Chicken Pita

-Pre-cooked grilled chicken (half of a small package)

-Portabello mushrooms sliced (can omit)

-1 Tbl. Olive Oil (I use Extra Virgin)

-Sprinkle of garlic and italian seasoning (can omit)

-2 Whole wheat pita bread circles cut in half
-Veggies ex. baby spinach, bell pepper, green onion, grape tomatoes (what I used)
-Drizzle of dressing (I used ranch but you can use whatever you want)

Directions:
Heat up olive oil in a small skillet. Add mushrooms and chicken. Sprinkle with garlic and italian seasoning. Saute until chicken is browned.

Warm the pita bread for 15 seconds in the microwave. Cut it in half and fill half way with chosen veggies. Add 1/4 the chicken and mushrooms and drizzle with dressing. Repeat with the other three pita halves and serve.

Serves Two. (South Beach Phase two and three)

Greek Pitas

• Chicken breast
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• oregano, dried
• salt and pepper
• kalamata olives
• feta cheese
• tomato
• lettuce
• prepared tzatziki sauce

Marinate the chicken in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper.  No need to measure, just throw it together!

Grill chicken or saute in a pan until cooked through.  Slice.
Warm pitas in oven or microwave.  Fill pita with warm chicken olives, feta, lettuce and tomato. Top with tzatziki.

*humus is also yummy in the pita, especially if you are going vegetarian!

Greek Burritos

whole wheat wraps (such as Flat Out Wraps)

hummus

lettuce, chopped or shredded

green onions, chopped

tomato, chopped

feta cheese

sliced black or kalamata olives

lunch meat (optional, if you like it meatier)

Spread hummus on wrap.  Top with lunch meat, veggies and cheese.  Spread a little humms on side of wrap to seal the 'burrito' up.

*For phase one of the South Beach Diet, leave out the wrap and eat like a salad. 

Grilled Avocados

• avocados
• lemon juice
• olive oil

Cut avocados in half, leaving skin on.  Brush with lemon juice, then olive oil.  Grill on med-high, two minutes on each side.

Scoop out of the skin and slice.  Serve warm avocados on salads or in wraps, tacos and sandwiches.

Cobb Salad 

Baked Sandwich

There are endless possibilities as far as what you can put in these yummy baked sandwiches!  Here's one version!

a large loaf of flat bread, such as focaccia.  (Go to the bakery, not the bread isle.  The person behind the counter will be happy to help you choose and they will usually cut the loaf in half for you!)
fresh spinach leaves
deli style ham
deli style turkey
jar of roasted red peppers, sliced into strips (usually found by the pickles)
muenster cheese
Kraft Sandwich Shop Mayo- Garlic and Herb flavor

Cut loaf in half longways to make a top and a bottom (or have the baker do that part!)
Spread flavored mayo on both sides.  Top bottom half with a single layer of spinach leaves.  Then layer meats.  Top with roasted red peppers, then slices of cheese.  Add the top half of the bread and wrap tightly in foil.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until heated through.

Bacon Sandwiches

  My Granny used to make these when we were kids and we loved them. No surprise, my little ones love them too.  It may sound weird, but there is just something about the soft bread, crisp bacon and sweet, tangy ketchup that makes these so good- even if you're like me and don't really care for ketchup.  After all, the point of this blog is kid-friendly recipes and this one is definitely kid-approved! 

• soft bread
• bacon, cooked very crisp
• ketchup

Spread ketchup onto bread and top with bacon.  Repeat until you have enough sandwiches for all your hungry people!

Cold Italian Sandwich

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup light Italian dressing
• 1 cup whole black olives
• 1 cup whole stuffed green olives
• 1 tbsp diced jarred jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 cup canned or jarred artichoke hearts, drained
• provolone cheese
• thinly sliced deli ham
• thinly sliced deli turkey breast.
• round Italian bread (10 inch)

Finely chop olives and artichoke hearts. Mix mayo, dressing, olives, jalapenos and artichokes together.  Cut bread in half and hollow out slightly. Fill top of bread with half of the mixture. Repeat with bottom of the bread.  Layer lots of meat and cheese on filled bread bottom. Then replace the top to make the sandwich.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.  This sandwich makes great leftovers. It tastes even better the next day!  

Meatball Subs

• 1lb lean ground sirloin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp lite salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 3 tbsp onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup lite tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 4 lite sub rolls or pitas
• 4 oz reduced fat mozzeralla
• nonfat cooking spray

Combine 1st six ingredients- only 1/2 of the garlic.  Form small meatballs.  Spray medium saute pan, gently add meatballs.  Saute until browned, remove from pan.
Add remaining garlic to pan, saute 15 seconds.  Add tomato sauce, water and tomato.  Return meatballs to pan.  Continue to simmer until meatballs are cooked through and sauce reduces.
Put meatballs on rolls, top with sauce and cheese.

From the LA Lite Cookbook

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

• chicken breasts, about 1 breast per person
• buffalo wing sauce (I like Texas Pete's)
• sliced cheese, such as pepper jack 
• sub rolls
• sour cream
• blue cheese
• green onions

Marinate chicken in some of the wing sauce fore a couple of hours.
Mix sour cream, blue cheese and green onions together, set aside.  Eyeball this one- depending on how much sauce you want and how strong you want the onion/cheese flavor depends on how much you put in.  You can't mess it up, just mix until it looks good!
Then grill chicken until cooked through.  You can also cook the chicken in a saute pan- just chop the chicken before cooking.
After grilled chicken has rested about 5 minutes, slice the chicken and toss it in additional wing sauce, set aside and cover with foil to keep warm.
Slice rolls in half, top with cheese slices and set under the broiled for a couple of minutes, until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.
To make your sandwich, pile chicken on a warm roll and smother with sour cream sauce. Yummmm!

Sloppy Joes

Even though these don't look like traditional Sloppy Joes, they have the same basic flavor- only so much better!  The fresh tomato gives them the yummiest taste! You'll never make the icky canned stuff again! And they're very easy!

• 1 package ground white meat turkey
• 1/2 cup white onion, diced
• 1/2 cup green pepper, diced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 packet sugar substitute or about 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• dash of hot sauce
• dash of oregano
•  dash of red pepper flakes
• buns
• American cheese

Coat skillet with cooking spray.  Brown turkey, onions and peppers.  Add remaining ingredients except buns and cheese.  Cook over low heat 10-15 minutes.  Serve on buns with cheese and pickles.

From the LA Lite Cookbook