Author: Eliza Noel

Christian wife, homemaker, contemporary author, and health blogger. Follow my blog and social medias for health tips and book recommendations!

Peaches and Cream Popsicles//THM-Friendly E, Low-fat, High-protein Snack, Sugar-free

Eliza Noel1 Comment

Imagine licking a creamy peach popsicle on a hot Summer day while also meeting your protein goals and working towards your goal weight. My THM-Friendly Peaches and Cream Popsicle recipe will help you do just that. I love finding cheap and easy Trim Healthy Mama friendly recipes for my husband and I. My goal is for it to be easy to eat healthy for an affordable price and in a delicious way. This is the second recipe in my Summer Peach series. You can find my peach sauce recipe here, and keep an eye out for my upcoming high-protein peach cobbler hack!

When we had a week of extreme heat and humidity, I knew we needed a frozen high-protein snack. So I took inspiration from the Trim Healthy Mama Cottage Berry Whip recipe and changed it up to create a high-protein popsicle. Depending on the size of your popsicle mold each popsicle should have close to 12 or 13g of protein each. So you’ll really need to eat 2 (oh, darn 😉 ) for a complete snack or add another source of protein. And don’t worry, if you don’t have a popsicle mold I’ll provide an alternative for you.

Peaches and Cream Popsicle THM-Friendly E recipe

Benefits of the Peaches and Cream Popsicles

  • If you have two, they meet an ideal protein goal of 25g. Protein is essential because it’s what helps your body keep and build muscle. Without muscle, your body can’t burn fat, and overall health quickly goes downhill. The fact that it contains this much protein makes it a Trim Healthy Mama Friendly Recipe that’s up-to-date with the plan’s new Wisdom ways.
  • They’ll cool you off. Nothing’s better than something frozen on a hot summer day!
  • They’re quick and easy to make ahead. One batch should make enough for almost a week’s worth of afternoon snacks. It should take less than 5 minutes to make the popsicles and a few hours for them to freeze.
  • Peaches have benefits. According to healthline.com, peaches are full of antioxidants. They can help improve heart health, prevent cancer, and improve your skin.
  • It’s a carb meal, yay! Good, healthy carbs are so important. Especially for us women. Ideally, half or more of our meals should contain good carbs (so not white bread or sugar, no, no, no).

THM-Friendly E Recipe for Peaches and Cream Popsicles

Ingredients:

  1. Put all of the ingredients (except for the peach sauce) in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
  2. Pour into a popsicle mold*. You can add a spoonful of Summer Peach Sauce to each popsicle for a syrup-y core (optional). Freeze popsicles until solid.
  3. Enjoy!

Makes 5 servings of 25g of protein each. It will probably make more popsicles than that. For example, if it makes 10 popsicles then 2 popsicles make one complete high-protein snack.

*Alternative to a popsicle mold: Pour into several glass jars leaving 2 inches of open space at the top of each jar. Cover with plastic wrap and then put the jars in the freezer. When made this way, a jar should be pulled out of the freezer about half an hour before trying to eat it. It will be more like a smoothie than a popsicle.

Download this free THM Friendly E recipe card!

THM-Friendly E High-Protein Peaches & Cream PopsiclesDownload

Where are you on your health journey?

I love learning more about health! The plan I follow (Trim Healthy Mama) balances food groups beautifully, cuts out sugar, and emphasizes the need for high protein. It’s easy to personalize for budget, preferences, allergies, phase of life, and goals (weight loss, gaining muscle, healthy weight gain, working through health issues, getting more energy, etc.).

Are you interested in learning more about healthy living?

As a certified Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coach my goal is to show ladies how healthy living can be affordable, simple and delicious. If you interested in learning more schedule a free 15 minute health consultation!

Note: I’m an Amazon Affiliate so I receive a commission off anything purchased through links I share.

Summer Peach Sauce//THM-friendly E, Sugar-free, Low-fat, Summer Topping

Eliza Noel4 Comments

My THM-friendly recipe for Summer Peach sauce is a great topping for snacks, desserts, or breakfasts. It would go great on a pile of pancakes or waffles! As a health coach for women,I love finding cheap and easy Trim Healthy Mama friendly recipes. My goal is to make it easy for my clients to eat healthy for an affordable price and in a delicious way. This peach sauce recipe is the first in a series of peach recipes I’ll be sharing. I come from a long line of peach-loving Californians. Summer childhood memories are filled with stops at the peach stand and homemade peach cobblers. Keep an eye out for my upcoming high-protein peach cobbler and peaches-and-cream popsicle recipes! I’ve been experimenting lots since picking up several bags of fresh peaches.

