Stuffed Peppers - South Beach Phase 1 Day Two

Day one on South Beach Phase 1 was tough!  I ain't gonna lie! My fiance has jumped on board with me like he did last year, and it's because he saw such great results.  With this diet, you are resetting your glycemic index by not eating any carbohydrates, sugar, or drinking any alcohol the first two weeks.  Then you slowly begin to add back in the carbs that are good for you.  Yeah South Beach is not new, and most people have probably tried it once or twice.  But IT WORKS!  

My fiance is losing about a pound a day.  He was still drinking alcohol.  His favorite are microbrews; the heavier the better.  So Phase 1 has been particularly hard for him, but he's getting through it like a trooper.  

I quit drinking a while ago, so all I am cutting out are my Totinos pizzas basically.  Seriously I lost 25 lbs. between June and September, so these next 10 lbs. are not going to be as easy.  The scale says I've lost 2 lbs.  Fair enough!  I'm gonna keep going knowing these last few pounds are quite fond of me, and their departure will take more work. 

To keep it interesting, I've been making fun meals every night.  Here's what I made on day two! 

Stuffed Peppers Without Rice 

1 lb. lean ground beef 
4 bell peppers
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste 
1 tbsp. worcesterchire sauce
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. red pepper flake 
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg 
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the stems. Reserve the tops and chop.  Chop onions and garlic. 

Fill large dutch oven 3/4 of the way full with water and bring to a boil.  Place bell peppers in water and boil 5 minutes. Drain and set to the side.  

In large oven proof pan saute the onions about 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and worcesterchire sauce.  Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down, simmer a few minutes, then remove from the heat. 

In large bowl combine ground beef, spices, and fresh parsley. Add 1 cup of the sauteed tomato mixture to the beef.  Add breadcrumbs and one egg.  (Breadcrumbs are not a part of South Beach Phase 1, but you can not make this without them. Normally this recipe calls for cooked rice, and we are cutting way down on the carbs by omitting the rice.) Mix gently until all ingredients are combined. 

Place each bell pepper in the large oven proof pan on top of the sauce.  Fill each pepper with the ground beef mixture. Spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the pan on top of the peppers.  Bake 55 to 65 minutes.  

Just before the peppers are done, you can add a little cheese to the top during the last 5 minutes of baking.  Let the cheese melt and remove the peppers from the oven.  

Let the pepper sit a couple minutes to cool off.  Yum!