Simple Sun Butter (S)

 Have you noticed the sugar and hydrogenated palm oil in many sun butter brands? This really bothered me and having made peanut butter before, I felt it wouldn't be too complicated to make my own. I do it each week. I buy organic, roasted, sunflower seeds, in bulk, so we save a lot as well. I have three boys, plus ourselves, with either nut or peanut allergies, or both. The prep time is so minimal. This is an S, but like all nut and seed butters, you do need to watch out for crossovers, as nuts and seeds, have some carbs. Nut and seed butters are also super calorie dense, so don't over do it.

This is super easy. I eyeball the oil, since its an S anyway. I eyeball the stevia (I have a shaker spice jar I dump it in, so no scooping). Takes about two minutes to dump it all in. I turn the food processor on high and ignore it :)

Simple Sun Butter

Ingredients

4 cups sunflower seeds (I use roasted unsalted, but for single ingredient butter, use salted)

1 teaspoon pink salt

1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil (optional for smoothness and blending speed)

1 doonk of stevia (optional)

Instructions

Melt the Tablespoon of oil, for thirty seconds, in the microwave. If it doesn't melt completely, that's fine. Or use MCT oil or liquid coconut oil. The oil helps the processing, but it also leaves a smoother product and isn't much additional oil per serving. In a food processor, add the rest of the ingredients, then pour the oil on top. I store my stevia and my salt, in shaker bottles, so I don't even pull out the measuring spoons for this. I usually just eyeball the oil, with a butter knife, because this is a fat fuel (S) food, no matter how much coconut oil you use. Turn the food processor on high (don't forget the lid!) and let it do it's thing. It will get thinner, and easily spreadable if you let it get passed the tiny balls stage and pulse until you have a slow vortex happening in the center of the food processor. I use a rubber spatula and store it in a 16oz mason jar. Keeps for weeks, but my boys usually finish it by the end of the week.

For an even quicker version, use just salted sunflower seeds. I like that tiny hint of sweetness, and I like how smooth the oil makes it, but these are not necessary.

Miracle Egg Substitute!!!!

 A couple years into my Trim Healthy Mama journey, I became overwhelmed with the issues an egg free diet brings. I felt like everything failed with flax or chia, nobody was talking about psyllium husk at that point. Put psyllium in your breads though, amazing. That's another post for another day. 

I sat there thinking about how eggs work and how that's different from flax, chia, gelatin, psyllium, pumpkin, applesauce, etc... What I settled on was that none of those dry and harden like eggs. Gelatin and psyllium do a bit, but they're still quite gooey. Then I thought, what on earth would have a mild savory taste and dry and harden like an egg. I knew the answer in minutes, but I didn't have the means to experiment or the time and just kind of forgot about it until a few weeks ago.

This works in recipes with many eggs in it like the coveted chocolate zucchini cake (page 296 of the Trim Healthy Cookbook). It rose, was fluffy and moist. I may have cried a bit. I even made scrambled eggs with this substitute!

I'll add to this as I try new things. The best thing about it, is protein! It also wont effect your FP or E recipes.

Any who, I've talked your ear off enough. Are you ready? Of course you are! I'll hush up.

The answer is in a question. What came first: the chicken, or the egg? The egg came first, then CHICKEN! Sorry, couldn't help myself. The answer is chicken! Some of you officially hate me. Think about it though, mama hen has many of the same subtle, savory flavors as the egg. Ground chicken, dries and  hardens as it cooks! It's more involved than just chicken, but you get the idea. If you're not weirded out yet, we'll talk about how to mix this up. 

Sorry vegans. I tried to find a plant based way. I love this because it won't mess up your E or FP recipes, as it's leaner than an egg. The recipe makes about a dozen egg replacements, so you can make it ahead and keep it in the fridge. Best of all? PROTEIN!!!! It's full of protein! 8 or so grams per "egg!"

You will need a food processor or blender for this. A cheapo used one from the thrift store is just as perfect. You'll want ground chicken breast for this. You will get weird chicken threads if you try to blend up chicken breast. So it's not thick like a burger and for some of that smooth texture of egg, we're also going to use chia or flax eggs. For flavor and texture, I also add dairy free 'butter' or real butter. If you need it to be like egg whites, omit this as the fats will add up. With it, though, a single 'egg' is only 3g of fats.

Here we go!

Miracle Egg Substitute

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons of chia or flax powder (meal was a little too chunky for this)
• 12 Tablespoons of hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder if you choose flax and it seems too thin for you
• 1 Tablespoon melted butter substitute or butter (omit for 'egg whites')
• 1 pound of ground chicken breast

Instructions

1. Make your chia or flax egg by stirring the chia or flax in the hot water. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of psyllium powder if the flax seems too thin (I find flax unpredictable).
2. Let this sit a couple minutes while you get the chicken ready
3. Put your pound of ground chicken breast into the food processor
4. Pour your chia or flax egg into the food processor along with the butter
5. Turn it on!
6. Done!
7. Use a 1/4 cup for each egg you replace

Easy, simple. The exact number of eggs can fluctuate, but I got three cups, or 12 'eggs.' For cleaning, I rinse with scalding water, then soap it up. For the blender, after I rinse it out, I blend soapy water. Basically what you would do for raw egg. I hope this blesses you guys!

Why Healthy Freedom?

 I chose this name for my coaching biz, simply because THM brought me healing and freedom. My journey is unique; I can't usually lose weight because of various medical issues. I get closer everyday, but THM continues to support me along the way. When I first started, I was facing gestational diabetes with my second pregnancy. A few weeks of THM under my belt and praise Jesus, the issues were gone. The healing continued from there. I'm still constantly finding out new things with my health, but I do know I'd be rock bottom without THM. When I'm off plan, I suffer way more than when I'm on plan. Pain, inflammation, mental clarity, energy, you name it. I remember how shocked I was my first year, because I stopped gaining weight! No matter what I did, I gained, until I started the Trim Healthy Mama plan. I also got worse everyday. 

As for freedom, I didn't have to think of a carb to eat if I didn't want to! Gluten free ladies, you get this complication. Gluten free products weren't as readily available then and sure weren't affordable. I had an S meal for my first dinner. I was so excited not to fuss about a carb! Maybe it's silly, but for me, that was freedom! Stevia in my coffee and to make deserts, was freedom; no guilt! A beautiful well marbled steak or roast; that was freedom. A beautiful E dinner with brown rice, knowing my blood sugar would be OK; that was freedom. Rich, melt in your mouth, dairy free chocolate; that was freedom.

So, we'll keep on the healthy train and maybe join the trim cab someday ;)