General Tso's Chicken

My sweet sweet husband has one really sweet habit that makes me crazy sometimes. Every single time he goes to any restaurant he has a particular thing that he always gets. For instance - if we go to any Chinese restaurant he will get General Tsos Chicken; if we go to any Thai restaurant he will get Chicken Pad Thai; if we go to Winners he gets the Birdie Sandwich... every every dang time. I want to break his OCD and every time hope he will try something new - "here doesn't this look good?" at which point he always takes it into consideration and when it is time to order goes back to his old standby. Every every dang time. So yes - I see it as a challenge to expand his horizons - but yes I also find it absolutely adorable how faithful he is to his choices. So... it was only fitting that I find a recipe to make my sweet sweet husband General Tso Chicken. I made one version vegetarian with fake chicken and one with real chicken breast.

• 1C veggie broth
• 2T low sodium soy sauce
• 1T chopped fresh ginger
• 2t rice vinegar
• 2t sweetener
• 1t curry paste
• 2T Franks sweet and spicy hot sauce
• 2T evoo
• 1 package of boneless chicken breast (or 1 bag fake chicken strips)
• 1 handful of green onions
• half package of frozen broccoli

1. Mix broth, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, sweetener, and curry in a bowl until it is well blended and put aside for a while
2. Saute the chicken in evoo in a pan until heated through - remove from pan and put in a plate for a while
3. Pour broth mixture in to pan and simmer until it thickens a bit
4. Place chicken, green onions, and broccoli back into pan and coat with sauce until cooked through
5. Serve over rice (though if you skip the rice and franks sauce this works for stage 1 south beach diet)

Vegetarian Chicken Salad (Meat Free)

I have long looked at people eating chicken salad and wished that I could have something similar. Well over the past few years different companies have started making vegetarian chicken strips and I have tried out chicken salad recipes with it. Here is my fav of the moment:

• chicken strips
• lite mayo
• mustard
• lemon juice
• vidalia onions chopped
• tomatoes chopped
• celery chopped
• pitted and chopped kalamata olives
• cilantro, chives, parsley, curry

1. Heat the chicken and then place in large bowl
2. Wash and Chop all of the vegetables
3. Add all vegetables to chicken mixture
4. Add mayo, mustard and spices to taste
5. Serve alone or on a pita or bread
6. Enjoy!

TEAR Marinara

So, a couple months ago I was going through my cabinets trying to find something to make for dinner and decided to just throw some things together that I liked and see how it turned out. Well, Bry and I were uber impressed with this concoction and since I hadn't written it down - we havent had it since. But I found some photos of it and decided to get it down so that I can remember to make it again. :) So here goes. Tofu Eggplant Artichoke Risotto (TEAR)

• extra firm Tofu
• Eggplant
• Artichokes
• Risotto
• Marinara Sauce

1. Brown the eggplant in a frying pan with just a few drops of evoo 
2. Put the risotto on the bottom of a baking pan with enough water to make it almost drowned
3.  Cover with the browned eggplants
4. Saute the sliced tofu until it browns on the edges
5. Cover the eggplant and risotto with browned tou and artichokes
6. Cover baking dish and concoction with marinara sauce
7. Bake on 375 until the sauce bubbles and the risotto is cooked.
8. Serve and enjoy :)

Vegetarian Coconut Chicken

I have been looking for some newer recipes lately and seeing how I can convert something interesting into a vegetarian option. So I ventured into the chicken section of my south beach book last week and gave this a whirl. As you can see I added too much coconut milk - and MAN was it spicy - but I totally dug it. Next time I will add less than a pound of my cajun spice to it :) For bryan's sake of course!

• fake chicken pieces (they have this in frozen food in a couple brands next to boca and garden etc)
• 1T evoo
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• dash of cilantro
• squirt of ginger paste
• squire of lemon
• dash of cumin
• dash of turmeric
• 1/2C light coconut milk
• 1T nuts (we used peanuts but it calls for macadamia - cashews also a good option)
• dash of splenda
• splash of red pepper spicing

1. defrost your "chicken" in the microwave
2. heat evoo in skillet
3. heat up your chick on stove and then remove and put on a plate
4. heat garlic, onion, and then spices in skillet
5. Add lemon, nuts, coconut milk and splenda to your concoction, perhaps a little veggie broth if its handy. at this point you can spice the mixture to your taste - if you see something in your spicerack that might give it a kick or too - throw it in :) Poor bryan was cooling his mouth off for hours
6. Add chicken back to skillet and cook until boiled to thickness
7. Serve and Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes - South Beach Style

I have seen friends making these in pictures on facebook recently and wanted to join in on the fun. Besides - who doesn't love the movie - "TOWANDAAAAAA" hehe

