Recipe: Quorn 'n' Corn Chilli - 179 calories per portion

Another fast day comes around and, in spite of the sunshine today, I still fancied something hot and spicy for my tea. It's OH's grocery shopping day tomorrow so not a lot fresh in, other than some slightly sorry looking mushrooms in the fridge. I went on a bit of a freezer raid, and found Quorn mince and a big bag of sweetcorn, so decided to make a chilli.

I served my chilli on top of roasted red pepper halves and, as it's so low calorie, I could even afford some grated cheese on the top, and it was still only 265 calories for the whole plateful.

Quorn 'n' Corn Chilli (makes three generous portions)

Ingredients:

Few sprays One-Cal olive oil

100g frozen diced onion

150g frozen Quorn mince

150g frozen sweetcorn

1 tin chopped tomatoes

40g tomato purée

130g closed cup mushrooms, diced

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 dash Tabasco sauce

Method:

Spray a few sprays of oil into a large saucepan then add the onion and fry off.

Add the mince and sweetcorn and continue to fry off for a few minutes

Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and tomato purée and stir through, add a bit of water from the kettle if it's too dry and you'd like it a bit saucier. Next, stir in the paprika, chilli flakes and Tabasco sauce.

Simmer for about 10 minutes then taste to assess seasoning - add more paprika, chilli, Tabasco, salt or pepper to taste, then simmer gently for about another 5 mins.

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 179
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 26g
Protein: 12g
Sugar: 14g

Variations:

This would be lovely on a non-fasting day on tortilla chips with nice big dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Guess what I'm having for tea tomorrow then!!

Recipe: Scrummy Stuffed Peppers - 271 calories per portion

So I used a portion of the leftover Quorn Pasta Sauce that OH made last night to make a filling but low calorie fast day tea tonight.

Yes that's right that's even CHEESE on the top - cheese on a fast day is the height of luxury! Pictured with a side of Chilli & Garlic Mushrooms to give a total calorie count of 312 calories for my evening meal - perfect for a fast day!

Scrummy Stuffed Peppers (makes one portion)

Ingredients:

1 red pepper, halved & seeds removed
25g (dry weight) easy cook rice
1 portion Quorn Pasta Sauce
10g mature cheese, grated

Method:

Place the pepper halves on a baking sheet and put in a preheated 200ºC oven for 15 mins

Meanwhile, cook the rice in plenty of boiling water, until it is just under done, still with a slight bite.

Drain the rice and return to the pan, adding in a portion of the Quorn Pasta Sauce. Heat through until simmering.

By now the pepper halves should be ready to fill so remove them from the oven and stuff with the rice/sauce mix. Top with grated cheese and return to the oven for another 10-15 mins until the cheese is all melty and golden and the pepper is soft and sweet.

Nutritional Information (per portion):

Calories: 271
Fat: 5g
Carbs: 41g
Protein: 13g
Sugar: 14g

Recipe: Quorn Pasta Sauce - 88 calories per portion

My lovely Other Half is brilliant, and super supportive of my efforts to lose weight. He's been on a bit of a weight loss journey of his own and has become really conscious of calorie content, getting more veg into our diets, and generally eating more healthily.

His 'thing' with cooking is creating one-pot pan-fulls of tasty stews and casseroles. I've convinced him more recently to switch to lean cuts of meat, up the veg content, and bulk out with beans and chickpeas and the like to get more for our budget - both financial and in terms of calories.

Yesterday he made a cracking pan of pasta sauce with Quorn and veg and it was lovely. We ate it with pasta (75g dry weight) giving a total calorie count for the meal of 353 calories. Four portions left over too - 2 for the fridge and 2 for the freezer. A pretty versatile sauce too, plenty of different ways to use it, in fact I used it in a different way for my tea tonight too, but more on that later!

Anyway here's the recipe....

Quorn Pasta Sauce (makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

20 sprays One-Cal olive oil spray
1 red onion, diced
1 tsp frozen chopped garlic
100g frozen sliced mixed peppers
250g frozen chargrilled mediterranean vegetables
130g frozen quorn mince
1 tin chopped tomoatoes
1/3 tube tomato puree
2 veg stock cubes, made up with boiling water
1 tsp paprika

Method:

In a big saucepan, fry off the diced red onion and garlic. Chuck in the rest of the ingredients and simmer until delicious. Season with plenty of turns of the Salt Chilli & Garlic grinder, and a few turns from the pepper mill

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 88
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 12g
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 8g