Phase 1 recipes

Good morning all,

I recently bought another South Beach cookbook and have a couple recipes to share. Both are really yummy! Surprisingly yummy. ;) The Creamed Spinach is really good and of course you feel like you've done well just because you had spinach. The brownies are good too. Now if you made real- full fat brownies and compared the two, there is a slight difference. But when you are watching your calories and carbs, this swap is AWESOME! Don't let the black bean part deter you.

Quick Creamed Spinach(makes 4 servings)

16 oz frozen spinach, thawed
3/4 cup fat free milk
4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese cut into chunks and softened
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese(1ounce)

Place the thawed spinach in a colander set over large bowl; squeeze to extract juice. Pour 2 tbsp of the juice into cup and reserve. Discard remaining juice. In medium saucepan, combine the spinach juice, mile, and cream cheese. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring and pushing cheese against the pan to break up. (mixture should be well combined, but will not be smooth) Remove pan from heat. In large non stick skillet heat oil over med heat, add onions and stir frequently , until softened(about 3 minutes). Add spinach, stirring to coat. Stir in milk mixture and cook until bubbling(about 3 minutes). Season spinach with nutmeg and salt/pepper to taste. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve hot.

Good stuff!!

Per serving: 152 calories- 9 g fat-4 g sat fat- 10 g protein- 11g carbs- 4 g fiber- 313 sodium.


Black Bean Brownies(makes 36 brownies- 3 brownie per serving)

1 can black beans(15.5 oz) drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup granular sugar substitute
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder(preferably dark)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
36 small pecan halves or walnut pieces(about 1.5 oz)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a blender or food processor, combine the beans, eggs, oil, sugar substitute, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Process until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and arrange nuts in even rows, 6 across and 6 down. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cut into 36 squares with a nut in the center of each.

Per brownie- 34 calories-2 grams fat- 0.4 sat fat- 1 g protein- 2 g carbs- 1 g fiber- 66 mg sodium.

YUMMY!

Day 12

FOOD
Breakfast: a banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter
Snack: A slice of watermelon
Lunch: 3 slices of lunch meat, 1 slice of mozzarella, celery sticks with hummus, half a cucumber topped with salt and lemon juice
Dinner: 2 chicken breast tenderloins topped with avocado & mango salsa*, broccoli and two small spoonfuls of mashed potatoes (I couldn't help myself!)
Indulgence: handful of cherries & 2 spoonfuls of chocolate cool whip

EXERCISE:
20 laps in the pool -- it started raining and then thundering so I had to get out before I could get more done!
200 leg lifts





*I don't know why but for the past few days I've been craving a fresh mango & avocado salsa. I don't recall even eating those two flavors together, but I thought I'd give it a try. I cut half a mango and half an avocado into small pieces and mixed together in a bowl. I squeezed half a lime over top and added a few leaves of cilantro, roughly cut with my kitchen shears. Then I threw in some chopped tomatoes and bit of finely diced onion. Also grated a clove of garlic into it. Salt to taste. It was quite delicious, if i might say so myself! It was what I used to resist the pull of the potatoes, and it basically worked! I did have two spoonfuls of potatoes, but that's easily 1/3 of what I normally would've eaten, so I'm quite proud of myself!

What I had for dinner

I took Blest's old recipe and spruced it up a bit, and boy was is yummy! I gave it a boring name for now, but maybe later I'll come up with something better. Or does someone out there have any suggestions?

The ingredient measurements are not exact (I just eyeball most of the time) so you may need to adjust where appropriate.

EGGPLANT BAKE

1 large eggplant
1 cup sliced mushrooms
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
1-2 cups spaghetti or pizza sauce
1 ½ cups grated mozzarella
½-1 cup grated Parmesan
Italian herbs (I used marjoram, thyme, basil & oregano and crushed red pepper for a kick)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thinly coat bottom of 9x13 inch baking pan with olive oil. Slice eggplant into ½ inch rounds. Lay eggplant rounds in baking pan, season with salt, pepper & herbs and drizzle or brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (Optional: I rubbed the rounds on both sides with garlic before laying them in the pan, then minced the garlic and mixed it with olive oil before brushing it onto the eggplant.) Bake eggplant for 15 minutes.

After eggplant is finished baking, remove from oven and top with about ½ cup of spaghetti sauce (enough to spread so it barely covers the eggplant but not necessarily pooling onto the bottom of the pan). Sprinkle with about ½ cup mozzarella. Add mushrooms, onions and bell pepper then top with rest of the spaghetti sauce (in total, I used half a can of sauce, but didn’t measure so not sure exactly how much I put). Top with remainder of mozzarella & Parmesan. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is melted, slightly starting to brown, and the sauce is bubbling along the edges.

Served with salad, this can easily feed 4 very hungry people! It’s so yummy that my meat and potatoes dad loved it and actually had two servings!

Day 3

I stuck with it today, although I do feel like I overate. Let's see . . .

FOOD:
Brunch: 5 Bean Salad (I was sick of eggs. On only the 3rd day. Not a good sign . . . ), a few raw celery sticks & baby carrots
Snack #1: Fuji Apple
Snack #2: DanActive Light Yogurt drink with some ground flaxseed I added in
Snack #3 while cooking dinner: 2 slices of mozzarella and 6 small slices of pepperoni (since I ate the pepperoni while cooking, I didn't add it to my portabella mushroom!)
Dinner: One Portabella Pizzetta with salad on the side. I did add a spoonful of the Italian sausage mixture I made for my parents and I'm proud to say I didn't even eat one piece of the spiral pasta I made to go with it! That was tough! Oh, to the portabella mixture I added some garlic powder (a about 3/4 teaspoon) and a few dashes of crushed red pepper. It was YUM-MO! But the mixture, IMO, does not make enough for the 12 mushrooms as it suggests. I figured I'd mix it all up and then freeze it to use later. Turns out I prob won't need to freeze it, just buy about four more mushrooms in the next week or so. And just the one serving of mushroom was very filling, especially since I had the salad to go with it.
Indulgence: serving of cherries & 2 spoonfuls of Chocolate Cool-Whip

EXERCISE:
250 leg lifts (not in the pool this time)
4 sets (of 15) free weight exercises (don't know what they're called)
5 min on the stair stepper (it nearly killed me but I only stopped twice! (do i get more sympathy if i tell you we keep the stair stepper outside (which is why it was squeaky) so i'm using it in 100 degree weather???))
70 laps in the pool

I never write down what I drink, but I mostly drink water with fresh lemon juice. I probably have one glass of tea or Splenda-sweetened coke a day. I haven't even been drinking much coffee these days! ::GASP::

I'll be out all day tomorrow. I'm going to my friend Becca's house for a late birthday lunch with her and her mom. They're grilling fish but I don't know what else to go along with it. Then later in the afternoon we're meeting some of Becca's friends for a movie and dinner. No idea where they'll choose to go for dinner and I hope I'm able to resist the movie theater popcorn!

Days 1 & 2

I think SB Phase 1 is always the hardest for me, so I'll (hopefully) be posting my daily stats these first two weeks. We'll see what happens after that. I'm just writing what I'm eating, not counting calories since I was born with a math block and I'm not mentally capable of it!


DAY 1
FOOD:
Brunch: 3 eggs Polish style (fried with a bit of sour cream added towards the end and topped with chives; my Polish friend Justyna introduced me to them and they're quite yummy!)
Snack: DanActive Light Strawberry yogurt drink
Dinner: bowl of my homemade Charro Beans; small serving of ground beef topped with a pinch of cheddar
Indulgence: One scoop of sugar-free chocolate ice cream topped with 2 spoons of chocolate Cool-Whip

EXERCISE: NONE, since I had a migraine all day!


DAY 2
FOOD:
Brunch: Kalyn's Feta Cheese & Avocado Mini-Frittata for Two It was yummy! Since I was making it for myself I actually used 3 eggs (since I woke up late and it served as both breakfast AND lunch) and half an avocado. I also didn't have spike seasoning so I threw a lot of random seasonings in.
Snack: Celery sticks & Hummus (a recipe from All-Recipes; I added a dash of cumin, a little less tahini, and no parsley since apparently weevils like dried parsley. Yuck!)
Indulgence: 6 cherries (yeah, I know -- no fruit on phase 1, but I'm not being extremely strict with that one)
Very late lunch/snack: 1 cup of 5 been salad (my invention; I can post the recipe if anyone is interested)
Dinner: Hamburger patty topped with a slice of mozzarella & grilled onions and mushrooms; sliced tomato & cucumbers on the side.

EXERCISE:
Roughly 5 min on squeaky stair stepper (I told myself 5 min to start since yesterday's migraine stayed with me 'til halfway through today. Turns out I'm so outta shape I couldn't even do 5 min straight! I had to stop every so often. Sad sad sad!)
Roughly 25 min swimming laps (I did 70 total. Don't be too impressed, it's one of those modern peanut shaped pools, not the huge Olympic-sized pool!)
200 leg lifts (I kinda cheated and did them in the pool)

Tomato soup

I have an abundance of tomatoes. While most everyone I meet has complained about their lack this year, God blessed us with more than I know what to do with. I've frozen them (take them out of the freezer, place under warm water and the skin comes right of...takes the place of stewed toms), I've canned tons of salsa, I've canned bbq sauce with them and I've dehydrated them with plans of putting them in oil. Despite all of these efforts, I still have more. So, my dilemma was what else can I do. We're not big marinara people so that would be a waste. My solution, tomato soup. Now mind you, I used to hate the stuff but lately...complete love. I thought I'd share my recipe for it.
Cream of Tomato soup
2 c. chicken broth
5 c. diced and seeded tomatoes
1/2 of a large onion, diced
1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 c. 1% milk

Add all of the ingredients BUT the milk to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Allow to simmer until all veggies are soft. At this point I threw it into the food processor. I didn't completely puree it because I like a little chunk...makes me think hearty. Place the soup back into the pot, bring to a low boil and add milk. I continued to cook at a simmer for roughly 30 mins. This helped to reduce which creates a slightly thickened base. You could salt and pepper to taste...I personally avoid added salt. Also, basil would be a wonderful additive however I used dill this time around. I would say that this recipe makes 4 servings and when plugged into the calorie counter only comes out with around 67 calories. Not too shabby eh? This soup is paired up wonderfully with a salad and a yummy whole wheat biscuit. The soup is perfect for phase 1. My husband was out of town when I made this so I ate a bowl and then placed the other 3 servings in individual baggies and froze. It will be a perfect thing to pull out when I don't feel like cooking or when we forget to make Jeff's lunch.

Food Friday! - The South Beach Phase One edition

Since I'm sitting eating veggie curry for breakfast and typing this post (yes, wrong in so many ways, but I only have 12 minutes before I have to head out of the door) I obviously need to link to my (in)famous veggie curry recipe.

However, unlike me, Nikki probably doesn't want to survive a couple of weeks on phase one just eating curry, so... what have you got?!

(I'll try to post another recipe later, cos I feel like this is a bit of a cop out).

Also, new competition/challenge launching soon (Once I've got my head around it!). There will be exercise stuff and other food/life/God related challenges. (Just to make it really confusing!)
Since I'm rules out of exercising at the moment, I'll be judge ;). I'm not sure about the entrance fee/winnings side of it at the moment.
Leave me your ideas in the comments. Pretty please.

Hmm, 6 minutes left. Better get back to eating curry...

Psst, Nikki...

Kalyn has a post up which is a round-up of phases one recipes from around the blogosphere this past month. You might like to check it out.

Phase One Recipe

I don't know if you like curry, Nikki, but I thought I'd share the phase one recipe that arrived in my inbox this morning from South Beach Daily Emails.
Just click over to see the recipe..
Indian Vegetable Curry

Anyone else have a phase one recipe they would like to share? Let's have that as a theme for Food Friday this week. (I know not everyone is doing south beach, so please don't get mad at me, think of it as helping out a friend!)

(and even if the recipe has been shared before on the old site, you can share it again here, cos I still haven't finished tagging the recipe archive, so it's a bit hard to find recipes when you're looking for them. If you are trying to hunt down a recipe on the archives site, let me know and I can give you a hand)

For Nikki

Top Ten Positive Things About Phase One

10. You don't have to think much about what you will eat...there aren't too many options to confuse you.

9. You are forced to learn how to cook and eat lots of vegetables.

8. You have few to no cravings for sweets (after the initial 3 day detox.)

7. Although the initial detox is kinda hard, at least you've got a lot of junk out of your system.

6. Increased energy.

5. You start losing immediately.

4. Your clothes start fitting better immediately.

3. South Beach Cookbooks are really cool.

2. Steak, grilled onions and mushrooms and salad is a really yummy dinner.

And the number one positive about Phase One of South Beach is...................

(drum roll, please...)

1. Brussels Sprouts With Garlic! A recipe that I never would have tried unless I had done Phase One of South Beach. And I LOVE it!! :-)

We're in this with you, Nikki! You can do it! :-)

*Link added for the Brussel Sprouts Recipe*