I'm new to diet and I am trying to find recipes to cook. I love Italian foods (PASTA!!!), so the first week of Phase 1 was EXTREMELY hard. I think I only lost like two pounds. The second week I want to do better, but I love seasoned and rich foods. I hated to foods I ate this week. It was so boring & I never really felt full or satisfied once a meal was over.

I am not going to survive if this continues and I know it. So, I went recipe hunting. I love Chicken Marsala. I have the recipe for the dish, but I'm not sure if it's Phase 1 worthy. I know I can use it Phase 2. I'm going to post it below, so help me out ladies!


In place of the butter, I'd use Smart Balance. Oh, and you reduce the wine by 70%

1 chicken breast, grilled
1 cup dry Marsala wine
½ cup (1 stick) butter
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
½ cup mushrooms, sauteed

to The Beach, MalibuGyrl!

Have you tried substituting spaghetti squash for your pasta? It doesn't have the same taste, but I think it helps satisfy the pasta urge.

Wine isn't allowed until Phase 2, but otherwise your recipe looks fine for Phase 1 with the Smart Balance substitution. Would broth work as a substitute for the wine?

If this is one serving, the amount of Smart Balance is way too much. Two Tbs. is a fat serving and you are allowed two fat servings per day. I would reduce the amount of Smart Balance and add a lot more veggies than 1/2 cup mushrooms.

There are so many recipes here, surely there are some to your liking. Food can taste rich without being high calorie or using pasta. Play around with spices you like. I like spicy foods, so I use Rotel tomatoes with green chilies in a lot of recipes. I just had chicken marinated in a spicy Italian dressing served with with onions, mushrooms & peppers sauteed in basil flavored olive oil. It tasted like something out of an expensive restaurant. My DH loved it!

Hi Malibu - We hear you My husband is on SB with me, and he LOVES to cook (which is one of the reasons we both need to diet, lol). He maintains that Phase 1 doesn't have to be blah or lacking in spices.

So he has been adding TONS of spices to our food. You would never know they are the same receipies. For example - he made baked zuchini last night. No real receipe, but he layered the pan with the zukes, eggplant, tomatoes and some FF string cheese, then topped it all with just a dusting of parmasean cheese. Lots of pepper and Herbs de Provence.

YUMM!!!!

Just about every receipe we have made has been improved by adding spices. Even a shaker of red pepper flakes helps.

Good luck -

Wavesmom, you are a lucky woman!

Try the spagetti squash casserole. Tonight I baked the spag. squash crust and then topped it with sliced plum tomatoes, fresh basil, crimini mushrooms, low fat mozzerella, and diced hot salami. I only used about 4 oz. of the salami for the whole dish. It was just as good as pizza for me, and pizza is my favorite food.

I also make zucchini "ribbons" for pasta...I have a special tool...can get at any cooking store and I highly recommend you do if your doing SB for the long haul...It makes very thin strips of zucchini, or yellow squash into spaghetti type "noodles" It does take time to get rid of the need for pasta but these are soooo good and are delish w/sauce and meatballs, any kind of topping you would put on pasta. I stir fry mine in a little lf smart balance, s/p garlic, whatever just till "al dente" They really help! And after a while you get used to them...Then on PH 2 you can have a little WHOLE WHEAT pasta...I have found I really don't eat pasta so much anymore cause these are so much lighter and don't give ya the carb cravings, or bloat

That sounds yummy, I will try it!

I make lasagna with layers of thinly sliced roasted eggplant instead of lasgna noodles.
the first time I made it, my husband told me to NEVER use noodles again...he loved it that much. I like it a lot better too...MUCH more flavor.