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5 Top Avocado Dessert Recipes

Top 5 Avocado Desserts

5 Top Avocado Dessert Recipes

This week I wanted to feature one of my favorite fruits (yes it is a fruit!)… Avocados! 

We love avocados.

Avocados were actually Aidalyn’s first food. I picked it because it was a good source of healthy fats along with some carbs (very similar to the make-up of breastmilk).

Our bodies need fat.  Along with coconut oil and butter, avocado is a good source of healthy fats. 

Have your heard the great news? Eating Fat doesn’t make you fat (cue the choir singing “Hallelujah”). read more

Why I am a Trim Healthy Mama

 

Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stmaartenpiloot/6485367553/Why I am a Trim Healthy Mama

I like to eat. I really enjoy food. I look at recipes for fun. I don’t think I am the only one, but who knows I’m crazy like that. 

I used to think that to be thin you had to starve yourself and work out all the time. This thought process didn’t last long, thankfully, and I was able to heal my body with eating a whole food diet. However, I’m pretty sure I messed up my body’s ability to process sugar with going long periods without food or over exercising.  read more

Apple Oatmeal Cream Pie

sugar free, gluten free, egg free, low fat

Apple Oatmeal Cream Pies

{Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Low Fat}

Oatmeal Cookies are a childhood favorite of mine. I love oatmeal cookies and cream together. These Apple Oatmeal Cream Pies are the prefect combination of both flavor and health benefits.

Apples are full of vitamins and minerals. They add a natural sweetness to the cookie as well. Oatmeal is a great food for fiber as well as for your heart. Oats are also good for stabilizing blood sugar because of its magnesium content.

Coconut milk is used for the cream to keep this dairy free. To create the full body of whipped cream, glucomanan is used to stiffen and keep the cream at a semi-solid. I love glucomannan and use it all the time. It is full of fiber and has been used for centuries in Japan. It can help fill you up, so you aren’t tempted to overeat. I buy mine glucomannan on Amazon. I love it as a thickener because, you can use it with cold foods. It doesn’t need to be heated to activate the absorbing properties. read more

8 Top Sugar Free Pancake Recipes

ditch your sugar cravings
ditch your sugar cravings

Starting your day the right way is the key to feeling your best all day long! With these sugar free pancake recipes you can enjoy your favorite comforting breakfast food without the sugar or guilt!

 

 

 

8 Sugar Free & Healthy Pancake recipes

 

Pancakes bring up so many warm and fuzzy feelings inside me. They just scream Saturday mornings with the family. Traditional pancake recipes are full of carbs and sugar (with fat too!). All these together do not help a mama stay healthy. 

 

These Sugar Free Pancakes are the perfect solution for you and your family. Keep the traditions going with slow Saturday mornings and gather around the kitchen table with some yummy pancake goodness without the guilt or blood sugar swings. These will leave you satisfied and not crashing in an hour. read more

Why You Should Add Butter to Your Coffee

Week one we increased our water intake.

Week two we cut out sugar.

Are you feeling better already?

No more Sugar crashes or highs? We want to keep our blood sugar smooth and stable.

 

This next tip will help not only keep your sugar cravings at bay, but will also help you burn more fat, fuel your body and help you focus…

Want to know the secret??

 

Adapted from: http://glutendoctors.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-i-allow-butter-on-diary-free-diet.html

This week we are going to focus on Healthy Fats!  

 

 

Fats from animal and vegetables are so vital to our health. They are a “concentrated source of energy.” (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon). Using fats as an energy source is also understood in Trim Healthy Mama‘s satisfying or S meals.

 

Fats slow down nutrient absorption so we feel full longer and stay satisfied. They also help keep our blood sugar stable. Fats are also important in absorption of fat soluble vitamins (A, D E and K). Cultures (Japanese, French and traditional populations) that eat a lot of saturated fats have less coronary heart disease than Americans who changed their diets to be low in saturated fat (Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon).

 

What Is a Healthy Fat?

Saturated fats are healthy! Healthy fats are fats that are stable when heated. These include coconut oil, butter, and ghee. Extra Virgin Olive oil is good, but it is less stable because it is monounsaturated and so shouldn’t be cooked with.

 

Eating Fat doesn’t make us fat, Carbs do!

We have been lied to over and over when we have been told to eat low fat for weight loss. It isn’t the fat that is the problem, it is the carbs that cause excess weight gain (and the mixture of the two). Trim Healthy Mama goes into more detail about this in their book, but it is the core at why you keep the two sources of energy separate and also eat low glycemic.

When you eat too many carbs, the excess energy is stored in our cells to burn up later. When we also eat fat with excess carbs, the fat is also stored for later. If we keep our food choices to one source of energy or the other then we will continue to burn and not store extra to be turned into fat.

 

What about cholesterol? 

Cholesterol is NOT the devil. It is actually necessary for your health.

Cholesterol is vital for hormone production, for cell membranes, for creating bile, for serotonin production, and maintaining a healthy digestive wall for prevention of a leaky gut.

Oils to avoid.

Any oil that has been hydrogenated or homogenized. Most of these are in the form of corn or soy. So if you start avoiding those two then it gets easier. Polyunsaturated fats should be no greater than 4% of our daily caloric intake (Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon). Polyunsaturated fats include commercial vegetable oils like corn, sunflower and safflower.

Coconut is a super food!

In an earlier post, I talked about coconut oil and how great it is for us (click here to read more about coconut oil). Coconut oil is antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing for skin and revs up metabolism. We keep one container in our bathroom and one in the kitchen. I have used coconut oil on sunburns, dry skin and for prevention of stretch marks in pregnancy.

