South Beach-ify Your Life!

Morning Lovely Readers!!! Y'all know I love to cook...and you know I'm not very keen on extra calories, fat, and sugar when it's totally unnecessary! My husband and I try really hard to set healthy habits (and examples) for our son, so we follow our own version of the South Beach Diet...

You see, I have all these amazing cookbooks that my mama (a wonderful cook) gave me, or I received as bridal shower gifts, or what-have-you, and I can't bear to not use them... So I South Beach-ify them! I substitute fat free half-and-half for heavy cream, brown grains for white, reduced fat cheeses, etc. I also have the South Beach Diet 30-Minute cookbook (pictured here), which really is amazing! I started out using just the SBD cookbook, until I got the hang of what ingredients were "allowed" and which should be avoided. I broke the rules about different phases of the diet and jumped around to whatever recipes look tasty. I didn't suffer through two weeks of no carbs, sugars (to include natural sugars in fruit), and only the leanest proteins. I tried that once. It ended with a huge plate of nachos and a pint of Ben and Jerry's!

The SBD cookbook I have is awesome. In fact, it's so awesome I recently ordered three more SBD books from Amazon (SBD Taste of Summer, SBD Super Quick, and SBD Parties & Holidays).  There are recipes for party-style dips, quesadillas, and even macaroni and cheese (that is one of my favorite recipes).  Really, by following a few simple rules and making a few subtle substitutions, you can vastly improve your eating habits.  Honestly, I prefer the taste of the heartier whole wheat grains to the processed white versions now!  And my son?  He's never tasted white bread...and let me tell you, he loves his peanut butter and jelly!


Good luck...and if you have any questions about the South Beach Diet, drop me a comment and I'll be happy to tell you more about my experience!