Raspberry Lemon Mini Muffins {THM-S}

Since faithfully doing Trim and Healthy Mama for a month, I finally felt confident enough to be a little creative with a recipe from the book.  I’m not a very creative cook, I like recipes and directions.  Then if it doesn’t come out good…well, I can blame it on the recipe!  ha!  Good ole’ pride is the cause of that I’m pretty sure.  Anyway, this recipe is on page 264, in the chapter called Muffins, Breads and Pizza Crusts: Light White Muffins.

Here’s my adaption:

Mini Raspberry Lemon Muffins

2/3 cup coconut flour

1 tsp. baking powder

6 eggs

8 tsp. of Truvia (I used 8 little baggies, you can use more if you want too, I was trying to be frugal)

4 tbsp. coconut oil

3 1/2 tbsp. vanilla almond milk, unsweetened (I’m sure you could use anything here, coconut milk, half and half, etc.)

1 tsp. lemon extract

Zest from one lemon

Raspberries (I used fresh but I think frozen would be fine, they just might need to bake longer.)

1)  Add coconut flour and baking powder to food processor.  Pulse to combine.

2)  Add the rest of the ingredients except the raspberries.  Blend until smooth.

3)  Add one raspberry to each mini muffin cup.  Put a plop of muffin mix on top of raspberry.

4) Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

I haven’t had much experience baking with coconut flour.  I wasn’t sure how the muffins should look when baked.  I just kept checking them and lightly touching the tops to see if they were “set.”  I let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes and then popped them out to finish cooling on the cooling rack.  They are much less crumbly than I expected.

My plan is to take these to the beach on Tuesday’s.  Strawberry and I usually have a salad with turkey bacon and sliced turkey lunch meat.  We’ll add these little muffins (3 each) and we won’t feel like we are missing out on dessert! 

I’m not sure these will pass the hubby-test, he doesn’t like the taste of coconut, but the children all liked them.  I had to let them taste them, but I doubt I’ll be sharing any more after that!  ha! 

Less of me, more of HIM,

Mrs. Taffy

P.S.  If you are new to THM, the reason these are an S (fat) is because of the eggs and coconut oil.  That’s why this pairs good with a salad with salad dressing, which would also be an S (Fat).

Yucky Kale

I’ve been trying and trying and trying to like this superfood.  I just don’t like it.  Any way I make it, it’s still disgusting.  My least favorite vegetable, the only food that makes me gag when I try to swallow it:  Brussel sprouts.  I like Kale even less, though it doesn’t make me gag like Brussel Sprouts do.

I tried to make Kale Chips.  It’s in the Trim and Healthy Mama book, it’s on Pinterest, I have friends who rave about them.  Gag.

I was really careful to get all the stems off, spritz the leaves with olive oil and used this yummy vegetable seasoning that generally makes everything taste yummy.  Baked them until crispy.  They did have a nice crunch, but after the crunch, NASTINESS filled my mouth!

She didn’t like it either. She willingly tried them, with great expectation.  I ate mine before I shared them with everybody else, I thought maybe it was just me.  I promise, they didn’t see ME make this face!

“Can I spit this out?” 

Marshmallow seemed to like them, at first.  She stuffed quite a few in her mouth.

I even caught her sneaking a few.  Then I saw her spitting the kale out and putting the chewed up Kale back in the bowl.  Um…

Then she started making this face.  Yeah, no more Kale for her!  There were more Kale pieces on my floor than her mouth or stomach!

Maybe you have a suggestion?  I just can’t figure out how to eat this super food.  To me, it’s super-ly yucky!

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

Having a little one in the School Room

You would think after all these years that I’ve been homeschooling I would know all the tricks to getting little ones to behave  during school time.  Well I don’t.  (smile)

My last little one, Laffy Taffy, was an easy going child, he was happy to play by himself, close to us, but happily occupied with this toys.  I really enjoyed doing Tot School with him because for about 30 minutes everyday he would attentively and happily learn what ever I was teaching him and then be content to play until the rest of us were done.

