Trim Healthy Mama Review #1

I've been on the plan fully since Monday, February 17.  65MD and I dabbled with a few recipes the week for a week before plunging in fully. The book is crammed with recipes and there is a facebook page with lots more recipes and support.  I've tried several recipes.  I went nuts initially  threw myself in and tried a lot of recipes right away.
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One I have loved and actually prayed a prayer of thankfulness while I ate it and one 65MD is banning me from ever making again.  (OK, maybe that is an overstatement but he really didn't like it, and I wasn't too wild about it either.)  Since there are so many, I won't elaborate much or I'd never finish this post.

Our first attempt at a THM recipe was the pancakes (E).  I was dubious to say the least, but they turned out great.  Buoyed by that success we agreed the next attempt would be  blueberry coconut muffins.  65MD likes to have muffins for breakfast.  We thought this would be a heat & eat/grab & go sort of meal for him.  We liked them, but weren't too wild about them.

One of 65MD's favorite flavors is cinnamon, so we tried the cinnamon muffins.  They looked yummy and the book said that they never last at their house.  They'd made similar comments about the blueberry coconut ones too.  65MD really really tried to like this but couldn't swallow the first bite.  We were both very disappointed.

After trying two recipes and getting less than stellar results like the pancakes despite of what Pearl & Serene had to say, I tried the cheeseburger pie.  The books said something like "all men everywhere like this" maybe that isn't an exact quote but close enough.  My trust was wearing thin, so I was happy when we both enjoyed it and agreed it could be added to the regular menu rotation.

I continued to try new things at most meals, and our/my favorites are:

*skinny chocolate

*ice cream

*twice baked fotatoes -65MD liked this more than I did.  I served it to my family Sunday and they ate all of it!

*frappa- heavenly with fat free whipped cream on it

*chicken crust pizza-65MD is a huge pizza fan.  He liked this.  We've done the cauliflower crust before and I think I like it better.  The chicken (leftover yogurt chicken) didn't hold together well even though I added an egg and some cheese.
*quiche
*country biscuits-we are split on this one.  I like them with a little strawberry all fruit & whipped cream for breakfast.  They are nothing like good southern biscuits which is 65MD's issue.
*quesadillas - made from leftover balsamic chicken
*secret agent brownie cake-I won't make this often but it will certainly make it when I'm having a sweet craving I frosted it with raspberry cream cheese frosting.  Next time I might try the chocolate recipe
*chocolate pudding - great with fat free whipped cream on it.

We/I are sort of so-so on:
*cookie bowl oatmeal - a little bitter, I might try it again with less stevia
*yogurt swirl - I'm not used to the strong sour flavor of Greek yogurt.  I could get there though
*yogurt chicken - blah, it was bland.  The yogurt didn't adhere to the chicken very well and it was sort of a mess
*balsamic chicken - I think this would have been better if it had marinated for a while rather than just being cooked in it.

So far we've liked more than what we haven't and those we haven't might be tweaked a bit for our tastes and still be on plan.  But, I've decided for my sanity and my budget to limit the new recipes to one per week.  I felt like I was spending way too much time in the kitchen.  More specifically, I felt like I was spending half the day cleaning my vita-mix!

My biggest issue with all of the recipes is finding them.  They've given them cute descriptive names like:  "Tummy Tucking Ice Cream" and "Fat Stripping Frappa" which is quite clever.  The problem is, they are listed in the index by those crazy names.  I'd much prefer to look up "Chicken" in the index and then see a list of the various chicken dishes with the descriptive names.  I now keep a note pad with me and write down page numbers as I come to them to save me that frustration.

I titled this review #1, since I'll have more recipes to review along with my thoughts on the plan once I am more in to it.  I don't know how often I'll do them nor how many there will be.  Thanks for joining me on my latest adventure.