Spring Rolls for Spring!

What you'll need:

Rice Paper

Vermicelli Rice Noodles

Seasonal vegetables

Cilantro

Shrimp

I was introduced to these delicious morsels at work by Gillian alias: "Gilly" (shout out to you Gilly if you ever read my blog hehe) In fact, everyone at work became obsessed with them and we would take turns making them and bringing them in to work to share. They never made it past 10am. Poor suckers never had a chance...  They are actually quite easy to make and I usually make about a dozen or so and then stick them in the fridge and eat them for lunch for a few days.  You'll have to excuse my awesome phone pictures, I need to step up my photo game.

**I might add that you can find the rice paper and vermicelli noodles in your international foods section of the grocery store. I buy mine at Save On Foods or Superstore

Step 1
Cook your vermicelli noodles, I put them in a pot of boiling water they cook FAST so keep an eye on them, 2-3 minutes and they are soft and ready to go. Strain and cool.

Step 2
Chop your vegetables. Options are endless, sweet peppers, avocado, cucumbers, shredded carrot, cilantro is a MUST, however, for people who don't like cilantro.. (are you crazy?!).. parsley or mint is another option.

Step 3
Soften your rice paper. I keep a plate of hot water on the table and put one in to soften while I wrap the one I'm working on. Softens in about a minute make sure its nice and pliable. Every 2 or 3 papers I replace the water so it stays hot.

Step 4
Wrap! I start with the rice noodles on the bottom then layer my vegetables, cilantro and shrimp. I fold down the top, right side, left side, then bottom. I don't like to make the wraps too long and skinny or else sometimes they are hard to dip!

  

Step 5

Dip! This is my favorite peanut sauce, it will bite you back its got some kick to it! You can buy peanut sauce at the store, or make your own at home. Without the peanut sauce these rice wraps are BLEH. Everyone knows their only purpose is to serve as a vehicle to the peanut sauce. It's like salad without dressing... you gotta dip em people!

Rainy Day Food

Rainy days as a kid always meant coming home from school to homemade chilli and cornbread. So on a particularly rainy day this week I came home at lunch and threw some soup in the crockpot so I would could come home from work to something warm :) (This particularly rainy day was the downpour that flooded our basement later that night... Boo.) 

My all time favourite soup recipe is one from www.skinnytaste.com. Have you ever been on Gina's website?? I LOVE her skinny recipes. Nick likes them too! :) I love getting texts like this-->

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/12/crock-pot-chicken-enchilada-soup.html

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups + cheese • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 260.9 • Fat: 6.6 g • Protein: 25.4 g • Carb: 29.9 g • Fiber: 6.7 g • Sugar: 4.1 g
Sodium: 572 mg (without salt)  

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1-2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
•  15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 8 oz skinless chicken breasts (16 oz total)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
• 3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
• fat free sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to a boil. Add cilantro and remove from heat. Pour into crock pot.

To the crockpot, add drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir.Add the chicken breasts; cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Add chicken back into the soup, adjust salt and cumin to taste. Serve in bowls and top with fat free sour cream, cheese, scallions and cilantro. You can also top with avocado or crushed tortilla chips.

Ok Gina's pictures are way better than mine... but this is what the soup looks like in real life...

And what goes better with soup than cornbread?? This is my mom's recipe:

Mamma Ju's Cornbread

1/4 c shortening

1/2 sugar

1 egg

1 c milk

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

Bake 9x9 pan 350 for 20-25 mins

Bake 12 muffin pan 375 15-20 mins

weight watchers: each muffin has 3 points+

Bon appetit!