Enter Marshmallow Taffy.  She is loud.  She is MOODY.  She is NOT content to play by herself and 30 minutes of my individualized time is NOT enough.  I’m not really sure how our next year will go with her in the school room.  She doesn’t understand that if Mama is talking (reading out loud) that she should be quiet, instead, hearing my voice makes her want to say, “mom. MOM! Mommy! Mom!!!! MOOOOOOOOMMY!”  Louder and louder, with more and more drama and energy.  You would think the poor thing is completely neglected.  That’s so far from the truth…but still, it does pose a problem.

So this is what I’m praying through.  Praying for wisdom in how to deal with her.  How to actually teach her to be quiet, or at least quieter during school time.  I can’t do all of school during nap time.  I would love to hear how you deal with difficult children during school time.  There might be nothing I can do…I might just have to  grin and bear it until she’s older and understands more.  I’m not sure.  It does teach all the other children patience.  It teaches us all how to be gracious and it also allows more of my ugly impatientness  to be dealt with.  Many little eyes watching Mama, what will she do?  How will she respond?

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

2013/2014 Taffy Academy

During my blogging sabbatical, I spent a lot to time rearranging and reorganizing our school room.  Being as I lost two of my students, three actually when I take into account that Strawberry does most of her studies in her room… where it’s quiet, eh hem. I figured it was time for a good old rearrange!

The view looking right.

The view looking left.

I love it.  All the books make me happy.  I would still like to replace my plastic table with a conference table.  Our plastic table wiggles when somebody uses their eraser.  That’s kind of annoying.  Mr. Taffy is also on the look out for a cheap wall TV with a built in DVD player so I can show the kids education movies from time to time without them huddling around the lap top.

My Sonlight Books  and educational DVD’s.

Here’s the fall line up for the children starting with the oldest.

Strawberry Taffy-11th Grade

• Chemistry-Apologia
• Geometry-Teaching Textbooks
• English 3 (American Literature)-Excellence in Literature
• History-Constitution 101 & 102 (Hillsdale College)
• Graphic and Web Design- Team Tree House on-line program (She’s already started this because she’s VERY interested in it.)

I put links in the text if you are interested in learning more about each of her subjects.  I’ve also got an elective planned for her called:  Training in Biblical Womanhood.  I bought her several books that she is going to slowly read and journal her way through.

I found this awesome book holder at a garage sale.  This was on my list to find for our school room!

Blue-Raspberry Taffy- 5th Grade

• 5th Grade Math-Teaching Textbooks
• History-Sonlight Core D & E (combined American History)
• Latin- Song School Latin 2
• Science- Considering God’s Creation
• Language Arts: Sonlight Core D & E (Reading), Easy Grammar, All About Reading Level 4

Strawberry Taffy-3rd Grade

• 3rd Grade Math-Teaching Textbooks
• History-Sonlight Core D & E (American History)
• Latin-Song School Latin 2
• Science-Considering God’s Creation
• Language Arts: Sonlight Core D & E (reading), Easy Grammar & All about Spelling Level 4

You can see Blue-Raspberry and Bubble Gum are pretty much doing the same curriculum, I just have different expectations for each of them.  Bubble Gum read’s terrifically and won’t have any trouble with the reading, Blue-Raspberry reads terrifically too, he just doesn’t enjoy it as much.  (smile)

Laffy Taffy- 1st Grade

I did things differently with Laffy than I did with my other children.  I couldn’t stomach another round of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It’s a great book, but it’s SO boring and I’ve been through it 5 times already…ugh.  So I used All About Reading PreReading with him.  Usually my children are reading by the end of Kindergarten, granted he just turned 5 toward the end of kindergarten but still, he’ll be starting 1st grade and he doesn’t know how to read yet.  Though he knows all the letter sounds and how to write them on demand.  This year we’ll put all the pieces together and he’ll be reading like a champ before I know it!

