Menu Plan Monday

Here's my Trim Healthy Mama menu plan for this week. I have decided to start doing 3 FP days a week in an attempt to move some more weight off.  I am not starting this until Wednesday so I will only do 2 full days of FP this week. (For your convenience I have added page numbers which refer to the Trim Healthy Mama book.)

Monday:

B: (S) 2 Fried Eggs with Sauteed Zucchini/Summer Squash
L: (S) out to eat- bunless burger with side of steamed broccoli
Sn: (FP) Chocolate cake
S: (FP) Chicken in a Joseph's Pita, cucumber
Sn:(E) Popcorn and Fat Stripping Frappa (p. 240)

Tuesday:

B: (S) Fried Eggs and sliced cucumber
L: (E) Chicken on Sprouted Bread (p.298) and celery sticks
Sn: (FP) Chocolate Cake
S: (S) Crabby Patties (p.338) and Salad
Sn: (S) Skinny Chocolate


Wednesday: FP

B: Oat Fiber Pancakes with Greek 0% Yogurt and Berries
L: FP Salad with lean meat, Pudding
S: Fat Stripping Frappa
D: Cabbage and Chicken with Creamless Creamy sauce (p.102)
S: FP Chocolate Cake

Thursday:

B: (E) Stacy's Crunchy Coconut Granola with Greek 0% yogurt and berries
L: (E) Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna (p.304), Pudding (p. 366)
D: (S) Creamy Broccoli and Cheese Soup (p.335), Skinny Chocolate (p. 371)
S: (FP) Muffin in a Bowl


Friday: FP

B: Wonder Crepes with Greek Yogurt and berries
Sn: Fat Stripping Frappa (p. 240)
L: Light Tomato Soup(p.293) , Joseph's Crackers
D: Crockpot Paella and Cauli Rice
S: FP Chocolate Cake


Saturday

B: (E) Baked Oatmeal
L: (S) Salad with Salmon cooked in Coconut Oil, dressed with EVOO, balsamic
D: (S) Fooled Ya Pizza (me), homemade pizza (family)
S: (FP) Chocolate Cake

Sunday

B: (S) Fried Eggs and Sauteed Summer Squash
L: (E) Tuscany in a Bowl (p.288)
D: (S) Salad and Salmon, Skinny Chocolate
S: (S) Cake in a Mug (p. 379)

Link up your own menu plan at orgjunkie.com. (Or just find great ideas from other bloggers that share their menus.) This week is found here.

Linking up (tomorrow) with Trim Healthy Tuesdays at Stacy Makes Cents where this week she shares a cottage cheese omelet recipe and at Gwen's Nest where she shares a recipe for Portobello Pizzas.

Trim Healthy Mama-Week 23

This is my 23rd week of Trim Healthy Mama.  I am not weighing this week so I can't update on that.

Friday-Last Day of 2 week Fuel Cycle-E

Breakfast- Baked Oatmeal
Lunch- Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna
Snack-2 Wasa Crackers with a Light Laughing Cow Cheese
Supper- Francine's Chana Dahl Stew
Snack- Popcorn and a Fat Stripping Frappa

END OF FIRST FUEL CYCLE

Saturday-

Breakfast- (FP) Lemon version of Cookie Bowl Oatmeal (not very good)
Lunch-(S) Salad with Salmon, EVOO and balsamic, 1/2 serving Lily's chocolate
Supper-(S) Caesar Salad with grilled chicken (off plan taste of pizza and croutons)
Snack-(FP) Chocolate Cake and 2 pieces Pearl's PB Skinny Chocolate

Sunday-

Breakfast-(S) 2 Fried Eggs with Zucchini Noodles (grassfed butter and a little coconut oil)
Lunch-(S) Salad with chicken, EVOO, balsamic, 37 calorie brownie** and 2 pieces Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(S) Get Together Salmon, fresh green beans, mashed cauliflower
Snack-(FP) Chocolate Cake


Monday-

Breakfast-(FP) Pancakes with Greek Yogurt and Gwen's Berry Syrup
Lunch-(S) Salad with chicken, EVOO, balsamic, 37 calorie brownie and 2 pieces Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(E) Summer Stir Fry with Quinoa (Try this!)
Snack-(S) A few bites of FP brownie, 1/2 serving Lily's dark chocolate and a small piece of skinny chocolate  (It was chocolate night I guess.)

Tuesday-

Breakfast-(FP) Protein Spiced Muffins with Greek Yogurt and Gwen's Berry Syrup.
Snack-(FP) Oat Fiber Muffin
Lunch-(FP) Chicken and Light Laughing Cow Cheese in a Joseph's Pita and a FP Chocolate Cake
Snack-(S) Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(S) Salad with some bacon bits, light string cheese, chicken, EVOO and balsamic, FP (37 cal) brownie
Snack-(E) Popcorn and a 37 Calorie Brownie

First day of vacation....on the road for several hours....

Wednesday-

Breakfast- (E) Lemon Baked Oatmeal
Lunch-(S) Salad with Salmon packet cooked in  coconut oil with EVOO and balsamic, skinny chocolate
Snack- (FP) 37 calorie brownie
Supper-(S) Tuna in a Joseph's pocket with lettuce and cucumber and another brownie
Snack-(E) 100 calorie popcorn and and FP lemon blueberry muffin



Thursday-

Breakfast- (S) Sauteed Zucchini and 2 Fried Eggs with grassfed butter and VCO
Lunch-(S) Salad, Skinny Chocolate and Berry Cobbler (didn't plan to eat the cobbler until later but ended up eating the whole thing)
Supper-(FP) Joseph's Tortilla with a slice of turkey and a slice of ham and a smear of mayo,  FP chocolate cake
Snack-(E) 100 calorie popcorn

* My weight loss has been a process.  I've been on my weight loss journey since October 2010.  I have not lost this much weight since starting THM.  You can read this post to read more about how I lost the first 100 lbs.

