Resources and tips for living a gluten-free, low carb, keto, and/or Trim Healthy Mama type of life.
I started first with linking to some of my favorite products because I found info like this helpful when I began this journey. I am also adding some blogger resources. Click here to jump down to those!
This post contains affiliate links that won’t change your price but will share some commission. All my recommendations are products I use frequently and enjoy! I will never link to a product I don't personally use.
Good quality chocolate:
Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Bar, Dark 85% Cacao, 3.5 Ounce (Pack of 10) This one is great!
Lily's All Natural Dark Chocolate Premium Baking Chips, 9 oz. I love the chocolate chips. My favorite bar is the Caramelized and Salted. Amazon is not the cheapest place for it though so it's worth shopping around.
Viva Naturals Non-GMO Cacao Powder - this really does taste great. I was afraid it wouldn't be chocolatey enough but it definitely is. I love it in my flourless brownies.
Natural Sugar-Free Sweeteners:
It was a real game-changer for me when I discovered a natural sweetener I liked. Before that, I used artificial sweeteners (so bad, I know), coconut sugar, agave, honey, maple syrup or regular sugar depending on whether I was dieting or not. Having a sweetener that is low glycemic index is important. When I first started THM I splurged on ordering a few things from their website. From my first taste, I loved Gentle Sweet. But, as you can see from my blog, I bake a lot. I love to bake and I needed a more economical option so I created my own mix of erythritol, xylitol, and stevia.
Thickeners:
NOW Foods Xanthan Gum, 6 Ounce Bottle - This works great to keep frozen drinks from separating! I use it in my Bubbly Frozen Lemonade. I took photos of that for 15 minutes before drinking it and it never separated.
NOW Foods Glucomannan 100% Pure Powder - 8 oz.
Knox Gelatin, Unflavored, 32 Count, Net Wt 8-Ounce - I know there are other brands with more health benefits but most of those are beef, which I don't eat, and a lot more expensive. For an occasional gummy recipe, I use this.
Coconut Products:
All my coconut links take you to iherb. They have some of the best pricing on the internet and between their coupons, shipping, and loyal customer credit they are usually the cheapest place to order from.
Let's Do Organic, 100% Organic Toasted Coconut Flakes Unsweetened, 7 oz - these are ammmazing. I know I could toast my own coconut flakes but for a grab and go snack with some nuts they can't be beaten.
Nutiva, Organic Refined Coconut Oil, 54 fl oz - I don't mind the taste of coconut is some recipes but for savory recipes and most chocolate recipes, I prefer refined coconut oil. It is a bit cheaper than virgin coconut oil as well.
Nutiva, Coconut Flour, Gluten Free, 3 lb - Coconut flour is the cheapest gluten free flour and I use it in almost all of my baked goods.
Edward & Sons, Organic Shredded Coconut, Unsweetened, 8 oz - I use shredded coconut in my Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders and Coconut Waffles among other things.
Nuts:
I buy many of my nuts locally or on Amazon. A 4 lb bag is $30.
Costco has good prices on nuts too. If you prefer to shop online for nuts these are what I buy online:
Now Foods, Real Food, Raw Almond Flour, 22 oz
Protein Plus, Roasted All Natural Peanut Flour, 16 oz OR THM De-Fatted Peanut Flour 16OZ BAG - The nutrition facts on these are identical. The first one is cheaper.
Extracts and Spices:
Penzey's is one of my favorite places to order spices from. They are high quality and reasonably priced. I use their Roasted Garlic Powder in a lot of my recipes. It has an amazing flavor.
Non Food Kitchen Stuff:
Ateco 4718 Disposable Decorating Bags, 18-Inch, Pack of 100 - Amazon sells super cheap piping bags. I pipe icing much more often than I used to since this discovery.
6pc Chocolate Molds, Lollipop Mold, Candy Molds, Ice Molds, Silicone Molds, Silicone Baking Molds - great for gummies and skinny chocolate
BELLA 13586 12-Piece Rocket Blender, Stainless Steel and Black - I use this at least a few times a week. It is great for grinding my homemade sweetener into powder for icings and beverages.
BELLA 13991 Rotating Waffle Maker, Polished Stainless Steel - I got this for Christmas a couple years ago. It makes great waffles!
Oster 4270-615 Beehive Blender, 600-Watt, 2 Speed, 6 Cup Glass Jar, Red - We've had the silver version of this since we got married in 2003. It is still going strong. It's not as powerful as a Vitamix but it is an awful lot cheaper. It works great for smoothies and frozen drinks.
Vitamix - I do love my vitamix, especially the self-cleaning option!
BLOGGER TIPS & RESOURCES:
This section is always a work in progress. After just 8 months of blogging, I was at 280k views and began making a supplemental income to support my family. I hope to share tips on my journey.
Get a GREAT host. I recommend Charles at WPopt very highly. My site transfer from wordpress.com to wordpress.org went incredibly smoothly and I haven't had any problems since.
Join any sponsor networks you can. Such as Linqia, Social Fabric, Izea, and Clever Girls.
Use a scheduling program for social media. This saves so much time. I use Tailwind (get a free month) and ViralTag ($30 credit).
Beautiful business cards are a must when meeting brands. Moo.com is the place to use. Get 20% off with my link.
Pick an ad network that is based on customer service. I recommend Mediavine or AdThrive because I had a positive experience with both companies. They've helped me monetize my site and are at the top of their industry for upgrades and new features.
