My Go-To, Tried-and-True, Favorite Recipes! - THM friendly - Briana Thomas (2024)

April 6, 2018 by Briana Thomas Burkholder 8 Comments

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If you listen to the Trim Healthy Mama podcast (or keep up with the main THM Facebook group), chances are you’ve heard a lot of buzz about “Sweatpants Oatmeal” lately. 😛 While this may sound nasty at first brush, this is simply the name for Pearl’s favorite oatmeal recipe that she shared on podcast episode 57: “Stop Making This So Hard!”The so-called “Sweatpants Meals” are just meals that you go to whenever you need an old favorite – comfortable and easy because of how often you’ve made them. Attractive in their familiarity perhaps even more so than because they taste good. As I listened to the afore-mentioned podcast episode, I immediately thought about my Easy Chocolate Oatmeal: the oatmeal that I eat pretty much every morning for breakfast. It’s so easy and I have the process DOWN. No measuring. Easy ingredients. FEW ingredients! Yet it tastes like dessert for breakfast every morning and I start anticipating it only a few seconds after I open my eyes.

Since sweatpants are all the rage these days, here are some of my top sweatpants meals! A lot of these aren’t even recipes, and the ones that are…well, in all honesty when I’m in sweatpants mode, I don’t usually follow the recipes anyway (but they’ll be helpful for you if you want to try some of my favorites…haha). Without further ado, here are some of my go-to, tried-and-true, favorite recipes!

Breakfast:

• (THM E) Easy Chocolate Oatmeal with half a sliced banana, half a scoop of whey protein powder (for added protein to keep me full longer), and a teaspoon of coconut oil = my breakfast most mornings. It’s recommended to switch things up and not eat the same thing all the time for best results, but in busy seasons of life I personally believe that it’s far preferable to have something easy and healthy to turn to instead of getting stressed out and making poor choices. If you eat oatmeal for breakfast most mornings and find that your weight loss is stalling or you feel sluggish, try shaking things up with something different.
• (THM E) 2 slices of sprouted bread toast (I currently use Aldi’s sprouted bread) with a teaspoon of butter + low-fat cottage cheese with frozen berries and THM Super Sweet Blend
• (THM E) Baked oatmeal (like this Blueberry Baked Oatmeal or any of the other baked oatmeals in my Breakfast recipe index) + homemade yogurt + a little fruit if the baked oatmeal doesn’t have a significant amount already
• (THM S) 5 Ingredient Waffleswith natural peanut butter and sugar-free syrup – These waffles freeze great. You can make a big batch and then pop them in the toaster or a warm oven to reheat in the morning for a quick breakfast.
• Muffins (like these Apple Muffins or these Pumpkin Chip Muffins) make a great E breakfast when paired with some low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese for protein. I also eat leftovers of any type for breakfast if the fridge needs cleaned out or I want to grab something quick.

Lunch:

• Leftovers – Since I’m doing a lot of recipe testing for my next cookbook and there are only two of us in the house, I eat leftovers for lunch most days! I LOVE leftovers. (Above: leftover greens/sausage stir-fry with some lettuce + celery with peanut butter and sugar-free chocolate chips)
• Salad + whatever needs to be used in the fridge – Put anything on lettuce. In a big serving bowl to cut down on the mess that inevitably happens when one tries to eat salad in a dignified fashion. Like, seriously…soup, gravies, stir-fry, curry, meatloaf…it can all go on salad. Hard-boiled eggs make a great THM S protein source if you need an anchor for the rest of your toppings. Salsa makes a great THM E “dressing”!
• (THM S) Low-carb wrap with cheese, meat, lettuce, assorted condiments + celery and peanut butter
• (THM E) Sardines (packed in water or hot sauce) as a sandwich with 2 slices of sprouted bread toast, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard + small serving of fruit

Snacks:

• (THM S or FP) (much simpler to throw together than it sounds) – This is my 5-ingredient go-to craving fixer. You’ve got protein, plus it tastes like dessert. Sometimes I omit the peanut butter, sometimes the cocoa powder, sometimes both, many times neither. Use defatted peanut flour in place of the peanut butter for a Fuel Pull version.
• (THM E) Homemade yogurt and fruit – I’ve been doing this a lot lately! I’ve been making yogurt with skim milk and not straining it into Greek yogurt. If you leave it as regular yogurt, keep it in a THM E setting. The reason I’ve been doing this is because I get a whole gallon of yogurt and it lasts longer plus I get more fill power for my money (the price of a gallon of milk). AND I don’t have to mess with straining it, which saves time.
• (THM S) – I don’t make a habit of this because I like to keep my snacks on the lighter side, but if you need comfort food, THIS will fix you. Fried, crispy goodness surrounding a melty, gooey cream cheese and blueberry center.
• (THM E) Apple with peanut butter made from defatted peanut flour – The peanut flour is your protein source. Just add some water, salt, and stevia to turn it into a low-fat peanut butter!
• Leftovers – Yes, leftovers any time of day.

