Breakfast…the most important meal of the day!

As a kid, growing up, I never ate breakfast. I always felt sick if I ate it too early in the morning, and before school was always too early.

Sundays though, mom would usually make something special. French toast, coffee cake, waffles, pancakes, or on special occasions, homemade cinnamon rolls. Boy, do I love her cinnamon rolls!

My kids are spoiled. They get a hot breakfast just about every day. And even when it isn’t a hot breakfast, it is most often still something homemade.

I know not every mom can do this for their kids, but it is a privilege that I have been given, and a challenge I have faced head on when combating the usual high carb, blood sugar spiking breakfasts for the sake of my diabetic child.

I previously posted a recipe for a Cinnamon Flax Buttermilk Pancake recipe. This has been a favorite in our house.

Lately I have embarked on a new journey after reading the book “Trim Healthy Mama.” I am not going to get into too much on the book but I do highly recommend it.

This post is going to start introducing you to some of the things I have been having for breakfast that fit “on plan” and are amazingly delicious. I do not have recipes for most of them because they are either from the book or my own take on something from the book. But they can give you some ideas. And just a bit of googling will help you to find similar recipes if you do not have the book or are looking for another take.

First, lets talk about smoothies.

I have said before how much smoothies have been a new favorite. Since being on THM that has not changed.

Here are some great ingredients for smoothies:

~Chia Seeds: This are full of fiber, protein, calcium, antioxidants, and omega-3s, and they thicken up your smoothie if you let the chia seeds sit in the liquid for an hour or longer. I like them as an alternative to the more starchy tapioca in making a pudding as well.

~Spinach: Filled with calcium and iron, spinach is one of those super veggies that works wonderfully in a smoothie. I like to freeze handfuls in ziplock baggies (use the cheap sandwich ones, squeeze out as much air as possible, and then put all the sandwich bags into a large freezer bag to save money but still protect your produce). When I make a smoothie I just pull out a baggie of spinach and throw it in the blender with my other ingredients. I think that spinach is my favorite choice because I really don’t taste it in my spinach like I do with other options (like Kale).

~Frozen Berries: Berries are filled with antioxidants, and are amazingly delicious! They also provide an amount of sweetness that is completely natural as well. Be aware that berries with seeds (like the strawberry) will leave seeds in your smoothie. Perhaps a high powered blender (like the Vitamix) would blend the seeds up but mine does not.

~Whey Protein: Make sure that you choose a cross filtered whey protein isolate that is sweetened with stevia if you are following the THM plan. Swanson’s Premium Whey Isolate is the most recommended for its quality, taste, and low cost. Whey protein is an excellent item to help add bulk to your smoothie and help you to get full enough to make it through a few hours until lunch time.

~Flaxseeds: Flax is another great source of omega-3s, lignans, and fiber. I know I can throw it into the blender, reap the benefits of the seed, and it doesn’t effect the taste of the smoothie. Start small if you are just starting out with flax as it will give you gas when you first start out from all the fiber!

~Almond Milk: You can make this at home very easily (just google it for a ton of websites that tell you how to use whole almonds to make milk) or you can buy it for a decent price. The downfall with the bought almond milk is all the additives that they put into it for taste and texture. Try to stick to the unsweetened almond milk as it is lower in carbs, calories, and fat.

~0% Fat Greek Yogurt: I love to make my yogurt at home. It is so easy and the results are far better than anything I have ever bought at the store. This is another awesome way to add protein to your smoothie and helps to thicken the smoothie up, making it nice and creamy.

~Stevia: I am in love with stevia extract powder. Although Truvia is another great option, I love how little of the extract powder I use to get a sweet result. Just a few shakes from the little container and I have a wonderfully sweet smoothie.

~Vanilla Extract: Other extracts can work too. Depends on the flavor you are going for. Vanilla is my favorite because it is relatively neutral.