Benefits of the Summer Peach Sauce

  • It’s sugar-free and uses a natural sweetener alternative. Instead of sugar this recipe calls for stevia. Stevia is a natural sweetener that comes from a plant. My family actually used to have a stevia plant in our garden! So despite rumors flying around about this sweetener, I believe it’s a much safer alternative to many of the artificial sweeteners out there. See this page to learn more about it!
  • Peaches have benefits. According to healthline.com, peaches are full of antioxidants. They can help improve heart health, prevent cancer, and improve your skin.
  • It’s a carb, yay! Good, healthy carbs are so important. Especially for us women. Ideally, half or more of our meals should contain good carbs (so not white bread or sugar, no, no, no).
  • Energy boost! Consider putting this sauce on your breakfast. Good carbs are an especially good way to start your day! They give you that nice little burst of energy.
  • It’s quick and easy to make. Just put the three ingredients in the pot and let it cook for a while you work on other things. The recipe is even easier if you use frozen sliced peaches. This batch should be big enough to last for a week’s worth of snacks and breakfasts!

THM-Friendly E Recipe for Summer Peach Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 5 sliced peaches, or about 1 lb. frozen sliced peaches (I cut roughly and leave the skin on because it’s easy, do whatever you like)
  • 3/4 tsp. pure stevia extract (or your choice of natural sweetener to taste)
  • 2-3 tbs. Water
  1. Put all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, cover with a lid, and turn heat to medium.
  2. Keep a close eye on it and let it simmer until it’s a sauce-y texture, and then cool before putting it in a container in the fridge
  3. You can use this peach sauce to top a bowl of cottage cheese, high-protein pancakes or even a banana milkshake!

Download this free THM-Friendly E recipe card!

THM-Friendly E Summer Peach Sauce (1)Download

Other THM-friendly Recipes

Creamy Banana Milkshake (High-protein)

Where are you on your health journey?

I love learning more about health! The plan I follow (Trim Healthy Mama) balances food groups beautifully, cuts out sugar, and emphasizes the need for high protein. It’s easy to personalize for budget, preferences, allergies, phase of life, and goals (weight loss, gaining muscle, healthy weight gain, working through health issues, getting more energy, etc.).

Are you interested in learning more about healthy living?

As a certified Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coach my goal is to show ladies how healthy living can be affordable, simple and delicious. If you interested in learning more schedule a free 15 minute health consultation!

Notes: I’m an Amazon Affiliate, so I receive a commission off anything purchased through links I share.

Where Secrets Lie by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker//Christian Suspense Review

Eliza Noel3 Comments

Where Secrets Lie by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker was a great Christian suspense novel. In some ways, it gave me National Treasure and Night at the Museum vibes because of the treasure smuggling ring. Of course, it was much more serious and heavy than those family movies.  Unfortunately, I somehow missed the fact that it was book #2 in the Tupelo Grove series, so I felt like I spent the first bit of the book trying to catch up on the storyline. I loved the book, “I Think I Was Murdered”, by the same duo of Christian suspense authors, so when I saw this one available on Netgalley I immediately requested it (with little research obviously, haha).

Audience

Older Teens & Adults

Genre

Christian Suspense

Author

Colleen Coble and Rick Acker

Savannah Webster and her ex-husband, Hez, have been through a lot together. They lost their daughter and were almost murdered by a smuggling ring, just to name a few things. Now it seems they’re finally able to process their grief together and maybe even remarry. But then things start going wrong. Something’s off at the university Savannah was recently chosen to be president of. On top of that, someone planted a wine bottle in Hez’s trash can and now Savannah’s afraid he has relapsed into alcoholism.

Read this Christian suspense novel to see what happens next!

A few of my favorite things…

  • The main couple learning to process grief together.
  • A suspenseful ending that demands another book in the series.
  • Unexpected plot twists and turns.
  • An adorable little British boy named Simon.
  • Southern culture and scenery.
  • Fun dog side characters.
  • Complex family history.

Know that…

  • There are heavy topics. Adultery is mentioned in someone’s family history, a couple who divorced but is trying to get back together, smuggling, murder, alcoholism, grief…definitely for an older crowd.

Perfect for…

Someone looking for a Christian suspense series.

Amazon

Notes: I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m also an Amazon Affiliate, so I receive a commission on anything purchased through links I share.

