Super Easy Homemade Split Pea Soup

Did you know that split peas don't have to be soaked b4 cooking? Fantastic item to keep on hand for those days that you don't know what to cook. I made this tonight and it was oh so good.

Here's my super easy recipe.

1/2 cup dry split peas
2-3 cups HOT water
1/4 cup diced ham (or other meat).
(I often use the Carl Buddig Quick Fix meats.. they're 2oz, 70 cal and ready to use, already diced. They come in Turkey & Ham. I've only used the ham, but I bet the turkey would work just as well)

OPTIONALS

2 T diced carrots
2 T diced Broccoli stems (peel them first)
2 T diced onion
2 T diced celery
2 T diced veggie of your choice (bell pepper, cauliflower, squash, etc. the only thing that I'm not sure would work would b mushrooms, but I could be wrong.. they might b wonderful)

Saute or stir-fry veggies for a few minutes in a wok or frying pan coated with spray veggie oil (such as canola or olive oil). If u don't have the spray kind, a scant teaspoon or 2 of oil would work. Use as little oil as possible.

Put everything together in a 2quart or larger saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook with a lid slightly ajar for 30 to 40 minutes or until done to your liking.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2 people.

Serving size: 1 generous cup (really 1& 1/4 cup or 303.5 grams or 10.69 ounces)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 138
Calories from Fat 13
Total Fat 1.4g
Saturated Fat 0.4g
Cholesterol 6mg
Sodium 166mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.8g
Dietary Fiber 9.0g
Sugars 3.5g
Protein 10.1g
Vitamin A 21%
Vitamin C 16%
Calcium 3%
Iron 9%

Nutrition information calculated at CalorieCount.about.com, based on the following ingredients:
1/2 cup dried split peas
3 cups HOT water
2 T carrots
2 T onion
2 T bell pepper
2 T celery
1/4 cup chopped ham

If you change it, of course your results will vary. go to the site above and put in your variation and see what you get.

If you want to make larger amounts.. for every Pound of dry peas (which is the usual size of the bag sold in regular grocery stores) you need 6 to 8 cups of HOT water. Since neither my ds or dh will eat split pea soup.. I use 1/2 cup peas & 2 cups hot water.. and end up adding another cup of water during cooking.

I think this would be great for the soft foods stage of wls.. and could run it through a blender or magic bullet if it wasn't smooth enough. Use chicken broth instead of water to up the protein. :)

Protein

Got my samples of Unjury protein powder today.

I ordered the Strawberry Sorbet, Chocolate (gotta have chocolate!!) and the chicken soup flavor to try out. Everyone says the chicken soup is really good.. so I decided to mix it in with the remains of my cream of brocoli soup. Wow.. was that good.

The chicken flavor was a little intense, so maybe next time I'll mix it with a whole can of soup instead of half a can, but otherwise it was really good.

I've been missing crackers with my soup, but lately that has dyed down a little. I did give in a few days ago and put 4 goldfish in my cream of tomato soup and let them get really soggy and then mush them up to babyfood consistency in my mouth.

I also did the same with a bite of steak this past weekend. DH was having steak and he gave me what he considered two small bites. I cut one small bite off of one of the pieces and gave the rest back to him. I chewed all the juice out of the meat.. and masticated it till it was a paste in my mouth and swallowed. No repercussions from it, but won't push my luck.

I want my band to heal well. Healing is what the 2 weeks of full liquids is all about.

I'm down to using the Darvocet (glorified tylenol) only about every 8 to 12 hours now. I do wish the doc's office had given me something stronger and will complain about it when I go back next Monday. NEVER again will I submit to elective surgery with only Darvocet as post op pain coverage. Be better to just hit myself with a stick on the head. The pain from the stick will take my mind off the surgical pain better than the Darvocet would.