~Other options are peanut butter, chocolate powder, cinnamon, pumpkin, soaked oatmeal, almonds…

Here are a few smoothies I have made in the recent past:

A strawberry concoction that includes greek yogurt, almond milk, frozen strawberries, chia seeds, and stevia. Nice and creamy but not too thick.

Fat Stripping Frappa that is in the THM book. I did not have the correct protein powder or glucomman powder but it still turned out icy and delicious.

Pumpkin pie flavored. I used almond milk, greek yogurt, pumpkin puree (from a can), pumpkin pie spice, a little cinnamon, stevia, vanilla, and chia seeds.

Here is a green smoothie. I threw in some Matcha (Japanese Green Tea powder), spinach, strawberries, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and stevia. Blended it till it was nice and smooth.

When I build my smoothies (unless following a recipe) I start with spinach, if using, add about a cup of Greek yogurt, a cup of berries (or chocolate or pumpkin), splash of vanilla, couple of shakes of stevia, up to two tablespoons of chia or flax seeds, and however much milk (or water) is needed to thin it out. This will make a super big smoothie.

If you are having it as a side to a meal it would be best to lower the amounts. I end up sharing at least a third of my smoothies with my kids so you may find that even as a meal this may be too big.

One thing I like to do is to make up a smoothie the night before in a mason jar (which fits perfectly on my blender’s blades), place a lid on it, and stick it in the fridge. If I use chia seeds I will add them last, shake them up a bit, and allow them to do their gelling magic. Generally this will help to thicken up the shake a bit overnight. Then in the morning when I am in a hurry to run out of the house (or to nurse the little one) I can grab the jar, a straw, and dash. Breakfast in a hurry and completely healthy!

In my next post I will talk about pancakes, waffles, and French toast options that are full of powerful nutrients, easy to whip up, and delicious alternatives to the boxed or frozen version.

Blessings!

Meal Planning

I have had several people on facebook ask me about meal planning. How do I handle it? What kinds of foods does our family eat? How do I manage to feed our family on a military budget?

Let me start by saying, it isn’t easy. And we still have a long way to go. My children are picky. But I force them to attempt a variety of foods, whether they want to or not. My husband and I struggle to get enough time to sit down for a good meal, let alone with all 5 of us together. Things get crazy and chaotic. And sometimes we eat in shifts. Oftentimes Aaron and I eat in front of the tv.

So we are far from perfect. We are a normal family, just like you. Trying to do what is best.

A few months ago I revamped our way of meal planning. I was getting tired of the “What’s for dinner?” question that would come. I would have meals planned out, but not what we were going to eat on what day. It was great knowing we could eat meals A, B or C, but it was also very difficult because we would have to narrow it down and might not feel like any of those meals. I found that we were not eating a lot of the meals I had planned because we just didn’t feel like it. So we would go off of the meals I had planned and buy something else. It was just not working.

What I have found to work is to organize my weeks based upon categories. Now, this is not an original concept. If you google meal planning you will probably find a handful (or two) of blogs that talk about this concept. Honestly, I don’t remember reading it on any particular website, but I know that I saw a similar idea posted on pinterest, and it reminded me of the way we used to eat growing up.

Now growing up we always had predictable meals. Spaghetti on Monday, Burritos on Tuesday…so on and so forth. And I hated it. Hated having the same meals over and over and over again. So I didn’t want to get stuck in that rut. But the concept works. Especially for a tight budget.

So here’s my take on it.

Each day of the week we have a different “category.” Then I plan meals based upon that category. I don’t purchase things for a specific meal but things that I know we like that fit into those categories. Let me show you how it works.

Monday: Mexican

Tuesday: Italian

Wednesday: Whatever (leftovers or quick meals)

Thursday: Asian

Friday: Fish

Saturday: Grill

Sunday: Crockpot

So when I do my shopping list I take a look at these categories and think about what kinds of foods that we like to eat. Here’s how it looks:

Mexican: We like to have burritos a lot. But we also enjoy quesadillas, soft tacos, and fajitas.

