South Beach Phase 1 Recipe- Turkey Taco Bites

Every January I start South Beach Phase 1 to reset my glycemic index.  I'm no doctor, but what I understand about glycemic index is that when it is super high you are eating the wrong type of carbs (the bad ones..the ones that TASTE AWESOME), and they are breaking down too fast in your body.  It's that feeling of hunger you get after scarfing down a fast food combo meal thirty minutes after you eat it.  

Now I'm not much a fast food eater.  Mostly because we don't have fast food in Seattle.   There's no place in the city where you can drive your car through the drive thru and order up a double whopper.  Ok wait, I take that back.  There is ONE Taco Bell/ KFC in lower Queen Anne, but they close super early.  By the time I'm craving fast food, they are already shut down for the night.  Don't get me wrong!  I luuuuuurve to eat junk food!  My craving?  Totinos Frozen Pizzas!  My fiance refers to them as ketchup on a cracker!  And aren't those ketchup crackers delicious?!! 

So here's what I do to get back on track for the new year, AND to lose weight without a tremendous amount of exercise.  I mean let's be honest, it's cold outside.  I ain't ridin' my bike this time of year.  I still dance a couple times a week for several hours, but I'm not out there in the rain training for no dadgum marathon.  

The idea with South Beach Phase 1 is to clean out your system of all the bad carbs, sugar, and alcohol.  Here's what I did.  

Day One- South Beach Phase 1  

Turkey Taco Bites 

Turkey: 

1 lb. ground turkey
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1 package of Taco seasoning 
1 cup chicken stock 

Pico De Gallo: 

1 container grape tomatoes sliced in half  
1/2 chopped onion
1 minced jalapeno
1 lime squeezed
1 cup fresh chopped cilantro 
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1 head of cabbage 

Brown the turkey on medium-high heat in skillet.  Once it's browned add onions then garlic.  Let the onions soften.  Add cup of chicken stock and the package of Taco seasoning and mix together.  Let this simmer until the chicken stock begins to thicken.  Then turn off the heat.  

In bowl add all pico de gallo ingredients and mix to combine. If you can make this ahead of time and refrigerate for a few hours, it only gets better.  

Cut cabbage into 4 quarters.  Remove core.  Use one cabbage leaf to pile up a big mound of the ground taco turkey!  Then top with fresh pico de gallo.  

You can add cheese to this or quacamole.  Just be careful not to over do it.  

These are crunchy, spicy, and super delicious!  We snacked on them for a couple days! 

I will be posting more of my South Beach Phase 1 recipes. Follow my blog to get updates!