Tasty Tuesday: Playing Catch-Up or Ketchup!

Hey beauties!  How are you today?

Do you like my title today?  Ha I make myself laugh.

Tasty Tuesday is back after a brief hiatus.  I'm not really coming at you with recipes but I am coming at you with some food love.  So enjoy!

THM

Do you know what that acronym means?  I had no clue until I took off into my adventure of being sugar free.  I would see THM on Pinterest and be like - hmmm?  Then my lovely blog buddy, Emily (seriously, why can't she be closer than Texas) sent me some info and it was THM.

So what is THM?

Trim Healthy Mama

And I am in love.

I bought their cookbook (second book they have published) last week as a "Mother's Day Gift" to myself. Boy, am I glad I did!  I love it!

The book is written for us every day girls who want a healthier lifestyle.  I can get my sugar free on and rejoice that the food is so delicious.  You can get your diet in balance with this too no matter what your issue is!  (Carbs, sugar, bad stuff made in labs...)

Last week I made one of the meatloaf dishes and it was a fast family favorite.

The coolest part I have to share with you is this:  It isn't a gimmick.

This isn't a "program" and it isn't a buy-this-now type deal.  Yes, the girls have their own products that you can purchase BUT they also give you ideas on how to substitute those for things you can pick up at...wait for it....Walmart!  Or Whole Foods.  Or wherever.

Do I recommend this book?  You bet your booty.

Some of the offerings of this cookbook include:

Crock pot meals
Skillet meals
Breakfast offerings
Desserts
Smoothies
Sippers
Side dishes
Salads
and more

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Sugar Free Update

Guess who lost three pounds last week JUST buy cutting out the sugar?  This girl right here! 

I have to admit sugar free isn't the easiest choice to make.  To survive the first week of being sugar free you have to have willpower.  Let me just tell you I have it and I used it and I'm going to continue pushing forward!

My meals are very planned out now and that works great for this scorpio.  I eat things I really love and stay away from the things I thought I loved.  After making it five days my body was totally on board with me saying no to candy and baked goods.  Really - I thought the addiction to sugar was a little stronger than it actually ended out being!

On Saturday I made a "sweet treat" to celebrate making it through my first week and to also celebrate Mother's Day.  Every good mama deserves some cake, right?  Right!  

You can pin this by clicking here

This pin was all me.  I love pineapple and I'm sugar free so why not?

You need to know a few things about this recipe -

1.  There is Splenda in the cake mix. I personally despise Splenda.  However, you cannot taste it in this mix.  Yay!

2.  Sugar Free Cool Whip has aspartame in it.  I'm not sensitive to it but I really do not want it in my diet.  I can tell you that the amount is quite low for a serving of the cake which is 1/10th of the cake.

3.  I did not use pudding in my "icing" - and it turned out delicious.  It was more poke cake style than regular cake style.

The cake was delicious and enjoyed by all!  I plan on making a smaller one to take with me on my bestie beach weekend :)

OK let's talk about regular food...

My meals now are planned, as I stated earlier, and they are very filling.  I'm eating less because I'm not loading my lunch box with junk that has loads of ingredients made in a lab or high on the salt and sugar scale.  High salt and or high sugar leave you craving more food and since I ditched them my food cravings have dwindled.

Breakfasts these days are eggs, turkey bacon or sausage, and avocados.  Oh and vegetables - omelettes are too good to pass up!

Lunches are big fat mixed green salads loaded down with my favorite vegetables.  I throw in a hamburger patty or grilled chicken or a boiled egg for protein.

Snacks are nuts mainly - I am all about Emerald's Mixed Nut pouches.  I also enoy Oikos Triple Zero for a snack some days.

Dinner is always fun because of my new cookbook (THM mentioned above).  I get a good balanced meal that is fresh from my kitchen.  And when I cannot cook I know what I can and cannot have from fast food places.

I feel so good.  

We are what we eat and now that I'm not a bag of Dixie Crystal I feel rejuvenated.

I went to Aldi...

Last week I decided to hit up Aldi for the first time in way over a year...maybe two years to be honest.  Love hate relationship is the best description I have for that place.  It is really like going to a consignment store - you're either going to get what you came for or leave empty handed.

It just so happened I hit one of my local Aldi's at just the right time.  

Eggs - which I eat TONS of - were 69 cents a dozen.  There was a limit of four so I met that limit head on!  

My kids love some milk in the evening and a gallon of milk was $1.89 - score!  

The meat choices were so very close to traditional grocery chains that I nearly snubbed it and walked on until I saw this - Chicken Thighs 49 cents a pound.  Say what?  I love cooking with chicken thighs because they are economical (normally not that economical) and are a great portion size.  You can imagine how thrilled I was to walk out with ten pounds of chicken for $5 and some change.  Those bad boys or should I say girls were wrapped in smaller packs as soon as I got home and placed in the freezer.  Yes, we are eating a lot of chicken.  

Click here to read this post about saving money and eating clean by shopping Aldi from Food Fun & Exercise!

Other notes on my Aldi trip:  

I was very pleased at the selection of organic items priced very affordable and the selection of NON GMO foods they had.  Aldi has really came a long way in their healthy offerings.

On the flip side if you needed bread - you were out of luck.

Some of their prices are identical to their competitors so there's no bargain.

All in all I think I'll do a monthly Aldi run and keep my regular practice of Harris Teeter as my go to.

Now it is your turn - what are you doing to be healthier for the summer?

Have you tried THM?

Are you an Aldi shopper?

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