by Donna Reish
I don’t remember my mom making a lot of salads when I was growing up. I remember some iceberg lettuce here and there on our plates and potatoes cooling in the fridge for potato salad, but that is about it. I do, however, remember the apple salad. Not because I ate it–it has mayo in it! (Yucky! ha ha) But because it was unusual to have anything other than potato salad and cole slaw in terms of “salads.” I quickly discovered that my high school sweetheart (Ray Baby–now my husband of almost 37 years!) loved salads of any kind, and he really loved my mom’s apple salad. So being the dutiful wife, I learned how to make it.
It isn’t hard, but it is unique. Every time I take it anywhere, people are always surprised by the combination of peanut butter and mayo–but in a good way. People really like this salad!
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by Donna Reish
I don’t like dressed salads of any kind. I am a super boring salad eater–if I have the right cheese and my homemade croutons (made in the air fryer with low carb bread), I’m happy! So when I find a salad that is dressed and laid out in detail for me (not “toss with your favorite vinaigrette!”), I am glad to make it over and over. I have made this salad for thirty years.
You know how many people buy ingredients just to make a special salad? Well, I am just the opposite. I keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer at all times–and I make this salad when I am running out of ideas of other things to make! It is so versatile (can have five layers, six, eight, nine…whatever), and I almost always have lettuce, cheese, and eggs on hand. So there you have the start of it!
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by Donna Reish
Air Fried croutons are crispy yet tender! Perfect Caesar salad!
My air fryer sat in its box for quite a while….Okay, it sat in its box for a few months. I just didn’t think I could handle learning anything else! And I wasn’t sure I wanted another appliance. And I was afraid I wouldn’t use it often enough to justify buying it. And…and…and….
When I finally got it out of the box, I realize that all of my fears were unfounded. It is truly amazing!
My husband and I eat at home most evenings–and we eat fairly healthfully. However, I have four grown sons and two sons-in-laws, and when they stop in, I often make them an “appetizer platter” from store bought frozen appetizers (mozarella sticks, taquitos, fish sticks…nothing healthy! lol). Seriously, they pick what they want out of my freezer bag of “appetizers for kids” and in fifteen minutes, they have a platter! (I’ve used it four times this week alone for them!)
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by Donna Reish
In the Trim Healthy Mama world, homemade chocolates made with oil/butter, cocoa powder, and sweetener (and sometimes other ingredients) are called Skinny Chocolate (mostly because they have good fats and virtually no carbohydrates). In the keto and low carb world, these are often called chocolate fat bombs (for the same reasons).
In the healthy family world, there are ways to eat “candy” and chocolate (and some ways are very simple and inexpensive!) while still eating healthfully, keeping blood sugars balanced, not causing weight gain, and keeping us all out of the carb comas (or sugar sleeps) that regular candy and chocolates with sugar can cause.
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by Donna Reish
My hubby is doing so great three weeks into Intermittent Fasting*! I am excited to be doing this lifestyle with him, getting healthy together and losing weight. (We have been on our Plexus journey together for nearly two years, but now he is also losing weight with Plexus and IF!) We have big ballroom dance goals for the coming new year–and our weight loss efforts will go a long way in helping his knees and heels feel strong enough to dance more. (And I have secret plans for some amazing dips and twelve-consecutive-twirls!)
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by Donna Reish
I am not a fan of many vegetables….but fresh green beans are another story altogether. I adore them–and I have been known to make them every single week in my Parmesan Roasted Green Beans, Crock Pot Green Beans and “Potatoes,” or this homestyle recipe. I don’t like snapping green beans by myself. Ever since I have been married, snapping beans has been a family affair. My husband and I would put in a movie and snap buckets of green beans from our garden when we were first married. And later I would read aloud to my kids for hours as they snapped beans, peeled potatoes, cleaned fruits, etc. As a matter of fact, just recently, my twenty-year old son came in when I was cleaning veggies and said, “Do you remember when we would all gather around the table with fruits and vegetables and clean and cut all morning long while you read The Chronicles of Narnia series aloud to us? And how we never wanted to stop even when we were done with the produce? I miss those days!” Be still my heart….
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