• Reading-All About Reading Level 1
• Spelling- All About Spelling Level 1
• Math-Miquon Math Starting in the Orange book and working our way through them all, I’m not sure how long it will take, might take a couple years, might only take 1.
• History/Literature/Science-Sonlight Core A or K depending on what you’re used too.  I primarily wanted a list of age appropriate reading material, to read to him and to have him start reading to me. 
• Handwriting-Just a work book I got from a friend.

I’m using workboxes for him this year so he can visually see how much he needs to do and consequently know when he’s almost done. 

I read on the Duggar’s Blog that during school hours the children aren’t allowed to talk about anything non-school related.  I am totally considering copying this amazing idea.  So much chatter and so many uninteresting questions and too much redundancy, it really makes me crazy sometimes!

The Tot School Area.

We are starting up August 5th, with a four day a week schedule so we can still enjoy the summer weather and meet our friends at the beach once a week.  Until we start up, I have a BIG issue I have to pray through.  I’ll share that next time.  Here’s a hint:

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

How to eat Trim and Healthy

It’s really easy, in a complicated way.  Your body burns either fats or carbohydrates.  It can’t use both energy sources so it ends up storing what it doesn’t need.  The Trim and Healthy way, simply put, is to not combine your carbs and fats.  And avoid all sugar.  The goal is to keep your blood sugar even, without the spikes.  In Trim and Healthy lingo:

Fat =S =Satisfying         Carbs=E=Energizing

Meals are built around lean proteins like:  fish, especially salmon, chicken, ground turkey, sometimes higher fat meats like roasts or ground beef.  Then you choose what kind of meal your having, either an S or an E.  How you build on your protein will determine the kind of meal it is.

For example:

This is an S dinner.  S for satisfying. It’s called Fooled Ya’ Pizza and the recipe is in the book.  The crust is made with cauliflower, egg whites and mozzarella. cheese.  I topped it with pesto sauce and chicken and cold tomatoes.  I love this so much I could eat it every day!  Marshmallow loves it too and often eats half of mine!  The recipe makes a 12 x 18 pan size, so I divide that up in thirds and make each third different for the person who is eating it:  Me, Strawberry or Mr. Taffy.  I make the rest of the kids a regular pizza like the one on my recipe page.  This is an S meal because of all the cheese.  Cheese = fat.

Here’s an example of an E meal.  E for Energizing.  It’s a BLT on sprouted grain (Ezekiel) bread.  I used turkey bacon and toasted the bread.  I used a little smear of low-fat mayo (don’t want to mix fats and carbs, but a little tiny bit of “light” is allowed) and it was delicious! I could eat this every day too!  ha!  It’s an E because of the bread.  Bread = Carbs.

Here’s an example of a S breakfast.  S for Satisfying.  It’s a Trim and Healthy Crepe, this recipe is in the book too.  I loaded it with fresh berries and put low-fat whip cream on top.  I think, because it’s already an S meal, I could have used full fat whip cream but I didn’t have any.  I ate 2 and was stuffed!  This meal is an S because of the whole eggs used.  Whole eggs = fat = satisfying.  Egg whites = nothing  (Okay maybe something but they are pretty insignificant and I can make a pretty mean egg white omelet, loaded with meat and veggies and give my husband a piece of toast with slim belly jelly and it becomes an E meal!)

One night I made this for dinner.  It’s my interpretation of Cheese Burger Casserole, Trim and Healthy style.  The bottom layer is steamed cauliflower.  Then I put a layer of turkey bacon, followed by cooked ground turkey, I sprinkled cheese on the top and warmed it all up in the oven.  I served it with ketchup (for the children) and chopped cold pickles for Mr. Taffy and I.  We had snow peas and fresh strawberries on the side.  It was delicious and I was stuffed. Because of the cheese, this meal was an S.  S for Satisfying.  S because of the Cheese.

