Recipe: Chocolate Caramel "Crack" (THM - sort of)

Hello! Happy Tuesday night!

A few years ago, a neighbor made the most amazing creation she called "Christmas Crack" which was essentially butter, sugar, saltines and chocolate. What's the big deal with those ingredients. Don't be fooled - when combined it is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. For real. It's sweet, salty and crunchy. 

Fast forward to now and being on THM I haven't had it in a very long time. In fact, Ifortunately hadn't even thought about it until it started popping up in my newsfeed on Facebook and on Pinterest. Ugh. 

Then a few weeks back in the Trim Healthy Mama groups page the lovely Briana Thomas posted her own recipe. So immediately I pinned it and looked at it but honestly it was a little too involved for me and I moved on with my craving.

So tonight while grabbing some items out of the pantry I noticed a package of wasa crackers and I decided to experiment.

I grabbed some foil, the wasa crackers, my THM super sweet blend, a stick of butter and vanilla and went to work.

I quickly searched for a recipe and found this one from Smitten Kitchen - http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/04/chocolate-caramel-crackers/

So I followed the directions loosely.

I didn't make a full recipe so I halved it. I spread about 9 crackers on the foil and preheated the oven to 350. I added the stick of butter to a saucepan and added about 1/3 cup super sweet blend and stirred. However, it wasn't thickening or coming to a boil. Seeing as how the real "Christmas Crack" calls for brown sugar, I didn't have any or any THM brown sugar. So I cheated a bit and added two small teaspoons of regular real sugar. As soon as I did the mixture came to a rolling boil and simmered for a few minutes. Then, I added the vanilla and poured over the crackers and spread with a spoon and popped the tray in the oven. After about 8 minutes it was ready with the edges turning brown and I sprinkled dark chocolate chips on top. I use the Enjoy Life brand. However, I didn't have enough so I did use some Nestle tollhouse chocolate chips I had on hand to fill in some gaps. These are clearly not on THM (hence the name of the post) but I figure it's better to have a smidge of real sugar than to indulge in completely off plan foods.

After the chips sat on top and melted I spread them around with a spatula. I sprinkled the top with some coarse sea salt and popped it in the fridge to cool.

Then I proceeded to open and close the fridge numerous times waiting to be able to taste it!! 

Finally, after an eternity - or about 15 minutes - it cooled enough for me to taste to make sure it was going to be good enough to satisfy my craving.

Oh, you guys. It was AMAZING!!

I popped it back in the fridge to cool a bit more and then broke it into pieces. 

And of course I continued to taste test. Even my son wanted a piece. I'm not going to lie - I hesitated to share! Haha but like a good mom I let him have a piece (a small one). He loved it!

This recipe is definetly a keeper. And while I did use some off plan ingredients, this hit the spot and I don't feel bad at al for having this along with my S meals!

~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 14

I made it!! I measured this morning and lost another inch or so for a total of 7 3/4 inches lost in 14 days! I'm still less bloated and feeling good. I can't believe it was so easy to cut out some things from my diet for these past two weeks and I'm so much better for it!

I really can't say enough good things about this detox. Whole food nutrition is so important and I really am going to keep what I learned about myself going forward. 

I started my dieting journey in 2010 by counting calories. While it worked initially it can be quite a pain long term - but when you find food freedom like I have with Trim Healthy Mama you can lose the numbers and measuring obsession.

~Carly

The D14 Day 12

It's crazy that I only have two days left on my first round of The D14 and then go into Maintenance! I plan to continue using the shakes and eating my THM way.

Cutting out some things from my diet hasn't been as hard as I thought - some moments yes but my body is thanking me for it. I'm much less bloated. I am bouncing a bit on the scale but still feeling so great! 

I went for a walk yesterday with my dog - a little over 2 miles. Then today I took her for a walk again but it started to rain so I brought her home and went to the gym and walked hills on the treadmill for about 35 minutes. It felt great to exercise today.

So, just a quick update. I'm going to make the most of these last two days!

~Carly

Two Year Trimaversary!

Happy Sunday and Happy Two Years of Trim Healthy Mama to me!

Started at about 170 and really large for me personally (left). I had tried numerous diets - South Beach, Atkins, Eat To Live, meal replacement diets (found one product I do love now though!) and then right before finding THM I did the 21 Day Sugar Detox which was a great segue into the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle.

The pic on the right was from the other night before going out to dinner with my husband. I'm currently doing a THM-friendly detox with some Juice Plus+ products and I'm about 153/154 pounds right now. I'm also down a few more inches in just the past few days and feeling very less bloated and trimmer.

So there it is. While I didn't lose a ton of weight, I lost inches and gained so much more happiness than I could have ever thought. 

~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

Healthy Tip/Trick

Happy Wednesday!

I wanted to share a quick health tip/trick that I've always tried to do. Since life is busy (more so around the holidays) and errands run long or we find ourselves out and about for longer periods of time - stuck at a sports practice or in traffic. And it's always inevitable that hunger will strike. It does for me anyways! 

So I always keep some things in my bag with me for just those instances. Like today for example I was running errands and got a late start and figured I would be home in time for lunch. 

Wrong! I was shopping when hunger struck while at Kohls. And I mean starving. Of course, there's no real food there except the Godiva chocolate at the register. So it's a good thing I always keep that bag in my bag! I actually re-stocked it this morning!

Currently inside are some Quest bars, one packet of Vanilla and Chocolate Complete mix with a container of unsweetened almond milk, a package of peanut butter crackers for the kids, a package of Annie's bunny gummies, a few packages of Juice Plus gummies, two small mini bags of M&Ms, small serving bags of Brookside dark chocolate pomegranate snacks and a few Brookside dark chocolate bars.

I've been saved by having goodies like these for me and my family on so many occasions I can't even list or count! I'm pretty good about packing our reusable water bottles before we go - I have stainless steel thermos brand ones for the kids and I like my Camelback Eddy bottle.

What are some ways you keep healthy on the go?

~Carly