The Best Split Pea Soup Ever!

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Split Pea SoupThick, Flavorful, Hearty, Split Pea Soup!

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 bag (2 cups) split peas, no presoaking necessary
    4 cups vegetable broth
    4 cups water
    1 vegetable bullion cube
    2 largish potatoes, peeled
    2 stalks celery
    1 medium carrot
    1 medium onion
    1 clove garlic
    1 leek
    2 bay leaves
    2 Tablespoons parsley
    1 Tablespoon basil
    1 teaspoon rosemary

Directions:
Chop all vegetables into small pieces. not microscopic, not bite-sized, but somewhere in between. The carrots can probably be a little bigger because they’re there for taste/color, not consistency.

Combine all ingredients in large pot, stir around a bit, cover and gently simmer for about an hour.

Use a potato masher to thoroughly mash everything up. There shouldn’t really be major chunks of anything floating around. The potatoes and split peas mashed together will make a nice thick puree. (If you don’t have a potato masher, use a large fork, egg beater, whatever you have and beat it vigorously for a few minutes. it’ll be fine.)

Cover and gently simmer for about 30 more minutes. throughout the entire simmering process, be sure to add water if needed so that the whole thing isn’t sputtering loudly like a stew would. It needs to look watery and soupy, not stewy while it’s simmering so that it won’t burn. Do not boil!!

Uncover and simmer until enough water has evaporated to desired thickness (make sure to stir it around to get a better idea because all the gloop will sink to the bottom and make the soup look more watery than it actually is). Remove bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste, enjoy! Serves: 4 HUGE bowls

(This took me about 3 hours to make, it is absoloutely delicious! I made some french bread with it, and it was a hit! I didn’t add Rosemary since I didn’t have any, and added a little more of all the other spices and herbs, just taste testing and playing with it!)

Sneaky things to look for in ingredients:

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Casein—Whey’s cousin, casein is made from curdled milk. Yuck!

Gelatin—Rhymes with “skeleton.” Coincidence? I think not. Gelatin is a protein made by boiling cows’ and pigs’ skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Jell-O? Heck, no!

Lard—Lard is such a gross word, it almost makes you wonder why they just don’t call it what it is: “Fat from hog abdomens.”

Pepsin—If the thought of eating lard turns your stomach, stay away from pepsin, a clotting agent from pigs’ stomachs, used in some cheeses and vitamins.

Rennet—Certain words just make you cringe, like coagulate, congeal, clot—which is what rennet, an enzyme taken from baby calves’ stomachs, is used for in cheese production.

Stearic Acid—It may sound less gross than “lard,” but stearic acid, which often rears its ugly head in chocolate and vitamins, comes from a fatty substance taken from slaughtered pigs’ stomachs—or from cows, sheep, or dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters. Still want to chew on that piece of Fido?

Cetyl Palmitate—Check your head if you’re using margarine that contains cetyl palmitate, the fancy term for the waxy oil derived from sperm whales’ heads or from dolphins. “I can’t believe it’s not ” oh, wait. It is” Whale head wax”?

Urea—Urea comes from urine and other “bodily fluids.” It’s used to “brown” baked goods, like pretzels. Um, yeah. And the oven is for ??

Whey- The watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cheese.

Vegan Candy & Junk food.. uh oh

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Not that I need to be eating candy (while trying to lose weight) but I always love finding out things that are vegan, so I thought I would share:

Candy

Airheads taffy
Atkins peanut butter bars
Blow Pops
Branch’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
Charms lollipops
Chick-o-Sticks
Cracker Jack
Cry Babies
Dem Bones
Dots
Dum-Dums
Fireballs
Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
Hubba Bubba bubblegum
Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
Jujubees
Jujyfruits
Lemonheads
Mambas
Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
Now and Later
Pez
Ring Pop lollipops
Smarties (U.S. Brand)
Sour Patch Kids
Super Bubble
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
Twizzlers
Zotz

Snacks

Cape Cod Sea Salt & Vinegar- kettle Baked Chips                                                                          
Cracker Jack
Fritos
Lance’s Toasty Crackers
Lay’s Stax
Lay’s WOW! potato chips
Microwave popcorn (minus the real butter flavor)
Munchos
Peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, and Pistachios
Pretzels (Snyder’s Jalapeno Petzels are too die for)
Salsa
Skittles’ Mints
Tostitos
Trail mix
Triscuits
Wheat Thins

lemon heads

Taco Bell?

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So I love to find new vegan things I can eat at different places (new things) and then if I like them, I will decide how I can make them myself. It’s great for new easy recipes. Especially when I don’t like to buy a bunch of stuff then end up not liking it! So if I know it is good, it is easier to buy.

So my new creation is a Taco Bell substitute. Taco Bell’s 7 layer Burrito: A warm, soft, flour tortilla wrapped around seasoned rice, hearty beans, a blend of three cheeses — crisp, shredded lettuce, diced ripe tomatoes, reduced fat sour cream, and chunky guacamole. ( Looking online it is unclear if the flour tortillas at taco bell are indeed vegan or not, so I will not be ordering again) That is their description of course. Now when I ordered it I asked for no cheese, no sour cream & extra guacamole.

Burrito

To make it at home I purchased Whole Wheat Tortillas, Refried Beans, Spanish Rice, Avocados & Guacamole mix. Very easy to make, made the rice, heated up other items as I mixed up my guacamole then loaded them in my tortilla! (Now you could always add soy cheese, I don’t like it much, or some Tofutti Sour Cream, also lettuce and tomatoes like they do at Taco Bell. I added tomates to my spanish rice though.)

 

 

 

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So I totally have been SLACKING on my blog writing! Sorry :) I feel I have been eating more than I should lately, and will be happy if at the end of this month I maintain my weight rather than gaining!

Yesterday I had a new smoothie with tropical fruit (pineapple, strawberry, peaches, grapes)

BF: Smoothie
Lunch: 2 Red Potatoes w/onion seasoning & Vegenaise
Snack: 2 Fruit Roll ups
Dinner: 1/2 Avocado w/ Alfalfa Sprouts sandwich & bowl of Lentils