Happy Tuesday all!  Well, I made it to day 2 of the South Beach Diet, woo hoo!  I figured since I was doing this I would give you guys all an idea of what kinds of food I'm eating on this diet.  Phase 1 is the hardest, not only the hardest to stick to, but it's the hardest to cook for too, well in my opinion anyway!  So here's how my meals have been going, for the most part....

Breakfast....
Usually consists of eggs and egg whites.  I like to scramble em, or fold em into an omlet, either way will work.  I will usually add onions and peppers, either green or banana and a pinch of fat free cheddar cheese.  And 9 times out of 10 I will pair my eggs with 2 slices or 2 links of turkey bacon or sausage.

Snacks....
Will consist of a serving of nuts, either pistachios or almonds.  Non-fat cottage cheese with some zucchini chips or I will have a Shakeology with skim milk and a tsp of peanutbutter or a 1/4 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt and a pinch of Stevia sweetner.

Lunch....
Today for lunch I had a greek salad, consists of greens, red onions, olives, feta cheese and a homemade salad dressing I made with just a tbsp of EVOO and a tbsp of red wine vinegar.  LOVE making my own dressings!  With my salad I had 2 turkey avocado lettuce rolls with dijon mustard.

Dinner...
While on phase 1 of South Beach I try to keep dinner small, so last night we had seasoned grilled chicken breasts on a bed of green beans and a side greek salad with homemade dressing. 

Desserts.....
IF I have to have a dessert during phase 1 I will have a sugar free popscicle or fudgescicle or a sugar free pudding cup.

So that pretty much consists of my diet for the first 2 weeks of phase 1.  I try to switch it up and keep thing interesting so I'll continue to post what I'm eating through these next two weeks, it'll force me to keep things interesting :)

Happy Thursday people!  Almost to the weekend and I've got a great little quick recipe for some delish salsa and as always figure friendly :)  I could seriously put salsa on anything so this little recipe can be whipped up pretty quickly and be topped onto pretty much anything you'd like.  Last night for dinner the hubs cooked some chicken breasts on grill and also threw some peppers from the garden onto the grill as well, I made some whole wheat penne pasta and threw together this homemade salsa.  We topped our pasta/veggie/grilled chicken dish with the salsa and presto!  YUM! Enjoy!

What you need:
1 cup olives (chopped)
1 can diced tomatoes or diced fresh tomatoes
1 garlic clove
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:
Mix it all together and there you go!

Have I told you that I LOVE having a garden?  Well.... I LOVE HAVING A GARDEN :)  We got our first zucchini out of the garden last night and I couldn't help myself, I just had to make that yummy zucchini bread that I make every year with our fresh picked zucs!  Although, this year as you know I'm taking the healthier route so I changed up the recipe a bit to be more figure friendly.  Still delicious without a doubt (I've already had 2 pieces), just more on the healthly side.  Here's the recipe, ENJOY!

What you need:
1 cup of mashed zucchini, peeled (I used my magic bullet)
1/4 cup of butter (I used 0 trans fat)
1 cup of sugar (I used stevia, natural sweetner)
2 cups of whole wheat flour or mixing blend
2 eggs

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix all ingredients with a mixer
Spray a bread baking dish with EVOO
Pour all mixed ingredients into dish and bake for 55 minutes and DONE!  YUM!

Happy Friday people!  The weekend is here again!  A couple nights ago I whipped up this little number, like literally it only takes about 15 min. to prep and about 25 min. to cook.  This dish is whole wheat penne with shrimp and ricotta.  I like this dish because you get all the yummy deliciousness of a great pasta dish without all the calories.  When you toss hot pasta with ricotta cheese it creates a creamy sauce that's much like alfredo, but with half the fat, genius right!?  Here's the recipe, ENJOY!

What you'll need:
12 oz. bag of shrimp, deveined
8 oz whole wheat penne
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can chopped tomatos
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
Salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

What you do:
Heat oven to 450
Cook pasta according to the package directions
Once pasta is done, drain and add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix together.
Once mixed, pour into a large baking dish and pop into the oven and TA-DA!  Dinnertime!

Pair this with a little side of greens and you got yourself one yummy and guilt-free dish :)

HAPPY FRIDAY YA'LL!  We made it :)  I'm super happy the weekend is here so I'm going to delight you with not one, but TWO of my favs.  Ok, first one... so yesterday for my mid-day snack I did a little planning.  I knew I wanted to try this, but I also knew it would require a little prep time. After lunch yesterday I decided to make my mid-day snack so that it would be ready around 4pm which is usually when my mid-day hunger pains start.  Usually my mid-day snack is a Shakeology and this time I wanted to "shake" things up a bit so I mixed my cup of skim milk, one scoop of Chocolate Shakeology and 1 tbsp of crunchy natural peanutbutter in a blender.  Once thoroughly blended I poured it into a bowl and popped that baby in the freezer.  So about 4pm I go get my choco-concoction out of the freezer and frozen it was!  I chopped up some apple slices and perfectly placed them in the pudding-like mixture and TADA!  Choco-Apple Nutter Delight! It was soooooo delicious, a great snack and totally healthly!  I packed the punch of all my daily nutrients in this dessert-like masterpiece :)  Will definitely be doing this one again very soon!

Now, on to dinner..... This is one of my favorite dinners, it's called Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy Stir-Fry, a South Beach classic.  See cliff's notes recipe below:

What you'll need:
1 1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined
4 scallions, white & green parts sliced and separate
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp of veg. oil
2 lbs bok choy (or romaine lettuce will work)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (I use hot sauce and sprinkle in the powered garlic)

Directions:
In a large bowl combine shrimp, scallion whites and garlic.
In a wok or large pan, heat oil and add shrimp mixture, and cook through, about 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add bok choy or lettuce to wok, medium/high heat, cover and stir occasionally for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp/tender.  Add to large bowl with shrimp mixture.
Add soy sauce and chili garlic sauce to pan, stir to combine and bring to a boil.  Add shrimp mixture and toss until coated.  Stir in scallion greens and serve warm!  I added a small sided salad to my meal and also a serving of quinoa that I topped with my yummy stir fry.  So so good!  Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will :)

So here it is!  I knew it wouldn't take long to have our first harvest out of our garden!  This is Butter Lettuce or aslo known as Boston Bibb lettuce which comes from a cultivar of lettuce called Butterhead. It has a slightly sweet, buttery flavor, fairly large, loose heads with thick leaves and even green coloring.  Isn't it beautiful!?  Bet ya can't guess what I'll be having for lunch today :)

This was absolutely perfect for lunch on this sweltering hot day!  It was quick, easy and packed a ton of protein.  This delicious snack is the yummy turkey avocado wrap, it consists of 3 slices of turkey breast, 1/2 diced tomato, 1/4 of avocado, sliced, 3 lettuce leaves and a dash of cilantro all wrapped up into 1 whole wheat tortilla. Ok now my stomach is growling!  Who likes my doggy plate :)

Do you love egg salad?  Well here is a much healthier recipe I found that excludes the use of mayonaise.  Not only is it a healthier option, I think it tastes much better too!
So, here's the skinny (literally), instead of using the mayo, you are going to use cottage cheese.  Bizarre, right!?  But, it is oh so good.  Here's the recipe:

2 hard boiled eggs, yolk removed from one
1/4 cup of low-fat or fat free cottage cheese
whole wheat tortilla
1 tpsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp of dried dill or tarragon (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix this all together and you have some guilt-free egg salad!  Pair it with 2 cups of mixed greens, sliced tomato and 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and you have yourself a nice low cal lunch.  Enjoy!

This is one of my most favorite breakfasts, I had it this morning and I could eat it every morning!  This is a breakfast from South Beach Diet, Phase 2.  It's one medium banana spilt in two, down the middle, lengthwise.  I topped it with 2 scoops of plain fat free yogurt and sprinkled with some stevia sugar and whole grain bran flakes and done!  It is so good.  A perfect combo of a tart and sweet taste!  Plus, you kind of trick your eyes (and brain) into thinking you're eating a sundae for breakfast :)  It literally takes like 2 minutes to make, give it try, let me know how you like it! 

Yesterday I wanted pizza.... BAD.  And I totally had pizza, and in my opinion was better than any pizza house pizza in our area, not to mention it was 10x healthier!  So, basically I start with a thin whole wheat crust and lightly coat it with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), a think layer of sugar free tomato sauce and some diced tomatos as my base and then I just load it with veggies.  This time I used some chopped up yellow bell pepper, jalepenos, olives, onions and I threw some leftover chunks of grilled chicken breast on top that was left over from lunch, then I sprinkled lightly with some reduced fat cheddar cheese.  I also like to use feta as well if I have it on hand.  Pop this in the oven for about 10 - 15 min. and you have one yummy, crispy pizza pie!  I held myself to about 3 pieces and then had to cut myself off.  Soooo good :)  What healthy alternatives do you take to indulge in those meals that often get a bad wrap in the healthly eating world, like pizza?