Breakfast of South Beach Champions

Omelette I love you. Every day.

Sandwiches don't need bread....REALLY

Lunch time on Phase 1. The boys I think eat this for lunch pretty much every day. It's a lot tastier than you think. Take a lettuce leaf, add mayo cheese turkey tomato avocado whatever you like, roll it up! Yum!

Coconut Chicken Dinner Wednesday night

OK so the whole family is on board with the South Beach Diet. I have been having so much fun cooking that I have forgotten to post on the Blog! (Horrible, I know) We did a lot of perusing through the cookbook and various other blogs and I have to say, I was really excited to make this dish because it is the first time I have ever cooked with coconut milk. And I knew it would be really yummy. This plate is actually pretty big the peas were hard to finish but complemented the chicken really nicely. The Tamarind paste I picked up at a local east indian market. Try this recipe from the South Beach Diet Cook Book (the Orange One). It is RAD.

Taco Salad - Phase 1 Staple

In my house Tacos are a good standby dinner. Every one likes them, you feel really full when you are finished eating them, and now that I have learned how to make my own Taco Seasoning, I feel a little fancy about it too. Doing the South Beach Diet phase 1 we just take away the shell. It is really very delicious, but I did you a favor by taking a picture before I mixed it all up. You are welcome.

SBD Phase 1

Hey ! We are all doing South Beach Diet Phase one! It feels Rad. And so fun to plan and cook as a family. So Excited I keep forgetting to take pictures. I'll try to do better I promise. For now here is lunch today , salad with some chopped ham that I needed to use. Plus a snack. Celery sticks and HaHa Moo :-)

Crazy diet phase 1

So I'm trying the South Beach Diet. I'm on phase 1 and so far I really miss bread. And fruit. But not as much as I thought I would. I am actually really enjoying the way I feel, and I hope I can lose weight with it too. I'm trying to convince my family to do it with me so it won't be quite so hard. Hopefully they do. For now, I'm psyched to tell you I made my own salad dressing. And it was good! Just a simple vinagrette with herbs olive oil white wine vinegar chopped capers and some dijon mustard. Yum.

Who needs chicken?

Happy Friday! After a long day filled with work running errands and walking Greenlake, this is what I'm finally noshing on for dinner. Our original dinner plans fell through (long story), and so I was happy I had picked this little feast up from Trader Joes. It is perfect. I am actually quite pleased with the sparkling spanish white wine too! I'm sure I'll need another glass to really test it out. Thanks Jen for suggesting pairing the honey chevre with a rosemary raisin cracker , a little dot of this balsamic glaze on top and I'm in fancy cracker heaven.

Pea Nutty...

So my style of cooking is more "by the pants"....

I took frozen chicken & firm tofu...
I marinated both in a generic store bought peanut sauce all day...
I got frozen stir fry veggies at QFC..

I flash fried the drained chicken & tofu in veggie oil ....
put in strainer in a deep pan to drain...

Add a tbsp of peanut butter and cook the marinade down into a thicker sauce....about 10 mins

a couple splashes of chili oil & add the frozen stuff and fresh broccoli....

i soaked a thin rice noodle in cold water for about 20 minutes while i did all that ...

Toss the drained noodles into the peanut sauce and cook for 5 mins stirring....

Serve noodle mix & top with chicken/tofu...

People were almost done before they realized that tofu was in the meal.

I do wish i had not added the frying oil to the peanut sauce...

Black Bean Happiness

TONIGHT though, I am absurdly excited about making these black bean quesadillas . I'm not sure if I am just jazzed about making my own taco seasoning or what, but I have been looking forward to this for a few days now. Here are the ingredients - Camel mixed up the beans onion cilantro & hominy - since we didn't have any corn - while I was out walking Greenlake.

About 2/3 cup mixture in each Quesadilla

 All I had to do was Mix in the cheese and the Homemade Taco Seasoning - which I am (as I said before) ridiculously excited about

And Voila!! Black Bean Quesadillas with Sour Cream. I ended up with 10, we ate six and I am freezing 4 for later the way she suggests. I've never done this before, so we'll see how it turns out. Anyway, I am really in love with her blog, budgetbytes.blogspot.com and it was really fun to make these tonight.

Asian Chicken Salad

Salad again, I know. But I'm excited about this salad. Mixed greens, shredded carrot, sugar snap peas, chicken, red bell pepper, slivered almonds, crunchy onion strips, and spicy mandarin dressing. It almosts makes up for the crappy day I seem to be having......

Salad Fiesta!

Sometimes salads can seem boring. Not when you put a Sombrero on it! Take a look. Contains Herb Salad mix blend, red bell pepper, black beans. Topped with tortilla strips & mango salad dressing. Yum.

Pork you're Apples....

it all began with an e-mail.....
some crazy recipe from some frugal gourmet .....

So i snap me this pic with MWSnap 3 and stick the picture right on my Sidekick 4g.

Ready to roll...
In a plastic container I mixed the following:

• brown sugar 
• cinnamon
• nutmeg 
• water
• salt & pepper
• butter
• vegetable oil

I then added the 4 chops & plopped it in the fridge in the am!
I plan to cook this around 1700 on the grill instead of in a pan.
I also kept 2 chops for alternate grill action in the event of failure....

Later....

Pork You Yakisoba!!!

Well Ash made some super fabulous Pork BBQ over the weekend......yummy!

And we had some leftover.. so tonight I am making Pork Yakisoba. Basically this is a simple store bought shortcut meal that is really not that healthy I am sure, but every once in awhile I think I'll trade the not so healthy for the tasty & inexpensive & fast. I buy the Yakisoba noodles that come in a sort of squished looking cake and a little seasoning packet (which I am sure probably contains MSG). Chopped Onion, Celery, Minced Garlic, Cooked Pork that has been sitting in some left over marinade in the fridge & Shredded carrots. The trick to making the Yakisoba is really just following the directions. Place the noodles in a colander and run hot water over them to separate them. Make sure them are separated, use your hands. Stir Fry onions/celery/garlic two minutes, add meat & veggies - stir fry until cooked (Stir Fry on high for about 5 minutes if your meat is already cooked, just to reheat) add the noodles & the seasoning  - make sure there is some liquid in there or else it will stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the noodles go in, it should only be a minute or two, since everything is really already cooked. And Then you can eat your Yakisoba.