Recipe: DIY "Farmington Valley Salad" - THM (E)

Well helloooooo.

Yes, yes - I took another hiatus but I'm back and I promise you won't be disappointed with this recipe I've returned with! 

But first a quick update with where I'm at. I'm bouncing a bit weight-wise but still feeling really good. I'm taking my Juice Plus every day and using my Complete shakes sparingly as I'm going to do the D14 in a few weeks again! I'm staying as much gluten and dairy free as I can and I have to say it's keeping me feeling deflated most of the time which is great!! 

Ok enough about that. On to this new salad I'm obsessed with. Not sure I've mentioned this before but I grew up in Farmington, Connecticut. There's a bakery in the corner as you come into our town and it was called Ann Howard's. It's now called Truffles and they also have a location in Avon, CT which is where I first had the Farmington Valley Salad with my BFF, Dana.

It's delicious! And of course a salad made by anyone else but you always tastes better - am I right? Yes - it's just true. Since I live close to the area but not quite close enough to get this salad as often as I crave it I decided to experiment and create my own. 

Well, clearly certain ingredients aren't hard to re-create...ya know like lettuce. Heh. Sorry - I'm silly. However it's always the dressing that is the hardest to re-create. But thanks to the wonderful world of people on Pinterest I found a really great recipe for the balsamic dressing that I love!! Yay!

So here is the recipe for the dressing from Brianne at Cupcakes and Kale Chips.
 

I'm just going to tell you now to double the ingredients because you're going to be sad when it runs out. Trust me. Speaking from experience here :(

I used 0% plain greek yogurt and only had regular yellow mustard.  I added garlic powder to mine as well. I whipped mine up all in the food processor.

For the ingredients for the salad, you'll need:

1. Any kind of lettuce or greens you like.  Here I used romaine and baby spinach.  The salad at Truffle's comes with mixed greens so next time I will make sure I use those :)
2. Grilled chicken
3. A handful of red grapes sliced in half
4. A pinch of dried cranberries
5. A tablespoon or two of feta cheese or any other type of hard cheese (remember for THM it's an E setting so have to watch the fat grams!)
6. 1/4 to a half of a granny smith apple chopped
7. The delicious, glorious, creamy balsamic dressing recipe
Note: The original salad comes with sliced almonds but I omitted them because I had none and I kept the fat content down for the Trim Healthy Mama E meal.
 

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl to toss

 

All tossed with the dressing - snapped the pic while eating!

This salad is colorful, crunchy and just so tasty.  I will definitely be making this quite often.

For THM it's an E with the added fruit and the lower fat dressing.  Be mindful of the honey in the dressing, too.  I tolerate it well but you can add any sweetener of your choice if you do not wish to use honey.

There you have it - let me know if you make it and what you think!
~Carly

The D14 Recap

Yikes! I completely forgot to post my recap from the results of The D14 program!

Overall I was down about 5 pounds and almost 8 inches! My clothes are looser and fitting well, I'm still very much not bloated and truly feeling great!

I'm back to eating Trim Healthy Mama style - not that I really stopped - but just continuing to eat well. I have been careful to re-introduced too many of the things I cut out. However, I have had some small amounts of cheese here and there but am going to try to avoid gluten as much as possible.

Since I was finished with my nutritional rebalancing I feel truly amazing and I encourage anyone who is looking to get healthier, maybe lose a few pounds or just detox a little bit if you're feeling sluggish, etc.

~Carly

The D14 Day 10

Happy Saturday! 

Ahh the weekend. We have a good balance of a busy Saturday and hopefully a productive and relaxing Sunday.

Today starts day 10 and still loving this truly easy detox. I can't believe I only have four days left! I did fluctuate up and down and a bit up by about a half pound for some reason over the past two days  - lady cycles and water intake are likely to blame - but I'm still feeling slimmer and really great! 