So I can get chicken breasts, salsa, cheese, tortillas, beans (I get dried beans from WIC), and brown rice. If there are any good avocados available I will pick up one to make some guacamole. And fresh salsa is always best. So sometimes I will pick up the ingredients to make fresh salsa (tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, cilantro, green onions, lemon juice, and garlic). These ingredients work well for any of the three options. If I want I can add in bell peppers, some spinach (or lettuce), etc. These veggies work wonderfully in quesadillas and fajitas.

For those of you who are following the Trim Healthy Mama plan, here is how I alter my Mexican Mondays. First of all, we buy the low carb whole wheat Mission tortillas. These are great for my diabetic son as well.

If I decide to have beans and rice on my burrito or with my fajitas, this makes it an E meal. This means no guac and low fat cheese. I LOVE Cabot extra sharp, 90% reduced cheddar. Because I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts the fat is very minimal in the whole meal because I do not use any fat in our refried beans (I simply mash the beans in my food processor with some salsa and then reheat it).

My brown rice I like to use the boiling method. Basically you cook it like you would pasta. Heat up a big pot of water. Add your rice. Let cook for 30 minutes with the lid off. Drain the water from the rice. Put it back in the pot and place the lid on it for 10 minutes. There will be a little bit of water in the rice still which is good. The water will then steam the rice, cooking it the rest of the way. Then you can add seasonings. I usually make up a decent amount and put the leftovers in freezer bags to save for another night. (Works really well for stir fry.)

After cooking I season the rice with chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and pepper. Sometimes I add a little salsa and sometimes I add just onions, garlic and a little bit of tomatoes. Depends on my mood.

Now, my kids won’t eat our burritos. But they love “cheese crips.” So I make them up tortillas with cheese crisped in the skillet (quesadilla to the rest of the world) and serve it with some salsa and a few corn chips. They love it!

Italian: For Italian we have a variety of choices. Spaghetti, baked ziti, pizza, or alfredo.

In our pantry I always have a variety of pastas. Spaghetti noodles, ziti, and elbow are the most common. I have just switched us over to Dreamfields pasta which is supposedly great for blood sugars. It seems to work for us, but may not work for you. There are some other great pastas like the veggie one from Rotoni that we also like.

I also always buy at least one jar or can of spaghetti sauce, a package of lean ground turkey sausage, parmesan cheese, and pepperoni. If I know that we are having ziti or pizza I will pick up mozzarella and ricotta (these are also great THM items).

It takes a little more work to fit Italian food into the THM plan but it can be done. Remember that Dreamfields is on plan as long as you stick to 1/5 of the box. I try to stick to 1/6th since that is one serving size according to the box. Make sure your sauce is sugar free.

When I have spaghetti I am usually in E meal mode and add a slice of bread to go along with it (that is in plan).

Ziti can be done in S mode if using ricotta, and full fat mozzarella. This is a good meal to use real sausage if desired or to add some good pepperoni chunks. Just make sure to keep your sauce and pasta amounts down so that your carbs do not exceed 11 grams. Alfredo is also truly an S meal due to the fat in the sauce. Add some chicken for protein.

My kids don’t really like most of these options. But they do like noodles with some cheese on it. So I will make up whatever pasta we are eating and add some cheese. S loves pepperoni so I give him a few slices of that to go with it. And I always give them a small amount of what we are eating (so spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, etc, on the side).

Pizza is a bit tricky. I have yet to really figure it out. But generally what I do is make my family pizza and then make an S crust from the Trim Healthy Mama book for myself. I then add a tablespoon of spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, tomatoes, spinach, bell peppers, a couple of onion slices, and a whole bunch of cheese. Yum! I would love to figure out a way to use Gwen’s bread as a crust in a way that it would fit as an E meal but I have yet to do so.

Salads go great with all these meals. I am not a big dressing fan so I am quite content with either lemon juice (if its an E meal) or some olive oil mixed with lemon juice (if its an S meal). My husband uses low carb Italian dressing. Gwen has a recipe for a great ranch dressing option that can also be used.

