Light and crispy spring rolls

Here's what you can do with 54p of bean sprouts, Vietnamese rice paper and leftover veg. We added a little leftover chicken to ours too. The result was a very crunchy and light version of the usual Chinese spring roll and we loved the lightness of this starter.
We were going to buy Filo pastry until we found the rice paper in the cupboard. A quick look on the internet made us wonder if we could use this type of rice paper for frying, as its generally used for steaming.
Our experiment worked well and much much better than anticipated.
We used a double layer of rice paper the result was a crunchy outer layer and a chewy inner layer which was very enjoyable. We will be making them again!
Interestingly, although we weren't looking for gluten free products, we thought all rice paper would be gluten free naturally. To our surprise this wasn't always the case as some also contained wheat - so do check the labels if that's your requirement.
To make 5 extra large spring rolls (10 cm long/4cm diameter - similar to the size in a chip shop) you can cut corners and buy a ready made stir fry mix. We just happened to have some savoy cabbage (10g sliced - couple of leaves), carrot (1), spring onions (2) and mange tout (10). All we had to buy was a pack of bean sprouts and you will only need to use 60g. We thinly sliced everything and added some leftover cooked chicken. This was marinated in a teaspoon of five spice powder, a tablespoon of hoy sin sauce, 3 teaspoons of soy sauce and an inch of grated ginger. We made 5 large spring rolls to enable us to experiment with various coatings e.g. egg and breadcrumb or batter if necessary. As it turned out, au naturelle worked exceeding well and after tasting the first one, we had no desire to experiment further. One is enough to satisfy as a starter (as in the picture), it was very filling and extremely more-ish. OK we did share the initial sample. The remainder are in the fridge to see how they behave overnight.
Down to calories - if these were steamed they would be no more than 100 calories each. Even fried, they didn't seem to soak up the oil and were very light and crispy. As a starter we suspect these will be under 200 calories each - that's not bad in our opinion.

EASY CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

Cream of mushroom soup packed full of flavour ! How can you make this without lots of effort? For a busy cook, this can be made the night before and finished off later. Take a look at the recipe below.
Using a little cream made a very light and tasty lunch just a little more decadent - without the calories. Each 300ml bowl of soup was around 200 calories; no need to spare the bread!
After ordering a mushroom veloute in a restaurant the other week, we thought we would try to make it ourselves. For a first effort, this was surprisingly good.

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Here's the easy recipe:

HOT & SOUR SOUP

Now here's a fabulous way to use up your leftover chicken.
This quick HOT & SOUR NOODLE SOUP was  so delicious we'll be making it again soon. It's not difficult to make, and if you don't have all the ingredients, try substituting.
Why not try different versions? Instead of chicken, you could use more vegetables, beef or prawns. Buying a packet of stir fry vegetables is the cheapest option. Use the supermarket deli - purchase a couple of slices of rare roast beef - slice and add to the soup.
After looking through various recipes, we came up with a version that suited what we had in the cupboards. We estimate this soup somewhere around 200 calories. A very warm and inviting lunch or starter, worth giving this one a try if you can. Will we be making this again? Yes! Here's how we made it:

Courgette (zucchini) soup - 200 calories

We were pleasantly surprised at just how delicate and fresh this COURGETTE (ZUCCHINI) SOUP tasted. The goat's cheese helped create the velvety texture.
I wondered what to do with the crop of round courgettes making their way across our garden. We planted a few seeds in the border, next to the roses, and can't quite believe the result. If you're looking to grow just one vegetable without too much bother - this is the one.
If buying fresh, then any vegetable - in season - is so much tastier and cheaper too.
Apart from anything else, the courgette is very low in calories at just 17 calories per 100g.
I was going to make a pasta dish and use grated courgette, but thought I would give this soup a try.
We were both really impressed and will be making it again. I would imagine it's also very tasty served cold on a very hot day.
If you would like to try this low calorie recipe, then here it is:

Scallops and black pudding

If you've been dieting and missing out on your favourite foods then take a look at our weight loss method where all foods are permitted. BLACK PUDDING included.
We used our favourite of all black puddings for this lunch recipe. It has a high grain content and is very soft and tasty. Perfect partner for these very sweet scallops. This would make a fabulous starter too. In restaurants you'll get around 3 scallops as a starter and 6 for a main course. We were fortunate as we had some very large scallops which we could cut in half before cooking.
Occasionally we'll make a trip to the fishmonger but you can buy scallops in the supermarkets. This dish is around 200 calories - can you believe it (see below for ingredients).
We upped the calories with a buttered bread roll on the side. Although still quite low in calories - we've got a chocolate brownie to get through, so it'll all balance out in the end.
Here's our recipe - and budget tip!