** I make a tweaked version of this recipe, but it's not mine so I can't share it. 

KidCoder-Visual Basic- Review

For the past couple of months, my 13 year old son, Ryan has been learning Visual Basic (computer language) with the Kid Coder Visual Basic series from Homeschool Programming. This is a 2 semester course (which can be purchased separately or as a package.) Computer programming is a valuable skill that I think sometimes gets overlooked by homeschoolers

The first semester is Windows Programming, written for your 6th-8th grader*, and teaches the writing of graphical Windows programs using Visual Basic. This was easy to download and start immediately.  The first lesson teaches you about computers in general and walks you through the process of downloading Visual Basic (free).  I did the installation, but Ryan took over from there and was able to just work through these lessons completely on his own without any help from me. (Love that!) *My opinion on this is that it would be a valuable course even for your highschool students if they haven't been exposed to programming yet.  My 10 year old daughter is chomping at the bit to get started on this so I am going to let her try it.

Prior to beginning this course, your student should be familiar with using a computer keyboard and mouse, know how to select and run programs as well as navigate application menu systems.  They should also know how to store and retrieve files on a hard disk.  Some familiarity with text editors and web browsers is also recommended.  Beyond that, they teach your student everything he/she needs to know step-by-step in a clear and easy to understand manner.

Chapters Include:

1. Introduction to Computers
2. Get Your Feet Wet
3. Exploring Visual Basic Programs
4. Data Types and Variables
5. Basic Flow Control
6. Getting User Input
7. Working with Numbers
8. Working with Strings
9. Using the Debugger
10. Loops in Programs
11. Functions
12. Arrays and Structures
13. Distributing Your Programs
14. Putting it All Together

Ryan has been able to just sit down and watch the video lessons/ read the text lesson and do the assignments. Since this is our summer break he has just been working on this a few times a week. This has worked for us and when we resume school in late August he will pick up where he left off with this same schedule. I have been so pleased with how easy this has been for him to do on his own.  He's finished about 8 of the 14 lessons (divided into 48) chapters. Chapters end with a review and a "your turn" section where the students actually performs the tasks learned in the lesson.

View sample pages and watch demo videos and pertinent information about getting started.

Since we need to finish the KidCoder: Windows Programming before beginning Kidcoder: Game Programming, I can share a brief overview of what is included rather than firsthand experience. 

Game Programming is a 238 page book which has 14 Chapters divided into about 45 lessons and will teach your student (or you!) how to write your own computer games. (KidCoder: Windows Programming is a prerequisite).  This course will build on the Visual Basic skills learned in the Windows Programming Course.  Students will learn some simple game programming techniques and apply these to several games.  

Course topics covered include: game design, screen coordinates, user input, graphics and drawing, images and animation, sprites, sound, artificial intelligence, saving games, games physics, and text and printing.  Within each chapter students work on a real game that uses the lesson topics.  

The games are fairly simple, but cool. (The games remind me of what I thought was a cool computer game back in the day!)  You can watch a video overview (this is similar to the style of the instructional videos including the narrator), or view samples from each course.

Optional Instructional Videos are available. The videos are not intended to replace the Student Textbook, but they do reinforce every chapter and lesson. The same conceptual topics are covered using different examples and, in some cases, screen recordings of a real programmer accomplishing a task within the development environment.

Though the videos are an optional part of the program I highly recommend them. Especially if you have students who learn best with audio/visual instruction and not just reading through the text.  I think for us, just having the videos made it so much easier for Ryan to be able to work through it all on his own. He relied heavily on the videos.

Note: instructional videos are Flash-based and will play directly from your computer's DVD drive in your Flash-enabled web browser.

Check out these features:

If you have a large family like I do you, will be happy to know that all of the children in your family may share a single student text between them. There are no consumables in any product, and siblings may share one computer or use different computers. (See conditions of use page for other situations.) We will continue to use this as part of our curriculum for this year and I foresee us using it for many years to come.

Purchase Kid Coder Visual Basic series as a package for $120 (courses only) or $145 (courses and videos).  You can also purchase the videos for $30.  (Semesters may also be purchased invidually.)

Read more reviews on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.
Other programs being reviewed include:
KidCoder Web Series
TeenCoder C# Series
TeenCoder Java Series

2 Week Fuel Cycle

I'm delighted that I am finished with my very first Trim Healthy Mama Fuel Cycle.  It was a wonderful learning experience.  I saw 1 lb of new weight loss (that came back with the E days but should go away.)

Though I have already shared these meals here, I decided to put the entire fuel cycle all in one blog post so anyone looking for fuel cycle ideas could just go to one post.  I hope it is helpful to someone.

*** Remember, fuel cycles are not for beginners. :)

Saturday-S

Breakfast-Sauteed Kale and 2 Fresh Eggs cooked in grassfed butter and virgin coconut oil
Lunch-Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO, balsamic, salmon cooked in coconut oil
Snack-Choco-Mint Pudding/Skinny Chocolate
Supper-Grilled Chicken and Buttered Broccoli
Snack-Muffin in a Bowl, 1 piece Skinny Chocolate

Sunday-S

Breakfast- Buttered Broccoli and 2 Fresh Eggs cooked in grassfed butter and virgin coconut oil
Lunch- Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO, balsamic, packet salmon cooked in coconut oil, Choco-Mint Pudding/ Skinny Chocolate
Supper- Summer's Cup Soup with Salmon (seasoned curry style)  YUM! and Skinny Chocolate
Snack- Muffin in a Bowl with pudding on top

Monday-S

Breakfast- 2 Fried Eggs/Broccoli (with butter and coconut oil)
Lunch-Romaine and Artisan lettuce with EVOO, balsamic and salmon filet cooked in coconut oil,
Snack-Kale Chips and a small dish of pudding
Supper- Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO and balsamic with shredded chicken
Snack- Butterscotch Gluccie Pudding


Tuesday-FP 

Breakfast- Cookie Bowl Oatmeal
Lunch- Egg White Wraps with 3 oz deli turkey, lettuce, tomato and 1 Light Laughing Cow Cheese, Pudding
Supper- Sweet and Spicy Asian Stir Fry with Konjac Noodles
Snack- Muffin in a Bowl with Greek 0% yogurt on top


Wednesday-FP 

Breakfast- French Toast Wonder Wraps
Lunch-Fuel Pull Salad with 3 oz chicken, Choco-Pudding
Supper- Spaghetti Squash with 3 oz chicken, 1/2 tsp butter and a couple tsp. of lowfat cottage cheese, Butterscotch Pudding
Snack- Dish of Lemon flavored Greek 0% yogurt with a little more than 1/4 cup wild blueberries, 2 Wasa Crackers with Light Laughing Cow Cheese and cucumber slices

I also ate a couple of oz. of chicken before bed because I was really hungry.


Thursday- E (down .4 this morning.....first new loss in a while!  YAY!)

Breakfast-THM pancakes with Greek 0% yogurt with a chopped peach and swirl of Ali's stevia sweetened maple syrup (SO yummy!)
Snack-Peach Cobbler Protein Shake
Lunch-Chicken Sandwich on Sprouted Bread with lettuce, tomato and a light Laughing Cow cheese, a few slices of cucumber and a small plum
Snack- Roasted Crispy Garbanzos and cucumber slices
Supper- Small Bowl of Chana Dal soup with chicken
Snack-Peach Cottage Berry Whip

(We were out all day this day on a road trip...I really felt like I ate too much.)

Friday-E 

Breakfast- Stacy's Baked Oatmeal with a cut up peach
Lunch- Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna, Choco-Pudding
Snack- 1/2 serving Greek Pudding
Supper- Chana Dal Burger wrapped in lettuce w/sliced tomato, a cucumber, and a plum, Choco-Pudding
Snack- Handful of Roasted Crispy Garbanzos, Muffin in a Bowl with a large dollop of Greek 0% Yogurt

Saturday-S

Breakfast- 2 Eggs with Broccoli, grassfed butter and VCO
Lunch-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with Salmon in coconut oil, EVOO and balsamic
Snack-Choco-Mint Pudding
Supper-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with poached chicken, EVOO and balsamic
Snack- Skinny Chocolate, Tummy Tucking Ice Cream

Sunday-S

Breakfast- 2 Eggs with Broccoli, grassfed butter and VCO
Snack- Skinny Chocolate-2 pieces
Lunch-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with poached chicken, EVOO and balsamic
Supper-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with grass-fed steak, EVOO and balsamic
Snack-Pudding, Kale Chips

Monday-S

Breakfast: Fat Stripping Frappa

Snack: 2 boiled eggs and some cucumber spears 

Lunch: About 1/2 of my salad, a couple of bites of Choco-pudding and 2 pieces of skinny chocolate, a kale "chip"

Snack: 2 pieces of skinny chocolate

Supper: More salad (still not all of it) and some Choco-pudding
** I was hungry before bed so I ate a little chicken too.

(This was another day away from home.  I blogged about the details of this day here.)

Tuesday- FP

Breakfast- French Toast Wonder Wraps with Greek 0% yogurt and Gwen's Berry Syrup
Lunch- Egg White Wraps with 3 oz Poached Chicken, 1 light Laughing Cow Cheese, about 1/2 of a cucumber
Snack- Fat Stripping Frappa
Supper-Greek Pudding with some wild blueberries


Sick today. Fever ,sore throat, aches...didn't eat much.

Wednesday-FP

Still sick...strep throat. :(

Breakfast- Strawberry Fat Stripping Frappa
Lunch-Greek Pudding with wild blueberries
Snack- 2 Wasa Crackers and a Light Laughing Cow Cheese
Supper-Light Tomato Soup, 1/4 cup or so of Gluccie pudding
Snack- FP Muffin

Thursday-E 

Breakfast- THM pancakes with Greek 0% Yogurt and Gwen's Berry syrup
Lunch- Chicken Sandwich on Sprouted Bread, plum
Snack- Choco-mint pudding
Supper- Francine's Chana Dahl stew with chicken
Snack- Peach in Greek 0% Yogurt

Friday-E

Breakfast- Baked Oatmeal
Lunch- Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna
Snack-2 Wasa Crackers with a Light Laughing Cow Cheese
Supper- Francine's Chana Dahl Stew
Snack- Popcorn and a Fat Stripping Frappa

Linking up with Trim Healthy Tuesdays.

Trim Healthy Mama- Week 22

This is my 22nd week of Trim Healthy Mama. I am on my second week of my first fuel cycle. As of this morning I have lost 111 lbs.**

Friday-E (My weight was up by about 2 lbs today which I guess is normal following an E day.)


Breakfast- Stacy's Baked Oatmeal with a cut up peach
Lunch- Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna, Choco-Pudding
Snack- 1/2 serving Greek Pudding
Supper- Chana Dal Burger wrapped in lettuce w/sliced tomato, a cucumber, and a plum, Choco-Pudding
Snack-Handful of Roasted Crispy Garbanzos, Muffin in a Bowl with a large dollop of Greek 0% Yogurt


Saturday-S


Breakfast- 2 Eggs with Broccoli, grassfed butter and VCO
Lunch-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with Salmon in coconut oil, EVOO and balsamic
Snack-Choco-Mint Pudding
Supper-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with poached chicken, EVOO and balsamic
Snack- Skinny Chocolate, Tummy Tucking Ice Cream

Sunday-S

Breakfast- 2 Eggs with Broccoli, grassfed butter and VCO
Snack- Skinny Chocolate-2 pieces
Lunch-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with poached chicken, EVOO and balsamic
Supper-Salad (lettuce and cucumber) with grass-fed steak, EVOO and balsamic
Snack-Pudding, Kale Chips


Monday-S

Read my post about a Deep S Day on the GO

Tuesday- FP

Breakfast- French Toast Wonder Wraps with Greek 0% yogurt and Gwen's Berry Syrup
Lunch- Egg White Wraps with 3 oz Poached Chicken, 1 light Laughing Cow Cheese, about 1/2 of a cucumber
Snack- Fat Stripping Frappa
Supper-Greek Pudding with some wild blueberries


Sick today. Fever ,sore throat, aches...didn't eat much.