Asian: For Asian we are a bit boring. We really like beef and broccoli, and chicken stir fry.

My husband loves steak. So he buys steak in bulk at Sam’s and we freeze it to use for a variety of different meals. Beef and broccoli works wonderfully with steak versus the roast that many recipes online suggest. If making it THM style use shirtaki noodles (konjac or yam noodles) to make it a S meal. Otherwise brown rice works wonderfully under the beef and broccoli. (By the way, I buy frozen broccoli to use throughout the pay period in a variety of ways. It works wonderfully in this recipe as well.)

Another favorite is chicken stir fry. The ingredients for this are easy to come across too. The rice I make up on Monday’s for the Mexican meal and then freeze. The chicken comes in the package with the chicken I use on Monday as well.

This is a perfect E meal if served over rice and cooked with a minimal amount of oil, or a great S meal if served over shirtaki, and cooked with a healthy amount of coconut oil. Just use egg whites instead of whole eggs if making it an E meal.

Can I ask you a question?

Let’s take a look at the following scenarios.

A couple are desperate to have a child. But the woman has PCOS and has been struggling to have get pregnant. She has been to infertility clinics and talked to a variety of different doctors. She had to inject herself with hormone shots.

Finally she and her husband decide to go through IVF. They take his sperm and her egg and implant them in her uterus. She hopes and prays that she will FINALLY be able to have the beautiful baby that she has been longing for.

Down the street two teenagers just got out of prom. They have been dating for months and have held off on moving their relationship further. They decide that this is the night. This magical night of youth. He gets a hotel room and the two of them lose their virginity to one another.

At a university around the corner a college girl goes to a sorority party. She picks up the wrong drink and ends up consuming the “date rape drug.” She endures being violently raped by a group of frat boys.

Another couple across town are married, live in a nice little house, with great job security. They already have a 1 year old and want to expand their family at some point but haven’t decided when they are going to try again.

Now, lets imagine that ALL of these women get pregnant.

The woman who has longed for a child is finally pregnant!

The teenage girl who is planning on heading off to college in a year is now faced with some big decisions.

The party girl has no clue who the baby even belongs to and every moment reminds her of the horrors of that night.

The married couple longed for another child, but this child came unexpectedly. They are excited but scared about the possibility of having two babies so close in age.

Now here’s my question for you: Which “fetus” is a baby?

Is the baby that was implanted into the uterus of the couple longing for a baby a baby? Or is it simply a cluster of cells?

Is the baby created by the teenagers a baby or is it just an inconvenience? Does it have a heartbeat?

What about the baby conceived in rape a baby? Did the rape take away the humanity of the unborn baby?

And the couple who got pregnant earlier than expected? Is that still a baby in her womb?

The truth is that it doesn’t matter how the baby was conceived. No matter what, it is a baby.

That child has potential. Potential to change the world, or at least your life, in a way that no one else can.

That child has a heartbeat. It has fingers and toes. It has toenails. It has a brain. And it will eventually grow into a sweet, cute little baby.

Here’s what breaks my heart. Our society has decided that a baby is not a baby until it is born IF it is an unwanted child.

If it is a child that was conceived at the wrong time then it is a child of inconvenience. If it was conceived in the wrong circumstances then it is a child of disgust. But it is still a child. It is NOT a part of a woman’s body. It is NOT a woman’s choice. It is MURDER.

Hear me. ABORTION IS MURDER.

I don’t say this to upset you if you have had an abortion. Forgiveness can be found. But I want to make this clear to our society who seems to be very unclear on this subject.

There is not a time in the pregnancy when it becomes less or more murder. To think that it is okay to have an abortion at 5 weeks but not at 24 weeks is ridiculous. The child is simply older.

A baby right after birth is no less a baby than it is at 24 weeks old. How is it any different in the womb?

Why do we celebrate and call the baby a baby when it is wanted but call it a “cluster of cells” or a fetus if it isn’t?

I recently read a report that said that 41% of all babies conceived in New York City are aborted. 41%.