Thursday night I attended a party with a cookie swap and grab bag so I did have a baby glass of wine and a taste of a drink my friend brought but did not eat anything except a few olives! I was really proud of myself and was shocked I was not tempted to graze or eat any appetizers! Or a cookie!! 

Last night we hosted my parents and in-laws for dinner to celebrate Hanukkah. I had a delicious gluten free pasta with an eggplant sauce for dinner and a side salad and made a yummy lasagna for the rest of the family. I did a small taste of the meat sauce while cooking and it was delicious. 

About to make breakfast and I'm thinking I will eat some veggie eggs and save my shake for on the go for later as it gets busy!

Have a great weekend!

~Carly

The D14 Day 6 with some RESULTS!!

Hello, hello, hello!

It's been another GREAT day so far.  My son ended up staying home today unexpectedly.  He said he wasn't feeling well ten minutes before the bus came so better safe than sorry, right? 

Turns out he just wanted to stay home and play with toys.  We had a chat about that.  Why am I telling you this?  Well, it's actually quite relevant to this D14 journey I'm so pleased to be on. 

The past two days I've felt much calmer in general but especially as a parent.  I mentioned I was more clear and focused but I haven't "flown off the handle" or lost my "mommy sh!t" as much as I have been when my kids are on my last nerve, not listening or dilly-dallying before bed.  And I'm convinced it has much to do with The D14 program. My blood sugars are balanced which means my insulin is regulated which is all intertwined with hormones and I'm just more stable.  Crazy, right?

I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist (although I'd love to be either or) but it's fairly general knowledge that if you aren't filling your body with sugars and carbs and other ingredients or chemicals then your body can function the way it is designed to BE.  I'm truly feeling that from these last 6 days.

And guess what?  The scale is showing it, too.  I love when that happens - seeing the evidence aside from only feeling it.  Because guess what - kinda hard to show feelings over the Internet, huh?

Yep.  So I will show ya.

Image below is as follows:

Top Left is last Thursday (start day), middle is this past Saturday, top right is same weight for both Sunday & Monday and bottom left is this morning 12/8.

 

I'd like to apologize quickly for my winter feet and our ugly bathroom tile.  Additionally, I have no idea why my left foot looks more "tan" than my right foot in each of the pictures. I'm guessing it has to do with the lighting as well as the way I'm holding my iPhone to take the pictures when I first wake up ;)

 

I'm also not departing from my Trim Healthy Mama plan which I still love and rely on.  The Juice Plus+ products really are complementing this plan for me and providing me with extra whole food nutrition that is getting me closer and closer to my ultimate goal. 

 

My ultimate goal has always been to get to where I was before my first child - because it's not called child weight either!! 

 

I'm about to have a Complete shake now as my day kind of went off track when I decided my son could stay home.  Dinner is to be determined but will be in accordance with the D14 guidelines :)

So, there you have it...I'm pretty shocked, hopeful, happy and motivated.  If you're ready to join in on this please, please, please don't wait!  If you've followed me or read any posts at all, you know the struggle is real and how many "diets" I've truly tried on this journey. 

Email me at carlykirsch@gmail.com - you'll thank yourself!!!
~Carly

The D14 Day 5

Wow, this is quite a few days in a row of me posting! I have to be honest - I really had NO intention of posting every day but I cannot help myself!

Now on Day 5 and woke to the same number on the scale as yesterday which was a little surprising only because I have been seeing a drop every day since I started but that doesn't mean dissapointment! I'm still feeling awesome. It's funny because I always read people on a detox or cleanse feeling "clear" and I didn't really understand what that meant until now. My mind feels clear. I'm remembering more and feel more focused and honestly a little less crabby than normal. Coincidence? Not sure yet but I'm thinking its definetly a result of this. 

So, Day 5 has gone like this:

Wake up and have water and some coffee and water

Vanilla shake in blender with fruit and almond milk around 7:45 am

Lunch was around 11:45 so I drank my detox drink and quickly scrambled some eggs and had some trail mix quickly before I had to run out again.