15+ Summer Bucket List Ideas

Eliza Noel3 Comments

Hey there!!! This is a bit of a different post for me- not book or health related, but my husband and I came up with some fun summer bucket list ideas so I wanted to share them here. We’re all about starting new family traditions and making each season special! I hope these are inspiring. Most of these ideas are also either free or fairly affordable. Let me know if there’s anything you’d add to the list!

Why Summer bucket list ideas?

Here in the Midwest warm weather comes and disappears so fast. We decided we wanted to make the most of it by getting outside and making fun new memories! Making a summer bucket list sounded like a fun way to do that.

Summer Bucket List Ideas

  • Picnic This one’s super easy and free! Just pack some sandwiches, a blanket, and go eat at a park somewhere.
  • Attend a Live Music Event See if your area has anything like this. There’s something so fun about random bands covering the same old classic rock songs!
  • Farmer’s Market They’re fun to browse even if you don’t buy anything. I definitely come away from them wishing I had a garden.
  • Find a New Park Maybe take a bit of a country drive and then end exploring trails at some park.
  • Beach Day Whether you’re near a lake or the ocean this can be a fun way to get outside and cool off.
  • Watch a Summer Movie Some we’ve watched so far are Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, and Because of Winn Dixie. Just think of movies you enjoy in summer-y or tropical settings!
  • Window Shop in a Cute Small Town This is something we’ve been doing since we were dating. We’ll find a small town, maybe an hour away, buy lattes, and then browse their thrift and antique stores.
  • Take a Bike Ride A good way to be both active and outside!
  • Go Camping Camping doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. Just take off on a Friday after work and go to a nearby campground. There’s nothing quite like waking up outside!
  • Go to the Zoo Zoos aren’t just for kids. Even as adults it can be fun to watch animals play and interact with each other!
  • Attend the County Fair I love doing this. It reminds me of my 4-H days!
  • Make a Scrapbook Our plan is to make a scrapbook of all the fun adventures we’ve been on.
  • Visit a Local Historical Landmark There are always new bits of history to learn about in your area!
  • Watch a Movie at a Drive-in Theater Learn from my mistakes and wear bug repellent! Also, bonus points if you can find a drive-in that’s showing an old movie.
  • Eat Outside at a Restaurant For this one we actually went to a farm that served pizza! You can see pictures from that here.
  • Attend a Festival and/or Rodeo There are so many random festivals! I even heard about a goat festival. Tell me what kind of festivals you have in your area!

What would you put on your list of Summer bucket list ideas?

Are there any of these you’re planning to do? What are some more ideas you’d add to the list? Let me know! I absolutely love summer and all the summer-y things.

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer//Christian Contemporary Romance Review

Eliza NoelLeave a comment

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer was a sweet Christian Contemporary Romance novel. It’s about a couple, Gracie and Noah, who got divorced 5 years previously, but neither has quite moved on. There’s a sweet side romance between Gracie’s nephew and the girl who was his best friend all through high school. It had me laughing and crying. Also, I absolutely love the clever title!

Audience

Older Teen Girls & Women

Genre

Christian Contemporary Romance, Closed-door Romance, Rom-com

Author

Becca Kinzer

Noah and Gracie never learned how to grieve the fact that they weren’t able to have children. Gracie’s dream had always been to be a mom, and she was absolutely crushed. When she saw Noah continuing on with his professional baseball career, she could only assume he wasn’t affected by it all. So the two of them gave up.

Five years later, Gracie is dealing with a hip injury and a tight writing deadline. Her nephew, Matt, arranges behind her back for her ex-husband to come and take care of her. Saying Gracie is furious would maybe even be an underestimate. How could she possibly focus on her writing deadline with that handsome (and infuriating) face around? The only face she ever kissed?

As Gracie and Noah bicker, Matt is reconnecting with Rachel, his high school best friend he’s always been in love with, but feels friend-zoned by.

A few of my favorite things…

  • The friends-to-lovers story
  • Characters learning to grieve
  • Noah and Gracie are still learning new things about each other after many years of marriage
  • The humor
  • References to classic old movies

Know that…

  • There’s a part where Noah helps Gracie take a bath because she can’t do it on her own. At this point, they’re divorced…so ya, that’s a bit messy…

Perfect for…

Any woman looking for a humorous and Christian contemporary romance novel filled with bickering and processing grief.

Amazon

Notes: I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m also an Amazon Affiliate, so I receive a commission on anything purchased through links I share.