Supper:

• (THM S) Scrambled eggs (with chopped veggies and fresh cilantro if I want to get fancy) + cheese + salsa
• (THM S) 5 Ingredient Waffles – Yeah, I’m kinda big on breakfast food for supper. It’s so quick and easy!
• (THM E) Some kind of stir-fry with chicken and veggies, soy sauce, and seasonings – served over brown rice
• (THM S, E, or FP) Chicken + veggies + pizza sauce + seasonings baked in the oven
• (THM E) Mom’s Chicken Soup
• (THM S) Mommy’s Meatloaf+ a simple salad

Dessert:

• (THM S) Instant Peanut Butter Chocolate-Covered Strawberries– my go-to single-serve dessert
• (THM S) Brianafinger Bars(pictured above)
• (THM Deep S) Chocolate Pudding Cake for One – this one also makes a good snack or breakfast
• (THM S) Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffin– I’ve made this for Ryan and me to share several times. You can’t beat a moist chocolate cake with melty cream cheese center and chocolate chips!
• (THM S) Horsetracks Ice Cream – Ice cream is one of the simplest desserts you can make (provided that you have an ice cream maker). This is definitely the one I’ve made the most.
• (THM S) Vanilla or Chocolate CarbSmart with peanut butter – While CarbSmart isn’tideal because it’s sweetened with Splenda, it’s approved on the THM plan as a personal choice item to enjoy once in awhile. Stick to the serving size….
• (THM E) I enjoy baked oatmeal or muffins (such as the ones listed above in the Breakfast section) for E desserts or snacks. My baked oatmeal recipes are actually more like oatmeal cakes since they’re refrigerated overnight before baking. (Check out the options here in my Breakfast recipe index.)
• (THM E) Homemade yogurt and fruit – When I got married and moved in February, it took me awhile to get back to baking. During my hiatus from desserts, I found out just how sweet a piece of fruit is! I’ve gained a new appreciation for something as simple as yogurt and fruit as a dessert.

Drinks:

• To be honest, when I’m in sweatpants mode, I don’t have time to make drinks! I generally stick to hot tea and maybe add a doonk of stevia if I’m feeling fancy. 😛 However, if I do have time to make something, these are my go-to drink recipes:
• (THM Deep S) Velvety Hot Chocolate – a comforting, metabolism-revving Bulletproof-style hot drink for the non-coffee drinker 😉
• (THM S) Peanut Butter Milkshake(pictured above) – my favorite shake recipe of all time
• (THM S) Peanut Butter Cake Batter Shake– or maybe this is my favorite…
• (THM FP) Cranberry Nog– if I’m in weight loss, eat-all-the-glucomannan mode…
• (THM FP) Chocolate Dreamy or Chocolate-Covered Cranberry Superfood Shake– if I want to get my okra in…
• (THM E) Peach Smoothie or Ice Cold Fruit Smoothie– I’m really loving my E meals these days, so I’m actually more apt to reach for one of these, especially as summer hits and I want something super fruity and refreshing.

Well, I hope that gave you some new easy recipes to try! What are YOUR sweatpants meals? Snacks? Do you have a breakfast that you eat nearly every morning? Please share in the comments below and inspire us!

You may also enjoy:

• STARTING THM

• my recipe index

• recipeindexbyfueltype/allergy/theme

Grab a copy of my cookbook to get nearly 400 RECIPES to jump start your healthy journey! (Many of the recipes above can be found in my cookbook.) You’ll find lots of our Thomas family church cookbook favorites made healthy in this easy-to-use, hard cover/spiral bound book. CLICK HERE for details!You may also want to check out my recipe calendar with 12 brand new recipes and exclusive recipe cards! (The calendar is on sale!)

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