Favorite Low Calorie Foods/Meals

Salmon Burger served with steamed Carrots, Broccoli, and Zucchini! COMPLETELY filling and it only costs about 150-260 calories (depends on how many Burgers you make.. I usually have two

Nothing goes past pumpkin soup for me! It's so filling too. The soup I make is about 80 cals per bowl.

I'd love a recipe

Slice pumpkin and place in a pot of water set to boil. I normally use about a quarter of a pumpkin and enough water to just cover the top. Throw in some chopped onion, lots of chopped garlic, a cube or two of chicken stock (depending on your tastes), a bay leaf, and if you have some carrot or sweet potato (I think Americans call those yams??) you can add that too.

Once the vegetables are nice and soft take the pot off the boil and set aside. Using a cup remove the excess liquid and set aside. Blend all the vegetables together. I use a hand mixer, but you can use a blender or food processor - but don't forget to remove the bay leaf!

Once the pumpkin and veg are blended smooth slowly stir the remaining liquid stock back in until the soup reaches desired consistency. You can use half the stock, half skim milk, or a heaped spoon of light sour cream, or even light natural yogurt to give the soup some tasty creaminess. I'm normally very happy using a 50/50 mix of stock and skim milk.

Add ground nutmeg, a dash of cinnamon, garlic powder, cracked pepper, all spice and paprika to taste.

Soup is a very deceiving dish... It makes you feel very full quickly, so the thinner you make the soup (by adding the stock liquid) the lower in calories it is (unless you're simply adding full cream milk or cream to "thin" the soup).

Chop some parsley on top to serve, or if you're feeling adventurous a generous blob of light sour cream on top. Delicious!

Speaking of pumpkin soup (Which I love) I make a similar soup- but with butternut squash, and its spicy!

This is around 100 cals per serving, and this recipe will make about 6-8 bowls.

1 large butternut squash, peeled & deseeded & cut into chunks.
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chilli peppers, finely chopped
thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrotts, chopped
2 veggie (or chicken) stock cubes, dissolved in water.
1 large red pepper, chopped
Yoghurt/ low fat creme fraiche or low fat coconut milk to make creamy.
Fresh chopped coriander (Cilantro) to garnish

*You can make this easier by using a few tablespoons of thai red curry paste instead of the ginger, chilli & garlic (This will up the cals a little bit).

** Roasting the butternut squash, onion, carrot & red pepper with make the soup taste even more yummy. Roast it in a pan with spray oil for 30 mins or until tender & beginning to caramelise.

Method- Sautee the garlic, chilli & ginger in a soup pan. Add the stock & roasted vegetables. Simmer for 10 minutes. Blend until smooth & add the coconut milk/ creme fraiche/ yoghurt and stir through. Serve with the coriander (Cilantro) sprinkled on top.