• green tomatoes
• finely chopped pecans
• whole wheat flour
• finely ground black pepper
• red pepper
• evoo

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/2" slices
2. Mix flour, pepper, and pecans into shallow bowl
3. Coat each side of tomato
4. Sautee in evoo
5. Serve & Enjoy

South Beach Chocolate Pie

So - I happen to be married to a man with a SWEET tooth. When the ice cream truck sings through the neighborhood we loses his mind and its everything he can do to keep from drooling and chasing after the singing truck of sweet cream. Of course, being that his mother and grandmother have diabetes I am staunch in trying to prevent as much sugar to pass his lips as possible. So here is a quick and easy recipe that he LOVES and minimizes the calories and sugar. Best of all it is south beach. :)

• 1 box sugarfree instant pudding mix
• 2.5C skim milk
• 2T low sugar peanut butter (creamy)
• 2C crispy rice cereal

1. Heat peanut butter in frying pan under low heat (make sure its low or you will burn it - low is enough to melt it really fast anyhow)
2. Fill a pie pan bottom with cereal
3. Once peanut butter has melted a good bit, drizzle it over the cereal mashing it into the pie pan and up the sides to build your crust
4. Put the pie crust in the freezer for 1 hour (or until it hardens)
5. Pour pudding mix in a bowl and mix it with milk and wisk it as directions call for
6. Once your pudding is well mixed pour it into your pie pan and stick it in the fridge to harden

Thats all - so so good :)

*We like to use that new whipped creamy peanut butter - so good

*Bryan likes to throw a chunk of peanut butter on top of his

*As you can see above we are having trouble making it a solid pie piece, but trust me - well keep trying ;)

Cheesy Artichokes

Ok this is our favorite side dish by far. In fact I am certain that we are having it again tonight with our wholewheat pasta.

• can of artichoke hearts (preferribly whole)
• evoo
• parmesan
• italian spices

1. Lay the artichokes out in a baking dish
2. Spritz over the top of them with evoo or butterspray
3. sprinkle parmesan and spices all over the top
4. put in oven and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until they brown

Tofu Cacciatore

This is one of my favorite recipes and I actually didnt make it this week only because we have had so much of it. It is also super easy and makes enough for a couple meals.

• tofu, i like to slice it into smaller pieces
• stewed tomatoes
• tomato paste
• all colors of bell peppers
• evoo
• mushrooms
• onions
• garlic

1. Saute the vegetables and evoo and garlic in a frying pan with some evoo 
2. Once they are nice and soft go ahead and pour in a tablespoon of tomato paste and the stewed tomatos
3. Spice to taste and mix it all in really good
4. Then set aside to stay warm
5. Then take the tofu and saute that in evoo careful not to burn it or make it crumble
6. Then get a baking dish and lay the tofu out and smother in the cacciatore
7. Put it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until the sauce starts to bubble

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

So it hit me the other day that I hadn't had french onion soup (which used to be a favorite of mine) since I became a vegetarian. So I decided to figure out a way to make it vegetarian and south beach. And I did. I lost weight the day I ate it, so it apparently didn't effect my weight gain, and it was pretty good.

So here is the recipe to share:

INGREDIENTS

• EVOO
• SB safe butter spray
• Vegetarian broth
• Vidalia Onions (1 per bowl)
• Light swiss cheese (shredded would be good but not necessary - i could only find it light in slices)
• whole wheat bread/tofu if in stage 1
• splenda
• Salt
• Pepper
• Thyme
• Light Soy Sauce

1. Saute the onions in evoo and butter spray til they become translucent
2. Add in some soy sauce and spices and a bit of wine/balsamic/splenda to carmelize a bit
3. after the onions are sweet and soft you can pour in the veggie broth, about a containerfull
4. add spice to taste and here is your veggie onion broth
5. Bring it to a boil and then bring it down to a simmer for about 10 minutes
6. Then pour the soup into oven safe bowls and set the oven to broil
7. Float a tiny bit of whole wheat bread/tofu in the top of the soup bowl and lay the cheese on top of it to melt
8. Cover the top with cheese and put it in the oven
9. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbling and turning brown at the top

And then you eat it - and its yummy :)

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

OK. So I came up with this one last night. I took the roasted red pepper dip from the south beach book and added it to the hummus recipe from the south beach book, mixed them together, let them sit overnight, and yuummmmmm on celery/carrots/wholewheat pita pieces (on stage2).

Mind you, this is MUCH better the second day so I would avoid eating it until the following day if it can be helped.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can of chick peas
• sesame tahini (1/2 cup)
• olive oil (a couple teaspoons)
• splenda (a tablespoon or so)
• roasted red peppers (1 jar)
• light cottage cheese (3 tablespoons)
• onions (1/4 cup)
• garlic (3 cloves)
• cumin (a couple shakes)
• pepper (a couple shakes)
• salt (a couple shakes)
• hot sauce (a splash or two)

1. Put all ingredients in blender/mixer and blend til its creamy
2. add all additives (spices and liquids) until it tastes right
3. Pour it into a bowl and let it sit overnight

Roasted Chick Peas

So - one of the things Bryan and I have discovered is that some of the things South Beach books ok to consume regularly make us gain weight on the days we eat them. Yes we weigh ourselves every day. I know I know, but for me it works. Case in point is the sugar free fudgecicles. Every single day we ate them we both gained weight. So we took them and dumped them into the Watsons fridge and won't even look at them let alone eat them. They were not even close enough to being good enough to gain weight from.

But there is one snack food that I can seem to eat as much as I want of and never do anything but lose weight on these days. Roasted chick peas. I have personally modified the recipe from the south beach books enough to make it a super super yummy treat and can't seem to stop eating them. We had four cans of chick peas in the closet at the beginning of the week and I am hoping there is one left in there to make some roasted chick peas tonight!

So here is my version of the recipe. Feel free to replicate or even call them kimchi-ckpeas :)

INGREDIENTS

• can of chick peas (use more than one can if you plan to share)
• splenda
• salt
• pepper
• sbfriendly butter spray

1. Drain the can of chick peas
2. spread the peas out on a cookie sheet on aluminum foil in a single layer
3. spray the peas with the butter spray
4. sprinkle salt, pepper, and splenda over the top of the chick peas
5. put them in the oven at 350 for an hour or so - or until they have the consistency of pop corn - or if you like them mushier on the inside cook a shorter time
6. Every now and again i will take them out, roll them around or sprinkle more splenda on them if they look a little unflavored ( :) )
7. Then take out of oven when complete, allow them to cool off for 5-10 minutes and throw in a baggy or bowl for munching.
8. They almost have a hummus/popcorn/kernel corn taste when they are done and I love them

ENJOY! This, by the way, is what I sneak into movie theatres with and snack on instead of 10poundstomywaist popcorn.

Tofu Curry

So my favorite restaurant would be Bangkok Thai restaurant in Sarasota, Fl. Hands down! There have been weeks where they saw me in there three times in the same week! Those were good weeks for me. Or maybe they were bad ones that people were using that to cheer me up. Either way its my favorite.

Now I have been going there around 8/9 years and I have always ordered the same thing. Tofu pad thai medium/hot (depending on my mood) without the eggs. It is amazing. Now Ive swapped appetizers. Sometimes I get sumtum cucumber salad. Sometimes crunchy tofu. Sometimes Tofu Satay. But always the pad thai.

So recently I went and decided after 8 years of the same thing I was going to try something else on the menu. It was very courageous of me, because as my fiance pointed out, if I didn't like what I ended up with - then I would have wasted a trip to Bangkok.

But I took another step into the world of thai food and ordered the Green Curry with Tofu. Man was it good! Now I have gone back three times since and only order the tofu green curry. Being on the South Beach diet, and also trying to not spend too much money eating out, I decided to try this at home, south beach style.

It took two tries to get all the ingredients perfect, but now it is south beach friendly (i never gain weight on the days I eat it and often lose), vegetarian (for me), and also just as yummy as the ones my friends at Bangkok make. So here is the recipe to share with you!

Ingredients

• evoo
• red bell pepper
• green bell pepper
• vidalia onion
• cubed tofu
• mushrooms
• green peas
• green curry paste
• splenda
• light peanut butter (the one with splenda is best cause its sbfriendly)
• light soy sauce
• two cans of lite coconut milk
• crushed red pepper
• salt
• pepper
• whole grain brown rice 

Steps

1. cook brown rice, while it is simmering -> continue
2. saute in some evoo: red bell pepper, green bell pepper, vidalia onion, tofu cubed (cook the tofu until its brown on the sides a little), shitake mushrooms, anything else you want to saute
3. add green curry paste (you can get this in the Asian dept at Publix you can also use yellow or red curry paste to change flavor)
4. mush it all together and let it cook like this a little bit
5. once cooked enough pour in two small cans of light coconut milk (also in Asian dept at Publix)
6. add in a bit of splenda, lt peanut butter, and lt soy sauce to taste
7. Add green peas, any other green vegetable that doesnt need to be sauted
8. Add a bit of crushed red pepper, salt pepper, anything else you want to spice it with - determine your level of spice with the crushed red pepper or even hot sauce if you like
9. Let it boil, then cook under low for 10 minutes
10. Serve over cooked brown whole grain rice

it should be like a soup with chunks of veggies and tofu in it. obviously you can trade out the veggies and tofu for chicken if you want to change the flavor. it was soooo yummy i cant wait to have it again.