A Recipe and….. A Sneak Peek!

I totally love how I feel on the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) plan. Most of the residual pain from the car accident goes away, along with other aches and pains you just seem to accumulate with time. Since I tend to feel better with a lower carb diet anyway, this is perfect. But finding substitutes for favorite foods, especially sweets – well that can sometimes be a challenge. 

Sometimes, I find new favorites, like Briana Thomas’s Fried Cream Cheese and Blueberry Taco. Of course, the night I decided to try it, I discovered my blueberries had been in the freezer so long they were freezer burned, as were the strawberries and raspberries (I lose track of time). So I made a couple of changes, first mixing the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and sweetener together. I’m not a huge fan of plain yogurt, and especially not of plain Greek yogurt. Then, I drizzled a little sugar free strawberry preserves (the only on-plan fruity thing I had on hand).

Let me tell you, I was in love. I wanted to make ten of them! Twenty of them! But the Dr. Jekyll side of my brain wrestled the Ms. Hyde side of my brain into submission and I just had the one.

A few weeks later, PMS dictated I find something chocolate. As in chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies. I found one recipe that was pretty good. Not 100% close but close enough. Then I decided I still missed the ‘real’ thing and so tonight, I experimented. And these, in my opinion, are perfect.

Let me first say that I went with the unsweetened coconut flakes that I’d seen in the first recipe. I like that the net carbs are ZERO, unlike oatmeal. But I still wanted a closer texture so I decided to add a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped peanuts (almost zero carbs). Okay, I didn’t chop them. I put them in a baggie and pounded them with the flat side of my meat mallet. I also added a little of an 85% cocoa chocolate bar, hoping that would be the key to what I wanted. It was. 🙂

Anyway, here’s the photo of it after it’s mixed up – all shiny like no-bakes are supposed to be…

Kristy’s Chocolate No-Bake cookies

1/3 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 square Lindt 85% Cocoa Extra Dark chocolate bar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (or so, to taste) unsweetened, flaked coconut
2 tablespoons powdered Swerve sweetener
2 tablespoons finely chopped (or crushed with meat mallet) peanuts

Heat peanut butter, butter, and chocolate square in microwave safe bowl for 20 seconds. Stir until chocolate is melted. Add cocoa and Swerve. Mix well. Add coconut and peanuts. Drop onto buttered plate and refrigerate. Makes 4 small cookies or 2 larger ones. Or you can just eat it out of the bowl if you haven’t had anything sweet for days and you can’t wait for them to harden. 

If you want to try these, you’ll have to get the nutrition counts from the labels on on the food containers. One of these days I’ll try to get them posted here but I’m too tired to mess with it tonight.

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Now for the sneak peek at a new opening scene for Weko 1. I posted it on my Facebook page earlier this evening and decided to share it here too. And no, I still haven’t decided on a title – but it hit me last night that I’d started the story in the wrong place. Hope you enjoy it. 🙂

“I could crash the car,” Wesley Cooper thought as he cruised down Red Arrow Highway just a tad over the speed limit. The wind whipped his hair around like laundry hanging on a line during the middle of a hurricane. Normally, he’d wear his U of M ball cap to keep it under control but hat hair wasn’t a fashion statement he was willing to make at a funeral.

A funeral. The word sent a sharp stab of pain through his heart and his hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. He’d had to say goodbye to a few people through the years but none that hurt quite this much.

He forced his thoughts back to the most recent idea to get out of going. Granted, it was the most idiotic by far but if he crashed the car—nothing bad or anything, just a little fender bender with a tree—who could blame him for not showing up? Of course, his shiny red convertible wasn’t even two years old and he’d never gotten so much as a scratch on it. The thought of purposely smashing any part of it, and on purpose- Yeah, well, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Traffic was surprisingly light for a sunny July afternoon in the heart of a major tourist area. Too bad there couldn’t be more vehicles on the road. Dozens of them. And maybe a minor train derailment where the tracks crossed the road on the way to the power plant a few miles outside of Weko Harbor. Not much he could do if he was stuck in the middle of that kind of mess.

Sighing, he glanced to his right. In the distance, over the dunes, he could see the waves rolling across Lake Michigan were good sized already. The forecasted storm was predicted to hit sometime during the late afternoon or early evening. For once, the weatherman seemed to be on target as the wind had picked up a couple of hours ago. It would make the humid heat more bearable when all of the mourners arrived at the cemetery.

But it was still nice out now. The sky was bright blue. The only clouds floating around were of the billowy white variety. In fact, if he was home, he’d enjoy kicking back in the hammock on his miniscule deck and watching as they passed by.

Sorry, everyone. I couldn’t make it today. I decided I needed to admire the clouds more than I wanted to see Hank one last time.

But he knew, no matter how many excuses he came up with, he’d go. The old man had been a good friend through—too good to disrespect his memory by making up a cowardly lie in order to avoid this painful day.

Besides, he’d given his word. Nick was coming home today. For the first time in a long time, he’d be back among his family and friends. And while he probably hated them all right now, Wes had promised to be here for him.

Wes never broke his word, no matter how much he might want to.

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2 Responses to A Recipe and….. A Sneak Peek!

  1. Kristy, I just want to say “thanks” for blogging about your health journey. I’d never heard of THM until I read about it on your blog a few months ago. Well… I have lost 14 lbs., and my husband has lost 30! Without feeling deprived, too. This is the first diet that’s worked for me. Because… chocolate! Your no-bake cookies sound wonderful – I’ll have to try them! Good luck with your WIP – sounds like a good start!

    • Kristy K. James says:

      Hi, Jennette! I’d ask how you’ve been but based on what you just told me, I’m guessing really good! And I’m SO glad to hear it. Congratulations to you and your husband! That’s fantastic news – and even better results! The not feeling deprived part is one of my favorite parts about this. I just wish I could get my kids on board with it, lol. Enough chips, and candy bars, and chicken fritters and fries in the freezer – then in the oven smelling up the house – and it’s way too easy to fall off the THM wagon on busy, stressful days. And when I fall off, I fall OFF. For weeks. :/

      I have to say again … these cookies are fabulous. I’m probably making more tonight because I’ve decided to make smaller batches so I don’t totally pig out on them. It would be really easy to do, they’re that good. No ego issues about the cookies, huh? 😀 😀 😀

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