Think about that.

Half of the babies conceived are murdered before even given a chance to be born.

And the Gosnell case? You may not have heard about it. But he practiced illegal late term abortions. He collected the baby body parts in jars. He snapped the back of the babies’ necks with scissors to kill them after delivering them. He killed some of the women due to his incompetence and bad practices. He did horrible things that are being uncovered during his trial.

People are outraged by this case. At least the ones who have heard of it.

But did you know that this is going on in most, if not all clinics in the country?

Did you know that in order to avoid having to help a baby in late term abortions they will stuff a breathing baby into a jar of liquid to make sure that it drowns?

Yeah.

They go into the woman’s uterus, cut the umbilical cord, suction out the baby, and if it comes out whole they are LEGALLY required to get it medical help. But many clinics are being found to not only not help the baby but to stuff the baby in jars so that the baby will stop breathing.

If the baby doesn’t come out in one piece, they keep suctioning to get all the pieces out, and place all the pieces in jars to send off to the lab so that they can be accounted for, to make sure that all the pieces are out of the woman.

Did you hear that?

They destroy the baby to the point of it being in little pieces.

And those feet that Gosnell had in jars?

Other clinics do that with the feet of aborted babies too.

Is it any less heinous if it is a smaller baby? A baby who can fit whole within a jar?

No. Even if the baby is the size of my hand, the size of my pinky, that baby deserves to have a chance to live.

The woman who tried hard to conceive on her own and finally gets pregnant through IVF rejoices over every little milestone the baby makes inside of her. Even before she is aware she is pregnant her little one’s heartbeat has started beating (around 5 weeks). The first movements feel like tickles and her husband rejoices in being able to feel them.

When the other women’s babies go through these milestones, are they any less important? Are those babies any less babies?

If life starts at the first heartbeat (as some propose) then at 5 weeks a baby is just that, a baby.

If you still need some convincing there are a lot of resources out there. One movie I highly recommend is called “180.” I have attached it below. It is a bit long but worth a watch.

Remember that a child is no less a child, no less a human being, when conceived in horrible circumstances. There is help! There are places to help you get through the pregnancy and people who will happily take your baby when you deliver if keeping it is not an option. Adoption is a wonderful option and a great alternative.

I pray for you, and for your loved ones. I pray for our country. Those of us who know that abortion is wrong need to stand together. We need to pray for our country and we need to spread the knowledge of the horrors that are going on in clinics. Too many are ignorant and we have lived in ignorance too long.

Those of us who are Christians must band together and stand strong! We cannot in good conscious live as though abortion is okay and not murder. Those are God’s children who are being slaughtered on a daily basis. 3,425 babies are killed every day.

Here is a great link of statistics. Here’s another great site. Another of statistics. And another.

Do some research. Learn more about this heinous practice. Pray. Spread the knowledge. And let our country know that we do not support this! (Planned Parenthood is praised by our current president and yet they are one of the largest abortion clinics in our country. Do you want your taxes to go towards making it easier for women to kill their babies? I know I don’t. Not to mention Obamacare and the morning after pill…)

Please take some time to really look at this. Do not turn a blind eye. Our children are being slaughtered. And it is not going to stop unless we stand up and say something. My prayer is that we can fight this injustice, this Holocaust, that is occurring in America (and other countries) today.

Blessings,

Dana

Cinnamon Flax Buttermilk Pancakes

These are so good!

No, I am serious.

These are SO GOOD!

My kids love them so much that they DEVOUR them. T came back for a THIRD one this morning. And then was upset because I didn’t have fourth for him.

Yeah. They are that good.

It all started with a recipe on the back of our bag of flax seed and a lack of Bisquick (I refuse to buy more and am trying to come up with healthier options).

But I couldn’t leave the basic recipe alone.

Nope.

And the best part? I can serve these with about a 1/4 tsp of powdered sugar on them and my kids are happy.

Yay! No sugary syrup!

Try it. I think you will be surprised how delicious and filling these are.

Cinnamon Flax Buttermilk Pancakes

Adapted from Flax USA

1/4 cup Flax Seed

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Truvia (more or less to taste)

2 Tbsp Cinnamon (more or less to taste)

1/2 tsp Salt

2 cups Buttermilk (or milk with a squirt of lemon in it)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Whole Egg, beaten

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix the egg, milk, and olive oil together.

3. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

4. Spray griddle or skillet with nonstick spray. Cook pancakes on a hot griddle or skillet.

5. Serve with a 1/2 tsp of powdered sugar, or some applesauce. Or just devour them plain!

*Note: You can add all the wet ingredients except for the egg in order to get an idea of how the batter is going to taste. Once you adjust it to your liking, add in the beaten egg. Keep in mind that the batter will have a stronger cinnamon flavor and will be slightly sweeter than the cooked version.

I am more than a number…

That’s my mantra these days.

“I am more than a number…I am more than a number…I am more than a number…”

I have been working really hard.

(Okay, my exercising is lacking. I could really improve in that area.)

Trying to eat healthy. Replacing bad choices with good ones. Drinking more water. Drinking tea sweetened with stevia instead of other options. Making things fresh from home more often. Replacing starchy foods. Eating more fruits and veggies…but still I am not losing.

I’m far from perfect. And my diet is still far from perfect. I make stupid, irrational decisions because I am STARVING all the time with the amount of milk I am making for little G.

I think the hardest thing I have been sacrificing (second to giving up my beloved Dr. Pepper) has been to cut down on my eating out. Boy do I miss Taco Bell! We have still eaten out a few times as a family but I have been conscientious of making the choice to go home and eat when out and about instead of eating out.

For example, the other day we were at the mall. We were with some friends who were hungry. I got the boys a pizza to share and me a soda (No, I didn’t do well here because I got a Dr. Pepper. And a refill. And it wasn’t even very good. Boo!). But I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t buy any food. Later, we stopped at the store on the way home and Taco Bell was calling to me. But I reminded myself that I did not need it, and went home to have something healthier.

Now I did have that soda. And I did end up eating out later that night (for a going away party but I tried to make a wise decision there too on what I ate). But I am making progress on switching things up a bit.

I got on the scale the other day and was sad to see that the numbers had gone up, not down.

Nothing makes an emotional eater who is trying to lose weight run to food more quickly than gaining weight!

But I reminded myself (out loud) that I am more than that number on the scale.

And I managed to avoid plunging into the pit of binging that I have been known to go into many times before.

I’ve been reading an excellent book called “Made to Crave.”

The concept is that we are made to crave God. But due to our fallen state we tend to crave other things in our lives. For me, that tends to be food.

I emotionally eat. I use food to fill the gaps that I find lacking.

When I have a tough day, I justify having a drink of my favorite sugary substance (usually Dr. Pepper but I also love Chai with milk). Or eat a big cupcake with lots of icing. Or a package of peanut butter m and m’s. Or ice cream. Or…

When I feel fat, or discouraged by the work that I put in that has no results, I resign myself to sitting on the couch, watching tv, and munching on anything I can find in the house that satisfies my salty tooth.

If there is a celebration, there are deserts. Delicious, gooey, sugary deserts.

Now I am not saying it isn’t okay to have a treat. I truly believe that we should have treats from time to time. My problem is WHY I am having the treats. And ensuring that I am not allowing my emotions to control what is going into my body.

I keep reminding myself of the passage in 1 Corinthians 6:12 where Paul states that “all things are permissible but not all things are beneficial.” The key is not being enslaved by our desires.

Its a battle that my heart is raging. And a struggle that I have with God right now. If you are a prayer, I would love for your prayers. This has been an ongoing struggle in my life that I am eager for God to take control of.

How about you? How’s your weight loss going (if you are trying)? Do you struggle with emotional eating? Or is there something else that fills that gap when you are having an emotional struggle? I’d love to hear about it!

Blessings,