 

Challenge Time!

So this week, let’s make the switch to include MORE saturated fats into our diet. We most commonly use coconut oil and butter. One easy way to get in more fats is actually in your coffee! Sounds a little strange, right?

 

When you combine coffee, grassfed butter and collagen, you get AMAZING RESULTS! 

More fuel for your body and brain means a more fit, fueled, and focused you! With Grass-Fed Butter and Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs), you can increase your body’s ketone production to rapidly breakdown fat, boost your energy, and sharpen your focus!

  • Contains fatty acids from Grass-Fed Butter and Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)
  • Builds and restores vital proteins through essential amino acids and collagen peptides†
  • Boosts and sustains your energy output to burn more fat†
  • Sharpens mental focus and enhances mood†
  • Kills cravings and satisfies hunger†
  • Fuels your body and brain through increased ketone production†
  • Supports the results of your low-carb & ketogenic diet
  • read more

    Trim and Healthy Christmas Goodies

    Trim and Healthy Holiday Goodie Swap

     

    A Trim and Healthy Holiday Goodie Swap Party! 

    One of my favorite memories of the holidays is having a party where you all bake the best goodies to share. I would make all these tins full of goodies and give them to co-workers, neighbors and friends. It is an easy way to show people you are thinking about them without having a spend a whole lot of money during the holiday season. 

    You can share these goodies with other Trim Healthy Mamas or you can show how easy it is to follow the plan and eat such tasty foods! 

    Here is a list of the best Trim and Healthy Goodies to Swap at your holiday party! 

    Fudge is a must at a holiday goodie swap. One of my favorite memories is eating my grandmother’s fudge and divinity at her house on Christmas. That fudge was obviously not Trim or Healthy. 

    Thankfully, Trim Healthy Mamas can enjoy these fudge recipes this holiday while not packing on any pounds and enjoying the holiday season. 

    This first fudge is a cream cheese fridge fudge! It is sure to satisfy any fudgy creamy cravings you may have. 

    The Frugal LowCarber Brings us this Fridge Fudge

    cream cheese fridge fudge

     

    or you can try Gwen’s Coconut oil Fudge 

    I’m a sucker for nuts! Here’s Sheri Graham’s Caramel Pecans – Oh my! I also love Crockpot Cocoa Almonds from Stacy Makes Cents 

    Caramel Pecans

    Gwen’s Buckeyes are sure to make the list!

    Gwen’s Buckeyes

    You can’t forget the cookies!!!

    Cookies are the quintessential part of a Christmas Goodie Swap Party! Trim Healthy Mama do not fear! There are plenty of cookies that are healthy and will keep you Trim!  

    Here are Coconut Flour Cookies from Counting All Joy

    Coconut Flour Cookies

     

    No Bake Fudgy Cookies are one of my favorite cookie ever! So easy and so yummy too! I love the shredded coconut in these as well. You could add some almond slivers to make it extra special! 

    No bake Fudgy Cookies (S)

     

    Almond Joy Bites from The Blue House Blog 

    Trim Healthy Almond Joy Bites

     

    Ice Cube Tray Chocolate Covered Cheese Cake  from DamyHealth.com

    Ice Cube Tray Chocolate Covered Cheesecakes

     

    Fill some bags of Stevia Sweetened Kettle Corn to give to teachers or friends!  

    Stevia Sweetened Kettle Corn 

    Other recipes to try at your Goodie Swap: 

    Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls  read more

    Baking With Coconut flour

    low carb, low sugar, stevia

    Baking with Coconut Flour 

    Baking with coconut flour can be a great way to eat low carb, grain free and keep all your favorite breads and cakes in your diet. 

    We’ve already talked about how great coconut oil is:

    increasing metabolism, supporting immune system, promoting the absorption of vitamins, detoxing the body, promoting healthy cholesterol and heart health. Now we are going to talk about all those great benefits in a flour: Coconut flour.

     

    Our bodies don’t tolerate grains very well (wheat, barley, oats…). They are filled with phytates that bind to minerals in our bodies like magnesium. This overtime can leave us deficient in vitamins and minerals. You can soak your grains to help reduce the phytates, but it may be easier to incorporate more grain free foods into your diet.

     Does that mean you can never eat a piece of bread again? What about cake?

    There are two main flours that people who are eating grain free are using: almond flour and coconut flour. Those certainly aren’t the only ones, but they are definitely the popular ones.

    You can read here about some benefits of coconut flour to other flours. I haven’t bought Dr. Mercola‘s coconut flour – we just bought Bob’s Red Mill brand on Amazon.com.

    There are a ton of recipes using coconut flour that you can make and not even realize you are missing the wheat. I found several grain free recipes by searching on Pinterest.

     

    Check out my King Cake in a Mug that Uses Coconut flour

    coconut flour, louisiana, cake in a mug, minute cake

     

    This is just one I found recently: original post here

    Gluten Free Carrot-Poppy Seed Loaf

    3 eggs
    1/4  cup applesauce (add more if you need more wet ingredients after you have mixed dry and wet together)
    3 Tbsp honey or one teaspoon of liquid stevia extract 
    3 Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
    1 cup grated carrot
    1 tsp vanilla extract
    1 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/4 cup sifted coconut flour
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)                                                                                              1.5 tablespoons of poppy seeds  read more

    Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

    Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

    Coconut oil is a pretty powerful food. It is a saturated fat – meaning it is stable when heated and doesn’t have any trans fats and it won’t oxidize. Thankfully it tastes pretty good too! When cooking, this is our go-to oil.

    Coconut oil has been shown to increase your metabolism, help with thyroid issues, speed up weight loss, and strengthen your immune system. read more