Bella - I live in Alabama. Sorry for any misunderstanding but I meant I love Louisana. I LOVE the food there specifically. Other than not having mountains (which we live on one) it is a lot like home. Sure wished I lived somewhere sunny and warm.
Back to laundry and tending to little Miss Sassy. Who told her brother's girlfriend that she liked this other girl better!!! The joys of a 4 year old.

cottage, if you like the fireside white bean and sausage soup, I think you would like split pea. I love it.
It's easy to make. If I have a ham bone or some ham hocks in the freezer, I boil it up the day before in a pot of water, strain it, take the ham off the bone and add back to the broth, then I like to refrig overnight so the fat rises and I can skim it. If not you can use store bought veggie stock and a piece of ham and do it all at once.
To the broth add 1 lb of split peas, a couple each of carrots and celery chopped, a chopped onion, ham (if not already in) 1 tsp thyme, a few bay leaves, additional water if needed to total about a quart. Bring to a boil and simmer about an hour or longer, until peas are cooked soft and fall apart and soup is nice and thick. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. I don't add salt until the end as the ham can make it salty enough.

Yesterday I chopped the veggies for the soup and also some red peppers, onions, and zucchini for a Taco Bake on Monday, and I accidentally threw the wrong veggies in the soup. Then I threw in the right ones. It turned out really well. I used to put some potatoes in my split pea, and the zucchini is a great substitute in this soup. Happy accident I guess, although now I have to chop more veggies for the Taco Bake!

I got a recipe from my sister-in-law for a red lentil and spinach soup she said was awesome, so I'll try that one next Sunday. I'll post it if it turns out really good. Yum, yum, bean soups are one of the best things about winter!

Well I'm back from the park I walked the track for 70 minutes and I could have kept walking except dh was done with practice.

Cottage it's always nice to get a refund

I hope your felling better Cat

Gotta run now as dh wants to go to kohls for a new belt.

Thanks for the recipe, Schmoodle! I'm going to stop off at the store tomorrow morning, right after Curves, to buy a ham hock and a bag of split peas. If I didn't have to use up all these leftovers today, I'd make it right now. :) I hope your SIL's recipe is better than the one I tried for Red Lentil & Spinach Soup. I thought mine was lacking in flavor, although I posted the recipe on the boards here.

I'm just back from the grocery store. I'm having two dinners of leftovers from the freezer and then have 5 meals to make from scratch. I'm not sure which I'll make tonight. The weather is so pretty I just don't want to be inside. The pool looks gorgeous. If the water was about 20 degree warmer, I'd go for a swim! Of course there is a cold front going through tomorrow night but I'll enjoy this while I can. I want to head to the nursery and start looking at plants for around the pool but I'm sure we still have a couple of freezes left so I had better wait.

Spent my whole day doing Scout stuff. The morning was Scouting Sunday. We went to church at the Methodist church that sponsors our pack, rather than our usual church. It was nice, the reverend made the whole sermon related to knot tying and the scout oath.

Our afternoon was the Blue and Gold dinner. My Den got their Wolf awards. Now that we're done with the major work we can spend the rest of the year working on some more fun belt loops and the World Conservation award. When I get my pics uploaded onto photobucket, maybe I'll post some here.

Unfortunately, I had to eat off plan at the Blue and Gold. I was there setting up for a couple of hours before hand and the dinner itself goes for 4 hours. I'm pretty sure chicken marsala and eggplant rollatini aren't South Beach, but I'll never make a fuss at an event. My only other choice would have been to eat nothing but salad for 6 hours. Now that it's dinner time I don't even feel like eating. Yet my husband and son can be hungry and order a pizza. :barf: