Trim Healthy Tuesdays: Caramel Coffee Frappa without Coffee & with an Added Benefit!

I love the Fat Stripping Frappa (pg 240 in the Trim Healthy Mama book) and it already has the benefit of having Gluccomannan powder (which can help you feel fuller and helps to alkaline your body amongst other benefits) and Whey Protein Powder (if you are interested in the benefits of this go to the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook Fan page
from Feb of 2013 and you'll see three posts there about it). But here's a recipe adding a third beneficial ingredient- ESPECIALLY for those who are loosing weight! Dandelion! Now before you turn tail and run away before reading the rest of the recipe, let me assure you- this will REALLY taste like a Caramel Coffee Frappe. I'm going to talk about a product you may not have heard of before, it's called Dandy Blend.

Dandy blend is an instant coffee replacement made from dried Dandelion root (along with a few other natural grains- however it is considered "gluten-free" because of the extraction process- read more here) And here's the added benefit, Dandelion can help your liver and gall bladder, both of which can be taxed during weight-loss. Dandelion has been shown to decrease acidity in your blood (which can happen as you loose weight), and also increase the bile flow from your gall bladder through your liver and small intestines. It also has been shown to increase activity of the pancreas and the spleen, as well as acting as a diuretic to cleanse your kidneys!  

 To read more on the many benefits of Dandelion(I just scratched the surface) please go here

 Caramel Coffee Frappa (S, E, or FP)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp glucomannon powder

pinch sea salt

1 tsp caramel extract

2 heaping tsp Dandy Blend

 stevia or Truvia to taste (I use 4 packets of Truvia)

1 tray of ice

1 scoop Swanson Vanilla Whey protein powder (do not add until the end!)

 

 

Add almond milk, water, glucomannan, salt, caramel, Dandy Blend and sweetner to the blender. Blend until smooth (about 1-2 min) Add tray of ice, blend well, until an ice-y texture with no lumps of ice left. (if you have a high-end blender this will be easy- if you have an old cheap blender like me- this will take several times of turning the blender off and stirring the ice chunks down with a spoon, and then turning it back on) When completely smooth add the protein powder and blend fully (it will become like a soft-serve ice cream- yum!) Enjoy!

 

 

 

 Dandy Blend has 1 carb per tsp. so this drink will have roughly 2-3 carbs if you drink the whole thing yourself.

 

 

 

 or, you know, sometimes these cute little eyes will look at you and say, "Mama? May I pweese have a taste?" and then you'll have a little less of a serving. ;)

 

 Don't Forget to enter my giveaway for the Todd Wilson book, "How to be a Great Wife...even though you homeschool" 

 Note: I am not a doctor and NOTHING I say should be construed as medical advice!

 

Trim Healthy Tuesday : Coconut Bonbons S

 

This recipe is for my husband. Every Christmas his mom makes him these incredible coconut bonbons (and mails them halfway across the country!) They are VERY yummy and VERY full of sugar ;) This past year we've had a lot of added stress going on in our lives, and that, combine with us both not always making the healthiest food choices, my husband started to have some blood sugar issues. He's young and at a healthy weight, but he's hypoglycemic and has always had a difficult time keeping his blood sugar balanced. He cut out sugar on his own and (after 3 weeks of not-so-fun detox) he started to feel a little better, but he was still getting dizzy(when he didn't eat often enough) and he really missed his sweets!

I knew we'd have to come up with a solution if this was going to work long term. Enter Trim Healthy Mama. I had read about this book on the Above Rubies  website and knew they had published it a few months before. I had weight I needed to loose as well and we decided to buy the book! I have had some really great success loosing weight on this plan (I'll post more about that another time) but my husband didn't need to loose much, if any weight. (though he still lost about 20 lbs!) but he's so thrilled with the desserts he can have and not feel shaky and dizzy after. And his blood sugar is much more stable, giving him a lot more energy! 

So, on to the coconut bonbons! I decided I would work on a healthy version of his favorite (and make sure I got it right BEFORE Christmas!)

 

 

This recipe is adapted from No Bake Coconut Crack Bars from Chocolate-covered Katie, if you haven't checked out her dessert blog yet- go! She's got lots of awesome recipes!

For the centers:
 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
 1/4 cup water and 4 Truvia packets (about 4 tsp.)
 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (refined coconut oil is fine if it's all you have, but it won't have the additional benefits))
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For the chocolate coating (Skinny Chocolate from the book pg 371)
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Stevia powder to taste (if you need to adapt this with Truvia, grind in a coffee grinder first)
 

Add all the ingredient for the centers to your food processor and process together. (note: this step may not be necessary and you may just be able to mix well if your coconut oil is already in liquid form)

 

 line a cookie sheet with parchment paper  

 

 Use a melon baller or similar rounded scoop to make half circles. (if you would like to form them by hand it *may* work to stick the mix in the freezer for about 15 min and then form the balls, it does not stick together well when at room temperature)

 

(note: I used a toothpick to help the coconut mix out of the melon baller) 

 

 

scrape out the last bits from your blender and quickly eat before the kids see and ask for some!

