Cooking Through Trim Healthy Mama Week 2

Cooking through Trim Healthy Mama week 2 brought on some new challenges for this girl!

We are on week 2 of my 2020 goal of cooking through the entire Trim Healthy Mama cookbook. 

This week I had several of the well known recipes on my plate like green fries, cottage berry whip and the ever popular (and oh so scary) Secret Big Boy. 

For dinners, Pearl’s Chili and the Smarty-Pants Stroganoff made the list. The stroganoff is not one that I have heard many people discuss, but you will definitely want to check it out. 

Cooking through Trim Healthy Mama Week 2 will give you a review of each dish that I cooked and ate, the general costs to make those items and tip/tricks and subs that I may have done to slightly alter the recipe. 

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Cooking Through Trim Heathy Mama Week 2

Here is what I made on week 2 from the cookbook: 

Green Fries Pg. 218

Cottage Berry Whip Pg. 374

Smarty-Pants Stroganoff Pg. 44

Choco Secret Big Boy Pg. 415

Choco Nut Big Boy Pg. 415

Pearl’s Chili Pg. 101

This week was tougher for me to try a lot of the main meals. My husband was out of town for the week so I entered survival mode.

We got dinner every night (thanks to my mom one night and breakfast for dinner a second night).

I even created one new recipe that my kids loved so I will share that with y’all soon!

But back to the cookbook for now!

Green Fries Pg. 218

Overall impression:

I like these a lot. In fact I ate the whole bag over the course of the day.

To be honest, I don’t know if my family would like because everyone else refused to try.

I’m the only one that really enjoys green beans in our house though so it was fine by me.

They get crunchy, a little salty and roasted. They have a mild green bean flavor so if you hate the veggie, you might not love these. However, mostly I noticed the crunch.

Make It Again?

Absolutely!

Cost:

About $1.60! A frugal side!

Tips and Tricks:

I did the entire frozen bag of green beans in my air fryer. I did let the beans sit out on the counter for about 45 mins to thaw out some before air frying.

The beans took about 20-25 mins to get to the crunch level that I prefer. After about 10 minutes, I just checked on them and shook the basket every few minutes to make sure they didn’t burn.

Subs: 

I did not sub anything but I did omit the Nutritional Yeast. I am thinking about buying some for the upcoming week since it pops up so often. 

Cottage Berry Whip Pg. 374

Overall Impression:

I made this the time that I started THM and quit after a few weeks.

Spoiler alert: it is still good a few years later!

It is so nice to have a quick and easy NSI dessert or no cook breakfast.

Make It Again?

Yes!

Cost:

About $1.30

Tips and Tricks:

If you hate cottage cheese, still try this recipe.

I was a full fledged cottage cheese hater until THM. Now I eat it by the bowl full for breakfast with tons of yummy add ins and love it!

If I can do okra in a chocolate smoothie (keep reading) you can do this!

Subs:

The only sub that I made was using my 2 year old Gentle Sweet in place of the Super Sweet. I just use the same measurements (mostly because I didn’t feel like looking up the conversion). 

It was still sweet enough for me! 

Smarty Pants Stroganoff Pg. 44

Overall Impression: definitely the favorite of the week! The whole family enjoyed it and my husband even got seconds (something he rarely does – if only I could be more like him!)

The sauce had really rich flavors.

I had my over zucchini noodles.

I wish my sauce had thickened a bit more. I’m not sure if it was because of the sub I made that it was a little runny. But it tasted good and no one else seemed to notice.

Make it Again?

Yes!

Cost:

Around $24 (cost was calculated using zoodles and not the Not Naughty Noodles – read below for money saving tips)

Tips and Tricks:

Use baby bella mushrooms to intensify the flavor of this dish! If you want to save money, use the white mushrooms. 

The crockpot will make a cheap cut of meat yummy by dinner time. I ended up using a nicer cut of meat (my husband had been out of town and this was his first night home so I wanted to amp up dinner a little bit). But using a cheaper cut of meat could save you could save quite a bit. 

Subs: 

Portabella mushrooms, xantham gum for Gluccie. 

Choco Secret Big Boy Pg. 415

Overall Impression:

My first thought after my first sip was “well I didn’t die!”

For all the okra scaredy cats like me: blend well and you will not have a texture issue.

There was no chocolate okra slime. No seeds.

My first impression of the drink was that it had the consistency of a thinned out Wendy’s Frosty and tasted somewhat similar.

It was good. I’m not on the OMG I love the okra smoothies quite yet but it was good.

I did detect the slightest bit of an okra after taste. I’m not sure why so I will have to research that. If you know, please drop me a comment!

Make It Again?

Probably not but I will be making more secret big boys because there are a bunch of them still left in the cookbook.

Cost: 

<$1 if omitting the optional items 

Tips and Tricks:

Blend, blend, blend. And then Blend again. 

Subs:

I omitted protein powder because I don’t use it or buy it. Adding protein to the meal eliminates the issue of not using the powder.

Also omitted were the ingredients that are marked as optional in the recipe.

Choco Nut Secret Big Boy Pg. 415

Overall Impression: 

I don’t know if this is cheating or not. But since it is my Cooking Through the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook, I’m going to rule that it is not. 

I tried the Choco Secret Big Boy. And then I added the extra ingredient to make it the Choco Nut Secret big boy. 

I was really expecting to love this because peanut butter is my life. But I actually preferred it as just the chocolate variety. 

Pearl’s Chili Pg. 101

Overall Impression:

I liked it!

It was simple to make using the precooked ground beef that I always keep in the freezer as a time save.

I love that I typically have all of the ingredients in my pantry and fridge that you need for this recipe!

Make It Again?

Yes

Cost: 

$6.71 (half recipe)

Tips and Tricks: 

 None really. I just loved that I didn’t have to get out my blender! And that I got to eat some beans in my S chili. 

Subs:

I added beef broth in place of water just to add some extra flavor. I also used no sugar added marinara in place of tomato sauce because that is what I had on hand (and it is a trick my husband uses in his chili recipe). 

Overall, cooking through Trim Healthy Mama Week 2 went well. I’m glad that I went ahead and tried out the blended okra Secret Big Boy. 

I think future recipes will be easier because I conquered that little fear. 

Check back next week for more cooking through THM fun.