Hi Chickies,

I am going to my quarterly scrapbooking weekend with some girlfriends, and we normally consume the following: Outback cheese fries (my adaptation), the large bag of peanut M&M's, muffins, and tons of chips & dips.

Now, I am on South Beach, and I would really like to stick to it. I will be finishing Phase I this week, so I thought I would hop on Phase 2 so that I could have a fighting chance to stay on my diet! I have lost 5.5 pounds, and I am motivated to keep going, but I have to have something delicious.

I am surfing the internet and this message board for great Phase 2 appetizers. I love anything Tex-Mex, and I can't eat celery sticks, bell peppers, or anything with ricotta cheese.

What appetizers do you recommend? I would appreciate any recommendations/recipes!

Thanks,
Ange

Ange, I regularly go to scrapbooking things where there's a groaning snack table. I feel your pain!

Here are some of the things you could try:

• My SIL has this super-easy recipe for a great dip. You could modify it for SBD and serve it with WW pita chips or WW homemade tortilla chips. You take a can of chili (look for a vegetarian one...NOT Hormel or anything with wheat and sugar) and spread it on the bottom of a medium-sized glass or ceramic baking dish. Spread one package of cream cheese (use 1/3 less fat) on top. Then top with shredded cheddar cheese (use reduced fat). Bake in 350* oven until cheese is hot and bubbly (personally, I just microwave it to save time...but I'm impatient! ).
• Bring assorted veggies and WW pita chips and a selection of hummus
• Pistachio nuts
• Sunflower seeds in the shell (takes longer to eat!)
• Fruit salad
• Cut up apples and serve with homemade low-fat cream cheese dip (I found one online that blended defrosted frozen raspberries--with no juice or sugar-- with cream cheese and cottage cheese, Splenda, and a bit of ginger. It was yummy!!)
• Cut up pears and laughing cow cheese (divine... )
• Mess around with the Taco Bake recipe to make it more like a seven-layer dip. Serve with veggies and/or crackers or pita chips
• Make a low-fat version of spinach artichoke dip and serve with veggies.

Hope this helps! Have a great time...one of the best things about scrapping is that your hands are busy so you can't eat as much!

Thanks for all the great ideas. I wasn't expecting all the fruit ideas. I guess I do get to add that back to my diet!

I was thinking about making Sugar free chocolate pudding with a layer of ss/ff cool whip on top. Maybe that would be a good treat.

I am also try the toasted pita chips as well.

Thanks again!
ange

There is a Rachel Ray recipe I posted in the recipes section called "antipachos", which is made with WW pitas. I make that for parties fairly often and people just gobble it up and never think that it might be healthy.

Jars of bruschetta (like eggplant and artichoke) are easy to transport...along with laughing cow cheese and LF trisquits.