 

 

Dang it! Too slow... =)

 

 

place tray in freezer for 15 min to 1/2 an hr. until they are solid enough to pick up. 

 

 

Add ingredients together for chocolate coating in a small bowl (so it's deep enough for dipping!) and stir well, dip balls into chocolate. Place back in freezer.

 

I continue to repeat this last step until I felt the chocolate coating was thick enough. It took me four times, this will probably vary by the temp in your home (It's was a balmy 85 here that day so my chocolate coating was very liquid-y)

 

  

 

 Store in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy!!!

 

For easier printing (just copy and paste)

 

Coconut Bonbons (THM-S)

from firandcypress.blogspot.com

 

For the centers:
 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
 1/4 cup water and 4 Truvia packets (about 4 tsp.)
 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (refined coconut oil is fine if it's all you have, but it won't have the additional benefits))
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For the chocolate coating (Skinny Chocolate from the book pg 371)
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Stevia powder to taste (if you need to adapt this with Truvia, grind in a coffee grinder first)
 

Add all the ingredient for the centers to your food processor and process together. (note: this step may not be necessary and you may just be able to mix well if your coconut oil is already in liquid form).Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a melon baller or similar rounded scoop to make half circles. (if you would like to form them by hand it *may* work to stick the mix in the freezer for about 15 min and then form the balls, it does not stick together well when at room temperature) (note: I used a toothpick to help the coconut mix out of the melon baller) Place tray in freezer for 15 min to 1/2 an hr., until they are solid enough to pick up. Add ingredients together for chocolate coating in a small bowl (so it's deep enough for dipping!) and stir well. Dip balls into chocolate. Place back in freezer. Continue to repeat this last step until I felt the chocolate coating was thick enough. It took me four times, this will probably vary by the temp in your home. Store in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy!!!

 

This post is part of the blog link up at Stacy Makes Cents and Gwen's Nest go check out the other great recipes there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Trim Healthy Tuesday : Matcha Pudding two ways (FP)

Have you heard of Matcha? Well, if you haven't, you have certainly heard of green tea!!

Matcha Green tea powder is a powdered form of dried tea leaves rather than steeping some of the powerful antioxidants from the leaves and then throwing the leaves away, you are adding the leaves (in powdered form) directly to your food and thereby not missing any of the benefits! Green tea is known as a cancer- fighter, weight-loss helper, anti-aging drink, detoxifier and stress reliever. We like to drink green (and black) tea in our house but recently I watched this video from the authors of the Trim Healthy Mama book and was inspired to try Matcha!

  

But I decided to get a little creative and make a Chocolate Matcha pudding and a Raspberry Matcha pudding.  

Let's go with the chocolate first. =)

Chocolate Matcha Pudding- FP

Ingredients:

(these puddings are based on the Choco Pudding p366 from the Trim Healthy Mama book)

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

6 tsp Truvia(NOT the baking blend with added sugar)

1 heaping tsp of Hershey Special Dark Cocoa powder

1 tsp Matcha powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp Glucomannan powder

Add the Almond milk, cocoa powder, matcha, Truvia and salt to the blender and blend until well blended. While the blender is still running add 1 1/2 tsp of glucomannan powder to the blender. Blend for a few minutes and then stop the blender and let it sit and thicken. (I usually put in my finger and this point and taste to see if I need to add extra sweetener or salt) Start blender again and blend until the pudding is thickened (it will still be slightly runny but will continue to thicken in the fridge) Pour into a container and put into the fridge until thickened and cool.

tastes especially good with a little fat-free reddi whip on top!

(this is what I found locally, there are some questionable ingredients in it

you may be able to find something more pure online or at a healthfood store)

Raspberry-Matcha Pudding- FP

Ingredients:

(these puddings are based on the Choco Pudding p366 from the Trim Healthy Mama book)

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

4 tsp Truvia(NOT the baking blend with added sugar)

2 tsp Matcha powder

1 tsp raspberry extract

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp Glucomannan powder

Add the Almond milk, raspberry extract, matcha, Truvia and salt to the blender and blend until well blended. While the blender is still running add 1 1/2 tsp of glucomannan powder to the blender. Blend for a few minutes and then stop the blender and let it sit and thicken. (I usually put in my finger and this point and taste to see if I need to add extra sweetener or salt) Start blender again and blend until the pudding is thickened (it will still be slightly runny but will continue to thicken in the fridge) Pour into a container and put into the fridge until thickened and cool.

If you haven't heard of Glucamannan yet, and how it's the key ingredient to make this into a pudding go here to read a little more about it from one of the authors  

Both of these puddings were good, my husband liked the raspberry Matcha one a little more, he loves all things tea-flavored, I liked the chocolate one, but the raspberry was great too!

 Enjoy!!!