Wednesday-FP

Still sick...strep throat. :(

Breakfast- Strawberry Fat Stripping Frappa
Lunch-Greek Pudding with wild blueberries
Snack- 2 Wasa Crackers and a Light Laughing Cow Cheese
Supper-Light Tomato Soup, 1/4 or so of Gluccie pudding
Snack- FP Muffin


Thursday-E 


Breakfast- THM pancakes with Greek 0% Yogurt and Gwen's Berry syrup
Lunch- Chicken Sandwich on Sprouted Bread, plum
Snack- Choco-mint pudding
Supper- Francine's Chana Dahl stew with chicken
Snack- Peach Cottage Whip

* My weight loss has been a process.  I've been on my weight loss journey since October 2010.  I have not lost this much weight since starting THM.  You can read this post to read more about how I lost the first 100 lbs. 

Couponing Made Simple- Review

I was recently sent a copy of Couponing Made Simple from Christi the Coupon Coach to review.  There was a time when I had learned a bit about couponing and would take the time to clip them and match the ads, but with multiple pregnancies, morning sickness, nursing babies etc. I lacked the time and energy for such endeavors.  Over the years, I stopped cutting coupons and even stopped  looking through the ones that came in the mail depositing them directly in the recycling bin. (Prior to that I was cutting them out and forgetting to take them to the store OR I would take them to the store and forget to use them!)

This 130 page paperback has 10 Chapters:

1. Success Stories- This is just that.  Pictures and descriptions of awesome couponing success stories.

2. A New Way to Shop- In this chapter you will learn the 2 key rules of couponing (buy on sale and stack coupons) and exactly what that means.

3. The Language of Couponing- If you are going to be a couponer you need to know the lingo...blinkies, peelies, BOGOs etc.  Everything you need to know is in this chapter.

4. Organization System- Learn how to organize your coupons at home and for going to the store.

5. Step-by-Step Process- This is the meat of the program. This is where you learn exactly what you  need to do to make the most of your coupons.  There is an 8 step process with detailed descriptions for each step.

6. Tips & Tools- Here you will learn about other ways to save money when shopping.  Rainchecks, unadvertised deals, craft stores, department stores and many more are covered.

7. Couponing Ethics- I love that Christi covered this in the book.  This book is about saving money the honest way and as a Christian I appreciate that.

8. Networking & Communicating-  Here you will find other ways to find deals.

9. Bonus Section- This section covers yard sales and thrift stores.

10. Beyond Couponing- This is a presentation of the gospel.

I enjoyed reading Couponing Made Simple and would recommend it to anyone that is interested in really learning about "extreme" couponing and ways to save money.  The subtitle of the book is Simple Steps to Successful Couponing.  I would agree that she breaks it down into a simple system for couponing, but I still find it extremely time consuming and at this stage in my life I do not want to invest time into this.

The least expensive Sunday paper I can find is $1.50. The author recommends purchasing a minimum of 2 Sunday papers and to get one for each member of your family, rounding up if it is an odd number. So for us that would mean purchasing 12 newspapers with a minimum cost of $18.  This also requires driving 15 miles to get the papers on a Sunday afternoon.  I could obtain the papers for $1.75 each with less of a drive (and/or buy less papers). This particular paper has only had 1 book of coupons in the time I have been buying them.  The bigger city newspaper has more coupons but it costs $3.50 just for one paper!

Since I really wanted to give this a go but I didn't want to invest any more money than I needed to, I only bought 1 paper each week (after the first week when I bought 2 different ones).  I found a handful of coupons worth using and I have those set aside in a paperclip that I take with me when I go to the store.  In the book, she teaches you a very nice system for organizing all of your coupons.  I just don't have that many that I want to use. I eat mainly whole foods and I don't use cosmetics so I think this is why I feel very limited with the number of coupons that I find that are usable for me. For most part, I really don't purchase about 90% or more of the things I have seen coupons for and for me it is not worth the effort to search out coupons and deals.  I also mainly shop at Walmart where they don't have buy one get one free deals or double coupons. I don't have the time to drive around to various stores to pick up items here and there.  I feel that my time is valuable too.

The newspaper isn't the only place you can get coupons. She also gives you helps for finding coupons in places other than your Sunday newspaper.  I didn't realize how many online coupons are available.  I like this option much better as it is available to me in my home already AND I don't have to go buy newspapers. This is probably the most helpful thing I learned from this review.

So while couponing isn't for ME, I know that many people would enjoy this and like to find deals.  If you are one of these people then I highly recommend this book to you.  You will learn everything you need to to start saving money right away.  I believe the author has a heart for helping people save money and I really appreciate that.  This would also make a great project for your teenagers. One suggestion is to use your extra coupons to bless others.  This would also be a nice service project for a young person in your home.

Though I will never be a die hard couponer, I am glad to have read this book. I am now more on the lookout for coupons I CAN use and some websites I can check from time to time.

See Christi the Coupon coach talking about couponing:

You can purchase Christi the Coupon Coach for $18.00 (also available at a considerably lower price on Kindle)




Read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's my Trim Healthy Mama menu plan for this week. This week I am finishing up my second week of a THM fuel cycle (my first one!) 

I have listed snacks as options...not exactly sure what I'll eat when but this is my rough outline.

A special note for newbie THM's.  Please do not attempt a fuel cycle if you are just starting out. This is not recommended until you have been freestyling for a while.  This is my first one and I've been THMing for 5 months.

Monday: Deep S

Went to Boston. Blogged about how I managed this.

Tuesday: FP

B: French Toast Wonder Wraps with Greek 0% Yogurt and Berries
L: 3 oz chicken in Egg White Wrap with Light Laughing Cow Cheese, Cucumber Slices and Pudding
S: 2 Wasa Crackers with Light Laughing Cow Cheese
D: Greek Pudding
S: Fat Stripping Frappa


Wednesday: FP

B: Cookie Bowl Oatmeal
L: FP Salad with Broiled Tilapia, Pudding
S: Fat Stripping Frappa
D: Konjac Noodles, Cabbage and Chicken Dish
S: Wasa Crackers with Light Laughing Cow and cucumbers, Pudding

Thursday: E

B: THM pancakes with Greek 0% Yogurt and Berries
L: Chicken Sandwich on Sprouted Bread and a piece of fruit (or some berries)
D: Sweet Potato with Salad and Tuna
S: Peach Cottage Berry Whip, Pudding

Friday: E

B: Sprouted French Toast
L: Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna, Pudding
D: Chana Dahl burger with Vegetables or Salad
S: Blueberry Cottage Berry Whip


END of 2 week Fuel Cycle....back to freestyling!

Saturday

B: (S) Fried Eggs with Buttered Vegetables
L: (E) Chicken on Sprouted Bread, sliced cucumber
D: (S) Salad with Salmon cooked in Coconut Oil, dressed with EVOO, balsamic
S: (FP) Chocolate Cake

Sunday

B:(FP) Cookie Bowl Oatmeal
L: (E) Tuscany in a Bowl with Quinoa, Pudding
D: (S) Salad with Salmon or Chicken (EVOO/balsamic dressing)
S: (S) Berry Cobbler

Link up your own menu plan at orgjunkie.com. (Or just find great ideas from other bloggers that share their menus.) This week is found here.

Linking up (tomorrow) with Trim Healthy Tuesdays at Gwen's Nest (Gwen shares a Q and A about THM) and Stacy Makes Cents (She is sharing a recipe for Chana Dahl Dip which I have tried and it is YUM!).

Deep S Day On the Go

Today my husband and I took a train into Boston. I am in the middle of a fuel cycle and I really wanted to stay on plan. Originally we had planned to go tomorrow and with the help of my friend Stacy I had my FP day all planned out. (When you are done reading this go read her blog.  It's awesome.) Once I got my FP day all planned out at the last minute we decided we should go a day early. Ack!  A whole new "S" plan had to be formulated.

My challenges were to bring food without a cooler, to eat only foods compatible with Deep S and to eat on a completely different schedule than I am used to. I don't usually even eat breakfast until around 9:00, but we were leaving the house at 5:45 in the morning.   I knew that I couldn't eat at 5:30 and have that hold me over and I couldn't be up for 4 hours before eating something. 

So I made a plan:

First Breakfast: Fat Stripping Frappa
Second Breakfast: 2 Boiled Eggs and a cut up cucumber (which I later decided might not be enough food since I am used to eating fried eggs and veggies which would be more caloric, so I took 4 eggs.  I never planned to eat all 4 but thought I could eat 3 or eat the whites of the two.)
Elevensies: Salad with leftover steak, EVOO/balsamic (ended up deciding chicken would travel better and be easier to eat.)
Luncheon: Choco-Pudding
Afternoon Tea: Kale Chips
Dinner: Protein Powder in a water bottle (I've never tried this and decided today wasn't going to be the day to do it.)
Supper: Chicken and Vegetables, Pudding

This is what I did last night to prepare:

• Fixed my salad greens and cut up cucumber and put them in a large ziplock bag, I put a small bag of poached, shredded chicken inside that bag along with a Tupperware midget with EVOO and balsamic with a few drops of stevia in it.

• I made choco-pudding and put it in a small take along container.

• I made kale chips.These do not travel well.  In a container, they get soggy.  I've tried this twice. :( 

• I boiled eggs.

• I cut up some cucumber slices and celery sticks.

• I froze two 20 oz water bottles and put 2 in the fridge. 

• I also decided to bring along some skinny chocolate. I took a quart sized ziplock and filled it halfway with water.  I rolled the top of the bag down and clipped it shut with clothes pins to keep the water near the bottom of the bag and to make a thicker block of ice. I wasn't sure how this was going to work since it was supposed to be about 90 degrees today.  It worked out perfectly though.  I put a sandwich baggie of Skinny chocolate in this bag of ice this morning and it kept it solid all day!

• Finally, I measured all of my dry frappa ingredients into a plastic baggie and put it near my blender along with a measuring cup and my vanilla.  

This morning,  I put the frozen water bottles in the bottom of a plastic shopping bag in a backpack. (In hindsight, I would have wrapped them in an absorbent towel. It was very hot today and the backpack got wet.) Then I packed my salad between the bottles, added my pudding container and my eggs/cucumber and bag of celery sticks. The kale chips went on top.

I made my Frappa right before we left and drank that on the way to the train station (about 30 minutes away).  Our train left around 6:45 and we were supposed to get to Boston at about 8:15. I was going to eat my eggs and cucumbers either on the train or when we arrived.  There was a generator problem with the train and we ended up having to change trains and arrived almost an hour late.  I was a little hungry on the train which was packed with standing room only and I didn't think anyone would appreciate the smell of my boiled eggs. ;)

It turns out I packed way more food than I needed.  I ate 2 eggs and didn't even finish my cucumber and this was plenty!  I could only eat half of my salad for lunch and a few bites of pudding.  I did enjoy a couple of pieces of skinny chocolate after my salad and again as we were leaving the museum.  I think I don't realize how much less I eat these days. 

What I ended up eating:

First Breakfast: Fat Stripping Frappa

Second Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs and some cucumber spears 

Elevensies: Ha! We missed this. 

Luncheon: About 1/2 of my salad, a couple of bites of Choco-pudding and 2 pieces of skinny chocolate, a kale "chip"

Afternoon Tea: 2 pieces of skinny chocolate

Supper: More salad (still not all of it) and some Choco-pudding
** I was hungry before bed so I ate a little chicken too.

**For those who don't know, first breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies etc. is from Lord Of the Rings and The Hobbit. I'd love to be a Hobbit.  7 meals a day??  But, I digress!!

I wrote this blog post to encourage others that in most circumstances you can find a way to stay on plan IF you want to. I think one of my weight loss successes has been that I rarely go off my plan. Whether I was calorie counting or going to Weight Watchers or THming, I have found a way to stick to it. I am not saying never go off, that is not realistic for most people. However, using every occasion TO go off plan isn't going to help you if you want to lose weight/be healthy. For me, this is my lifestyle.  I don't look for ways to go off plan. I look for ways to live life and still be on plan.

My salad in a bag.  Yes, I ate it right out of the bag!

At the end if the day, I am very thankful that I brought my own food and made this work. It was less expensive and honestly my lunch was 100 times better than the pizza Rob got at the museum. He didn't even like it!

Sorry for the "book" but this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I want you to succeed!

Linking up (tomorrow) with Trim Healthy Tuesdays at Gwen's Nest (Gwen shares a Q and A about THM) and Stacy Makes Cents (She is sharing a recipe for Chana Dahl Dip which I have tried and it is YUM!).

Trim Healthy Mama-Week 21

This is my 21st week of Trim Healthy Mama. Starting the week 1 lb up from my lowest of 110** lost.  All but one day of this week is a fuel cycle. If you are a newbie you'll want to hold off on a fuel cycle, but you can still choose the same meals.  I am enjoying what I am learning on the fuel cycle but looking forward to free styling again starting a week from Saturday.

Friday

Breakfast-(E) Brownie Bowl Baked Oatmeal
Lunch-(S) Grilled Chicken in Joseph's Lavash, Choco-Pudding, 2 pieces Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(S) Large Salad with EVOO, Chicken, String Cheese, a small amount of Almonds; Small piece of dark chocolate and Peppermint Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(S) Chocolate Cake and 1 piece of Skinny Chocolate

I am attempting my first Fuel Cycle.  The next 3 days will be Deep S so I will not be marking each individual meal.  

Saturday-S

Breakfast-Sauteed Kale and 2 Fresh Eggs cooked in grassfed butter and virgin coconut oil
Lunch-Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO, balsamic, salmon cooked in coconut oil
Snack-Choco-Mint Pudding/Skinny Chocolate
Supper-Grilled Chicken and Buttered Broccoli
Snack-Muffin in a Bowl, 1 piece Skinny Chocolate

The first day of the fuel cycle went well.  I find that I miss the tomatoes and peppers that I normally eat in my salad...and my Chocolate Cake! I have also learned that I miss my fat-free Reddi Whip....a lot!

Sunday-S

Breakfast-Buttered Broccoli and 2 Fresh Eggs cooked in grassfed butter and virgin coconut oil
Lunch-Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO, balsamic, packet salmon cooked in coconut oil, Choco-Mint Pudding/ Skinny Chocolate
Supper-Summer's Cup Soup with Salmon (seasoned curry style)  YUM! and Skinny Chocolate
Snack-Muffin in a Bowl with pudding on top

I really loved the meals I had today.  The salmon in the packet fried in oil with Rogan Josh, Smoked Paprika and Hot Shot was just so delicious.  If I haven't been doing the fuel cycle I never would have tried this.  Super yummy.  The hardest part of the fuel cycle right now is not being able to make some of my favorite desserts (see yesterday's comment).  These Deep S meals are simple, quick to make, nourishing and delicious.

Monday-S

Breakfast- 2 Fried Eggs/Broccoli (with butter and coconut oil)
Lunch-Romaine and Artisan lettuce with EVOO, balsamic and salmon filet cooked in coconut oil,
Snack-Kale Chips and a small dish of pudding
Supper- Salad (lettuce/cucumbers) EVOO and balsamic with shredded chicken
Snack- Butterscotch Gluccie Pudding

Well, it's goodbye skinny chocolate-- hello yogurt and berries!


Tuesday-FP (back to my lowest weight)

Breakfast- Cookie Bowl Oatmeal
Lunch- Egg White Wraps with 3 oz deli turkey, lettuce, tomato and 1 Light Laughing Cow Cheese, Pudding
Supper- Sweet and Spicy Asian Stir Fry with Konjac Noodles
Snack- Muffin in a Bowl with Greek 0% yogurt on top

I thought I'd be a lot hungrier today than I was.  It actually went great.  I hadn't had the egg white wraps in quite a while and they were delicious.  I made them with Southwestern Style Egg Beaters. I gave blood tonight and I'm feeling very tired. 


Wednesday-FP (same weight as yesterday, I thought it might drop since I donated blood last night, but it was the same)

Breakfast- French Toast Wonder Wraps
Lunch-Fuel Pull Salad with 3 oz chicken, Choco-Pudding
Supper- Spaghetti Squash with 3 oz chicken, 1/2 tsp butter and a couple tsp. of lowfat cottage cheese, Butterscotch Pudding
Snack- Dish of Lemon flavored Greek 0% yogurt with a little more than 1/4 cup wild blueberries, 2 Wasa Crackers with Light Laughing Cow Cheese and cucumber slices

I also ate a couple of oz. of chicken before bed because I was really hungry.

I felt like this second day of FP was hard.  I guess I just didn't know what I wanted to eat or how much I should be eating.  I need to plan better for next week's FP days.

Thursday- E (down .4 this morning.....first new loss in a while!  YAY!)

Breakfast-THM pancakes with Greek 0% yogurt with a chopped peach and swirl of Ali's stevia sweetened maple syrup (SO yummy!)
Snack-Peach Cobbler Protein Shake
Lunch-Chicken Sandwich on Sprouted Bread with lettuce, tomato and a light Laughing Cow cheese, a few slices of cucumber and a small plum
Snack- Roasted Crispy Garbanzos and cucumber slices
Supper- Small Bowl of Chana Dal soup with chicken
Snack-Peach Cottage Berry Whip

E Days are fun. Looking forward to another E followed by 3 more S days!

** * My weight loss has been a process.  I've been on my weight loss journey since October 2010.  I have not lost this much weight since starting THM.  You can read this post to read more about how I lost the first 100 lbs.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's my Trim Healthy Mama menu plan for this week. This will be a little different than my usual menu plan because I am doing a THM fuel cycle (my first one!)  This means I will be following a more strict schedule of eating.  I started on Saturday so today (Monday) is day 3 of eating deep S, Tuesday and Wed. will be FP, followed by E's on Thursday and Friday and back to deep S for the weekend.

I have listed snacks as options...not exactly sure what I'll eat when but this is my rough outline.

A special note for newbie THM's.  Please do not attempt a fuel cycle if you are just starting out.  This is not recommended until you have been freestyling for a while.  This is my first one and I've been THMing for over 4 months.

Monday: Deep S

B: Fried Eggs with Buttered Vegetables
L: Salad with Salmon cooked in Coconut Oil, EVOO, balsamic
D: Salad with Chicken, EVOO, balsamic
S: Kale Chips, Pudding, Skinny Chocolate

Tuesday: FP

B: Cookie Bowl Oatmeal
S:Fat Stripping Frappa
L: Egg White Wraps (or Joseph's Pita) with Lean Meat, Pudding
D: Sweet and Spicy Asian Stir Fry (with Konjac noodles)
S: Greek Pudding


Wednesday: FP

B: French Toast Wonder Wraps with Greek 0% Yogurt and Berries
L: FP Salad, Broiled Tilapia and Broccoli
D: Konjac Noodle stir fry with 3 oz lean meat
S: Wasa Crackers with Light Laughing Cow and cucumbers, Fat Stripping Frappa, Pudding

Thursday: E

B: THM pancakes with Greek 0% Yogurt and Berries
L: Sprouted Chicken Sandwich and 1/2 piece of fruit (or some berries)
D: Chana Dahl Soup
S: Peach Cottage Berry Whip, Pudding, Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Friday: E

B: Sprouted French Toast
L: Nicey Ricey Salad with Quinoa and Tuna
D: Chana Dahl burger with Vegetables or Salad
S: Blueberry Cottage Berry Whip, Pudding, Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Saturday: Deep S

B: Fried Eggs with Buttered Vegetables
L: Salad with Salmon cooked in Coconut Oil, dressed with EVOO, balsamic
D: Not sure yet, probably soup or salad with salmon or chicken
S: Skinny Chocolate

Sunday: Deep S

B: Fried Eggs with Buttered Vegetables
L: Salad with Salmon cooked in Coconut Oil, dressed with EVOO, balsamic
D: Summer's Cup Soup with Salmon
S: Skinny Chocolate

Link up your own menu plan at orgjunkie.com. (Or just find great ideas from other bloggers that share their menus.) This week is found here.

Also linking up (tomorrow) with Trim Healthy Tuesdays at Gwen's Nest and Stacy Makes Cents.

What is Oat Fiber?

As a Trim Healthy Mama follower and FB moderator, one question that comes up frequently is about a product called oat fiber.  It is different from oatmeal, oat bran and oat flour.  I thought I'd do a short video and show a few pictures of the differences between them.

I forgot to add oat flour to this picture, but it is in the video.  

Here is my first ever video on this blog:

This is one of my favorite "new" products and I use it a lot.  In the Trim Healthy Mama book there is a recipe for a muffin in a bowl that is delicious.  Since the book came out, many ladies have come up with wonderful variations including an FP bread, FP strawberry shortcake and several different kinds of muffins and cakes.  This chocolate cake in particular is FABULOUS.

The oat fiber has no calories, no fat and no net carbs.

You can purchase oat fiber from Netrition or Honeyville.

Linking up with Trim Healthy Tuesdays at Gwen's Nest and Stacy Makes Cents.

Institute for Excellence in Writing-TWSS & SWI-B Review

Last year I began hearing about the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  I am not sure why I had not heard of them before in all of my many years of homeschooling, but I am so glad that I did.  I was so excited for the opportunity to be able to review Teaching Writing Structure and Style (TWSS) along with the Student Writing Intensive-B (SWI), especially after reviewing Primary Arts of Language last year. (love PAL so much!!!)

I have struggled throughout my entire homeschooling career with teaching writing. I cannot even tell you the number of writing curricula I have purchased and attempted to teach writing with.  This is the best writing curriculum I have ever used. Andrew Pudewa is an absolute genius as far as I am concerned.  He teaches writing in such a way that it is actually fun and much easier than anything I've seen before.  I will not say it is easy though, because honestly, writing is work.

On to the actual review of what you get and how it works.  TWSS is a teacher seminar on DVD complete with a 3 ring binder of lessons to go along with it.  The seminar is an actual recording of Andrew Pudewa teaching the course to a live audience and includes interaction with the audience as he is teaching.  Though intended for the teacher, we all enjoy watching these.  Mr. Pudewa is engaging and entertaining (think hilarious) while being informative and relevant.

TWSS comes with a set of 10 DVDs and the seminar workbook, which is a tabbed 3-ring binder. (see sample) The sample will show you the complete outline of the course including a 9 session viewing schedule (on 6 DVDs )and practicum exercises. It is suggested that you take 2 hours per session, about 10 of which are viewing time with the remaining time for the practicum exercises. The other 4 DVD's include Tips & Tricks for Teaching and 3 workshop session at each of the three levels; A, B and C.   Remember, this is for YOU, the teacher and not something for the kids to watch instead (although some of my kids have enjoyed watching this along with me.)

There are 9 units:

Units I: Notemaking and Key Word Outlines

Unit II: Summarizing from Notes

Units III: Summarizing Narrative Stories

Units IV: Reports-Summarizing a Reference

Unit V: Writing from Pictures

Unit VI: Library Research Reports

Unit VII: Creative Writing

Unit VIII: Essay

Unit IX: Critiques

I love this course.  The most difficult thing about it for me is being able to have it quiet enough in the house for me to watch it!  I feel so much better equipped to teach writing AND I love having the DVD's to be able to go back and watch them again and again which to me is an advantage over going to an actual seminar where you might forget some/much of what is said.  Having watched the entire course and gone through it pretty quickly for the purpose of this review, I can tell you that I plan to go through it all over again at a slower pace for the remainder of the summer and into the fall.

The summer is the perfect time to order Teaching Writing Structure and Style to begin preparing for the fall.

In addition to TWSS I also received the Student Writing Intensive level B, which I have been using with my 10 year old and 13 year old several times per week.  The SWI comes in 3 levels.  Level A is for grades 2-4, B is for grades 5-7 and C is for grades 8-10 or above.  The beauty of this program is that the B level is adaptable for all of the grades so that you do not have to purchase multiple levels if you have students in varying grade categories.  With level B, you can download a free schedule and worksheets for your level A students (which we did) and for your C level students you can move at a faster pace.

SWI-B is a video course with a 3 ring binder workbook.  There are 4 DVDs and a DVD overview of TWSS in the video portion of the program.  The videos feature Mr. Pudewa teaching actual students in a seminar.  As mentioned above, he is very funny and this makes the kids want to watch and I think that is half the battle.

Students are first taught to make keyword outlines.  This is a really neat technique that allows students to write their own paper from another piece of writing.  One thing that is important to note is to be careful not to get "stuck" here like we did. This is not recommended and I won't make this mistake again.  I have learned to keep moving along in the program.  After learning keyword outlines, dress-ups are introduced.  Dress-ups are things like adverbs, who/which clauses, strong verbs etc.  As students learn new techniques they are required to use them in subsequent assignments building as they go. 

Each writing assignment has a composition checklist with a place for assigning due dates (outline, rough draft, final draft), a list of requirements (double-spaced, name on the paper etc.) and a section that lists the required dress-ups with a place to check it off so students can check their work before handing it in. I think this is another wonderful aspect of this program.  The students know exactly what is expected of them at the start of the assignment.

Once you have completed the TWSS you might want to check out the theme based writing lessons available. There are history , geography and a whole slew of others. (Some of which I am extremely excited about like Narnia and Bible based writing lessons.)  I am also very interested in some of the literature and poetry titles. It's like being in a candy store. I want it all! :)

I cannot recommend this curriculum highly enough.  I hope you'll take the time to investigate it for yourself.  Also, on July 9 there will be a free webinar for people who have never experienced IEW or new IEW users that are not very familiar with the program. You also can see the entire summer webinar schedule.

Purchase Teaching Writing Structure and Style for $169.  Student Writing Intensive-B for $109

See what others are saying about Teaching Writing Structure and Style and Student Writing Intensive (A, B and C) along with Teaching the Classics on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

Trim Healthy Mama-Week 20

This is my 20th week of Trim Healthy Mama. Last week I decided to stop counting WW points.  This is my first full week of not counting. I enjoyed not counting and plan to continue to see how it goes.  I haven't lost anything new this week, but I'm hoping for some new loss in the coming week.

Friday

Breakfast- (FP) Greek Pudding with blueberries
Lunch-(E) Nicey Ricey Salad, Choco Pudding
Supper-(S) Chef's Salad, Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(FP) Lemon Blueberry Muffin

Saturday

Breakfast-(FP) Greek Pudding with Blueberries
Lunch-(E) Sprouted Bread Turkey Sandwich with Grape Tomatoes and an Apple
Supper-(S) Big Salad and Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(FP) Stacy's Lemon Blueberry Muffin

Sunday-

Breakfast-(S)2 Fried Eggs with Zucchini Noodles (used grassfed butter and virgin coconut oil)
Lunch-(E) Nicey Ricey Salad, Peanut Butter Pudding
Snack-(FP)2 Lemon Blueberry mini-muffins
Supper-(S) Joseph's Lavash with Chicken and Laughing Cow Cheese, a few Kale chips, 2 pieces Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(FP) Lemon Blueberry Muffin in a Bowl  (late night hunger- ate some pudding)


Monday-

Breakfast-(E) THM pancakes with Greek 0% yogurt and berries
Lunch-(S) Salad with chicken, EVOO, balsamic--Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(S) Joseph's Lavash with Chicken and Laughing Cow Cheese, Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(FP) Lemon Blueberry Muffin in a Bowl


Tuesday-

Breakfast- (FP) Stacy's Oat Fiber pancakes, Greek 0% yogurt and blueberries
Lunch-(S)Turkey Burger with guacamole in a Joseph's pita, broccoli
Supper- (S)Small Strawberry Spinach Salad, Skinny Chocolate
Snack-(FP) Chocolate Cake(ate more of this than I should have but it is SO good)


Wednesday-

Breakfast- (S) Fried Eggs and Kale
Lunch-(S) Strawberry Spinach Chicken Salad, Skinny Chocolate
Supper-(S) Eggplant Lasagna and Salad, Oat Fiber Cinnamon Muffin
Snack-(E) 100 Calorie Popcorn and FS Frappa


Thursday- 4th of July

Breakfast-(FP) Lemon Blueberry Muffin in a Bowl
Lunch-(E) Nicey Ricey Salad
Snack-(FP)Oat Fiber Cinnamon Muffin
Supper-(E) Sprouted Chicken Sandwich and Watermelon
Snack-(FP) Chocolate Cake

Linking up to Trim Healthy Tuesdays- Check it out!