Snacked on some rotisserie chicken and water around 4:30 pm

Then...dinner. My son requested pancakes for dinner and I couldn't disagree. Not only because it is his birthday but also because it sounded yummy. But I'm on a strict 14 days here - so what to do? 

Make pancakes out of my Complete mix of course! It's a packet of vanilla, 1/2 cup of gluten free oat flour, one egg and two tsp of baking powder and about 1/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Mix all ingredients together and voilà - pancakes!!! I added blueberries, too.

Oh they were deeelish. It's about 8:40 pm and I'm still full.

Enjoy the evening!

~Carly

The D14 Day 4

Day 4 done and in the books!

It was a busy but good day! Woke up again to a decrease of pounds on the scale! I'm really happy!! 

Today was my son's birthday party so breakfast was a Vanilla Complete shake with some added fruit and ice with almond milk.

I had coffee again on the way to the party and then just water. I did not have any pizza or cake at the party! Whoop! Needless to say by the time I get home I was starving! I threw some Chocolate Complete in a shaker bottle with 10 ounces of almond milk and drank that while my son opened presents.

Since this weekend was busy I haven't done a grocery shop yet so we decided it was out to dinner we go. 

My son chose Jakes Wayback Burgers so I ordered a side salad and a grilled chicken sandwich and only at the chicken. 

The salad came with some cheese on top and croutons - I picked off the croutons but did eat the cheese.

So, overall a great day! I didn't unfortunately drink the detox drink but plan to before bed actually.

Looking forward to see what the rest of the week holds - good night!

~Carly

The D14 Day 3

Good evening! 

I saw some more movement in the right direction on the scale this morning! Very happy and excited about that for sure! I'm also feeling really GOOD considering this is a "detox" and a nutritional rebalancing. 

So today went like this:

Woke up around 6:30 and drank water and a small cup of coffee (note: it's recommended to cut out caffeine during this program for maximum benefit but it's just simply something I don't do 100% on my journey)

7:30 am - I made a chocolate Complete shake in a shaker bottle with 10 ounces of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Normally I would have used a blender and blended up a shake and added some goodness to it but my son had his first morning of basketball.

11:45 am- I drank my D14 detox drink before having some left over Quinoa bean veggie soup and a small piece of very dark chocolate 

3:30 pm- I snacked on some fruit after going to Target with the family and later had a cup of herbal decaf tea

5:30 detox drink before dinner and a large green salad with fresh diced peppers, red onion, roasted pepper with grilled chicken on top and balsamic dressing

Yummmm!

So Day 3 is in the books and I can't wait to keep going!!

Tomorrow will be a challenge as it is my son's 6th birthday party tomorrow and unusually sneak some frosting or a bite of cake every now and again...fingers crossed I will resist!

~Carly

The D14 Day 2

Good afternoon!

It's day 2 of my detox/reboot and I'm feeling really great!

Thankfully my sinus/headache thing has seemingly gone away - hopefully for good! I woke up to a lot less bloating and one pound lighter! That's after ONE day so I'm very optimistic for the next 13!

So full disclosure as always - I'm up a few pounds in general from Thanksgiving and such but not a lot and definitely not currently at my lowest weight. I have been maintaining and bouncing with the same 3-4 pounds. That's where I'm expecting this D14 to help me bust through my rut/plateau. 

Back to today...After I had my JP+ Complete shake for breakfast and capsules, I put the kids on the bus and went for a 3 mile walk this morning with a good friend and our dogs. 

For lunch I had my Quinoa Bean Veggie soup and an apple also with the detox drink that is suggested in the D14 program.  I'm pretty full right now!

Since it's chilly today,  I'm sipping on some tea while typing this and for dinner I plan to have a large salad with grilled chicken on top.

 

So, cheers to the weekend and plan to update you over the weekend. If not early next week!

~Carly