There is so much more information in the book, I’m just barely scratching the surface here. I’m still learning and there are a fantastic group of women on Facebook that discuss these things and help each other figure stuff out.  If you are struggling with weight or just want to feel healthier, Trim and Healthy Mama might be what you’ve been looking for.  I don’t do everything correctly but I’m still have positive results so I must be doing enough correctly and that’s what matters most.

Since I’ve had so much extra energy, I already got the first two months of our next homeschool year planned.  I’ll share my plan in the next post.

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

Trim and Healthy Mama & Daddy

You can easily search my weight loss label and read the story of my struggle with weight.  Yuck.  Truth be told.   I quit.  I quit trying.  I plateaued at 170 and I got discouraged.  So I quit.  And you know what quitting does, it makes you gain back weight.  Not all the weight thankfully but enough to make my clothes feel bad and to start getting more depressed about it.

Enter Trim and Healthy Mama.

This was my most favorite Christmas gift!  I really wanted it, it was so “expensive” in my mind and I was so worried about wasting money and never “doing” the book.  I was worried that these were vegetarians and that I could possibly do this with my big family at the same time.  It’s taken me a long time to get through this book, I’m not even completely done with it yet, but I’m getting there. 

I tried doing the plan for a while in February and was seeing results, but I needed my husband to be on board, it’s so much easier to do things when there is oneness in the house.

So three week ago, basically the day after we got back from our anniversary getaway we started living “to the Plan.”  Mr. Taffy is totally on board because he does not want to go to Israel as a 300 pound man.  Oh his aching feet!

Here’s my personal weight details in numbers:

213-Highest weight EVER.

170-Lowest weight that I could get to by counting calories.

189-The weight I went back up to because I quit.

178-The weight I’m at now since starting the plan three weeks ago.

That’s 11 pounds in 3 weeks!  And here’s the really cool thing, I’m not hungry all the time like I was when I was counting calories.  AND, I’m not shaky all the time like I was when I was counting calories.  AND, since I’ve given up all forms of sugar I don’t crave sweets anymore. That one still surprises me! 

This was my breakfast the other morning, along with a cup of coffee, sweetened with Stevia and half & half.

The plan has a learning curve that is pretty intense if you ask me, only because it goes against what you hear all the time and what you think you know.  As I approach my plateau number I’m honestly a little nervous, but at the same time I’m not because eating this way is a joy and it’s not complicated (once you get the hang of it) and it’s satisfying and I’ve noticed my body healing in other ways because of eating this way and that alone is worth the changes!

Wanna know more?  Either order your own book from Amazon or Above Rubies or you can read a little more about it here…next time.  (smile)

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

The Most Exciting NEWS

This probably won’t be that exciting to YOU necessarily, but it is most definitely the most exciting news about going to the Teach Them Diligently homeschool conference to US.  You probably think I’m going to say that I’m pregnant or something…haha!  Sorry, while that would be exciting that’s NOT it!

While we in Omaha Mr. Taffy got to go to the Men’s Breakfasts, one of the breakfasts was lead by our most favorite Dr. Voddie Baucham.  Well, during that breakfast Voddie announced that he will be taking another trip to Israel and was inviting anybody who wanted to come! 

Hello?! 

Obviously it’s not free.  After the homeschool conference and graduation, Mr. Taffy and I got to go away to celebrate our anniversary.  We didn’t go far, but it was wonderful nonetheless and while we were gone we prayed through and asked, “Could we really go?”

Well the answer is a JOYFILLED Yes!! 

We are going Israel!

If you remember a while back I said one the things we wanted to do for our 20th wedding anniversary was go to Israel, we had pretty much given up on that dream but then this came up and while it’s not on our anniversary, it’s still during our 20th year of marriage!  Oh my!  I still can hardly believe it. 

We booked our spots on the tour!  We bought our plane tickets!  We still have more to pay, obviously we couldn’t pay for everything up front, but we’ll work it out. 

So in light of going to Israel in February, we have a renewed desire to loose weight.  And have I ever found the perfect solution!  (Another Cliff Hanger!)

The Battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy