused me horrible discomfort. I went to my GI dr back then and he suggested the issue was my diet. I was not happy! I had finally found something that worked to help me lose weight and many other health benefits. I couldn't believe it! How could all these foods that are sooo good for me be causing me trouble? I was very frustrated and quit... Sad, but the truth. One thing I have learned is that we need to be truthful to our reasons for failing, not make excuses. At that time the dr told me to look into the FODMAP diet. I took the info, read it, but felt defeated. Then finances got rough and I had to forget about all that anyway and just eat as cheap as possible.

Praise GOD I always wanted to come back to THM. I knew it was good and worked. I would always say "when I can afford it again." Well, I can afford it again. I can't do all the special stuff, but really you do not need it. I have been dabbling in the plan since Thanksgiving, but fully on plan since Jan. I am losing weight again. But...the pain, cramps, and etc started again. I assumed last time it was just the sweeteners and cabbage I was eating that caused it all. So I wasn't doing that this time. Still, pain. This week has been almost unbearable at times. I have IBS, and boy was it letting me know it was irritable!! I'd rather just not eat than feel like this.

I got in touch with a friend who talked about the FODMAP diet recently. She did it and it changed her life! In case you are curious about it you can read about it all right here. It really makes sense and described what was happening to myself. BUT, it also described most of my family! So reading about all this I started to feel discouraged and defeated again. I said NO! I can do both. There are many foods on there that are on plan! I can and WILL figure this out.

So, since we still have groceries that I recently bought, we are going to finish those up. My plan is that Feb 1 we are going to start our 3-week strict diet. After that, we will slowly add things back in. the question...Will I still be doing THM? YES YES YES! It can be done. If my menus or groceries seem odd for a bit, that is why.

I wanted to post about it in case there are any other ladies or families dealing with GI issues. our family always has. I have told my hubby for years that I know the health issues without family stem from what we are eating. We have eaten gf off and on for years. It's always best when we do. But I understand why we feel better when gf now. For us our body doesn't break it down and so it goes to the large intestine and gets fermented. So, when we stay away from all gluten, we heal up some. If we eat a little it doesn't bother us, but after a while, it gets worse and worse. Why? Fermentation doesn't happen immediately! It takes time. So over time more and more gluten gets fermented and the worse we feel.

If you wonder about yourself or your family, do some research. It really is worth a shot!!
Thanks for reading,
Big Momma

So much to do!

So, today was a big prep day! I feel as though I got a lot done. Menu planning, grocery list making, and shopping is just the beginning of food in my house. There is still so much to do once you get it all home. Sorting through it all and putting it away is a big job. Today one of my twins helped me sort the meat for the freezer. It took us about an hour to label, separate, pack, and put away 2 weeks of meat. After that we made some baked THM goodies! I sure hope they all come out ok! I hate wasting food.

I do plan to post a menu on the blog, but it has been a tad busy here with shopping, cleaning, laundry, homeschool, and etc.... I plan to get it done as soon as I can. I will give you a little preview of what all we got done today!

Freezer stocked full of meat, veggies, and frozen fruit!

I made the Mostess Cupcakes. I found that many of them fell apart!! So I am going to make a "dirt" cake type thing for my kiddos!! I think that they will like that.

Those are stacked individual servings of BAM cake! Yummy!!!

I took the Blueberry Muffins from THT and made them into a cake. It was yummy!!!

This is 7 baggies of lean ground beef cooked and portioned out for individual servings. Also cooked 3 pkgs bacon to use for Quiche!

These are the mostess cupcakes. they taste good, but I think that I prefer the Chocolate Trimtastic Zucchini cake over these.

So, in case you are wondering, I made:

2.5 lbs ground beef cooked

Blueberry Muffins from THT

Mostess Cupcakes THT

3 pkgs bacon

2 Banana BAM cakes

Strawberry Trimtastic Cake (not crazy about it. Kind of strange....)

I was hoping that all these baked goods would last me all week, but not sure my kids will stay out of them! They love the BAM cake and Mostess cupcakes!!

Have a good night!

Big Momma

Update of our First Week

So we have been working through Trim Healthy Mama for a week or so now. I posted a menu for what we did. Let's just say we didn't stick by it completely. We ended up with a snow day so hubby was home. That was great but we vegged and ate cookies.. oops. Ha ha ha One thing about THM is the ladies teach Food Freedom!! Making not so bad for you cookies, but not on plan, isn't the worst thing that you can do. It's life, and that is what makes THM so awesome! This isn't a diet that rules you, you use the food ideas to help you on your health journey.

So, a review of our first week and Trim Healthy Table, the newest cookbook. My family is loving each meal I have made so far!! I have to tell you that I have found the BEST and most versatile meal in this new cookbook!! GOOD GRUB!!!! It is the BESTEST ever!!! I have made it the way the cookbook says, but I have also made it with breakfast sausage and served it with fried eggs!! Yummo! It tastes like hash! Part of it may be the Cauli rice I bought. IDK, but my children and hubby LOVE this meal. My Mr. Picky adores it!! He is actually requesting it daily!!! My little Miss who hated tortillas love this in a low carb tortilla! I am so thankful!!

We also really really liked the Little Sweet and Little Spicy chicken legs. Oh those were amazing. We love Bangin' Ranch Drummies, so this didn't surprise me. We also tried Burger Bombs. I was a tad naughty and added a square of mozzarella to each of them. Oh! that was delicious! I also made the Chili Verde. We all enjoyed that one as well. Can't say it was a favorite but one to eat every once in a  while. Over the weekend I made Crockpot Buffalo chicken. WOW! Spicy spicy spicy! I even used 1 cup of frank's red hot sauce! My son who LOVES spicy food and can take heat was shocked by how spicy it was. We all did enjoy it though. One that I will for sure be making again.

Also, for snacks you will see I have popcorn on there. I do eat air popped popcorn. I spritz it with some butter spray stuff and shake nutritional yeast, salt, and sometimes spicy stuff! Very yummy!

I also tried the WWBB! It was ok, but definitely not a sub for white bread. Personally I will try it again and use for grilled cheese or french toast. It will be something I need to play with and see if I can make work for me.

So that is my update for now! I do plan to write more as soon as I am able!!

In Christ,
Robin

Our First week

I am a menu queen! I seriously LOVE menus and schedules and lists...... You could totally call me addicted! If I make a list or menu and it gets messy, I rewrite it!! Yes, I am that ridiculous. Making menus and lists make my life so much easier! So I sat down and looked through the three cookbooks I have and made a menu, except breakfast. That one was a little hard for me. But we will get there.

Here is a link to the first menu and grocery list...

Keep in mind that I am feeding 9 people. My meals are BIG!! I rarely have left overs. If we do it is saved for hubby's lunch the next day. I do have on there to use any left over meat and put into a soup. Hopefully I will have some left!

My goal was to eat pretty basic for breakfast and lunch. Then use easy and low ingredient recipes from the books for dinner. So far the kids are loving everything I am making!! I actually have a kiddo who doesn't eat veggies scarfing down meals that are shocking all of us!!

Breakfast usually consists of eggs, veggies, or a meat. I always have coffee, at least 2 cups each day. I also always put collagen into my coffee, this is protien and so very good for you.

Lunch I do 2 days of meat and cheese on pita bread with salad, one day is black beans and rice from Briana thomas, Pasta or Zoodles with sauce, and Good grub.

Sunday we always have a roast or ham in the aftrernoon after church.

Dinner we are trying:

Little Sweet Little Spicy drummies with fried cabbage and spinach (kids eat rice and pineapple)
Chili Verde with Cheese and Sour cream
Egg Roll in Bowl part duex with brown rice
Burger Bombs with salad and buttered veggies
Crockpot Buffalo Chicken with pita and salad
Chicken Casserole with salad
Banging Ranch drummie, fried veggies (kids eat pineapple and rice)
Red Chili with baked tortilla chips
Egg Roll in Bowl (first book) with brown rice
Meat loaf from Briana Thomas, buttered veggies and salad
Totally Dope Chicken with salad and pita
Grandma's chicken Soup

So far we have tried The Little sweet spicy drummies...YUMMY!!!!! My family LOVED these!!

Little Miss Eat anything!

Mr. Picky Eater

Mr. Content with life

We also tried Good grub from the New Trim healthy table!! I have NO pictures of this. The kids gobbled it down so fast! Mr. Picky LOVED this meal so much!! It will now go on the rotation for weekly! We all agreed it would be great for breakfast! Instead of ground turkey or chicken, use sausage!! Add a couple of eggs with it. YUMMY!!!

We are all excited and doing well for the last two days. I am just thankful that my family is happy with this. I do plan to make some THM desserts soon, hoping they like them!

Lots of Love,
Big Momma

New Book and New Beginnings...

I have officially restarted Trim Healthy Mama!!!  My sweet in-laws got me the Trim Healthy Table book for Christmas. Last year they got me Briana Thomas' book, Necessary Food. I now have all three cookbooks. I am so excited to start up again!! The last few years have been tough. I started THM years ago but ended up with 2 surgeries, a broken computer which lost all my menus and planning, and finances that just didn't give me the ability to do THM. It is time to start up again. Hopefully, I can get menus and things posted here to help others out. That is my goal. Also so other ladies interested can watch someone else's progress. I will do my best to blog daily or weekly. I will also post my menus! That way others can use them. So let me tell you about myself and my family!

I am a momma to 7 amazing kids!! I also homeschool. So I do cook all day long! Lol  My goal is for hubby and I to be THM all the way. As for the kids, they will eat what we eat but as crossovers. You can read about the Trim Healthy Mama plan in their plan book and cookbooks. I HIGHLY recommend getting them ALL!!

Goals! Well, what are my goals?? I don't know exactly. I do know that I want to lose weight, be healthier than I am, and lose this dumb double chin! LOL  I would like to see hubby feel healthier and look healthier. My oldest loves the way he feels on THM. His reflux goes away 100%. We all just feel better when on THM.

Looking forward to this New Beginning!

I truly hope this will be a blessing to you all!!

Robin

Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017

So very long...

Well, It has been months since I posted any kind of an update. Health issues, homeschool, lack of funds to do THM, and life have gotten in the way. I had every intention of posting my menus that I had made. I wish that I would have been able to just get it done, but I did not. Another issue came up as well....my computer died. I lost everything. All my homeschool stuff, THM menus and plans, pictures of my kids, and all the church stuff I had worked on over the last 4 years. So, I have to start over. This time I will use google drive exclusively and will be able to post as I go.

I have not been on THM much. I did receive the Necessary Foods cookbook for Christmas and have been using it often! I am now in a place where I am pretty sure I can be THM. So, I will begin again and pray things go better this time. I will do my best to post weekly on here. I may not be 100% THM, I will do my best. I am also trying to do a mostly Gluten Free way of life for my family.

Health issues have come up in our home and I believe that gluten is one of the culprits! So out the door it goes. I also wonder about dairy. We shall see. If I take dairy away from my crew I may end up the one out the door! LOL

So please, bear with me as I begin again and try to fulfill my desire to post good menus and lists for you. Now remember we are a family of 9, with three teenagers. We consume a lot of food. I shop predominantly at Aldi and our local grocery store. I do tend to shop weekly, I find it better with all that produce.  Hopefully it will be a blessing...if I can get this going!

God Bless,
Robin

Update as of Sept 17, 2016

Hey there everyone!

I apologize it's been a very long time since I have posted here. I truly had every intention of making great menus and posting them for all to use! Then Thyroidectomy came into my life. I had surgery on July 14. After surgery I had some issues. I am still struggling with my parathyroids to start working. In the midst of recovering from surgery our church had it's annual VBS. It's basically a week long kids camp. My hubby and I run it and boy was that fun and exhausting. Then we went straight into school planning and home school. My plan was to get menus done and ready before school started again. My body had other plans.

I do plan to get menus out and posted. I have to be honest though, I have not been THM since surgery. I lost the groove I was in. We also had some financial changes so money is much tighter than before. So if I am going to do THM I can't do it the way I was. I have to do it much less and I am not sure how to do that. I want to though!! I seriously want to make it work on my small budget and show that THM is possible on little money and not using all the extra things or special ingredients. I do use gentle sweet for coffee and other things. But I am back to baking breads, biscuits, scones, and muffins for breakfast. Those are not good for THM!! Yikes!! All the carbs and fats, hello!!

I do want to say that there are other blogs out there that are wonderfully helpful!! Check these ladies out! They have some wonderful recipes, helps, and little tips you may benefit from.

Darcie has some wonderful recipes and menus.
Brianna has great recipes and just printed a cookbook!!! You go Bri!!
Sarah over at Mrs. Criddles Kitchen also has some wonderful recipes!


So, I basically need to figure all this out....again. Thank you for all your patience! I am working on it. I am also homeschooling 7 children. So time is something I am limited on!

God Bless,
Robin