Thursday, March 26, 2009

Black Eyed Pea Soup

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This morning I woke up and threw a pot of this soup on the stove. Now the whole house smells good, and I'm trying to contain myself to wait until later to eat it. It is easy, inexpensive and yummy. I make it a little bit different every time, sometimes I just throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do the work for me, this time I didn't use the ham and it's still delicious. It turns out pretty spicy, so if you don't like spicy food I'd use one can of diced tomatoes with chiles and one can of plain diced tomatoes. Since I make it different every time this is more of a method and ingredient combination, use more chicken broth or water if you want it thinner, use cornstarch or flour if you want it thicker. You can even take 1 cup of the cooked peas aside and puree in a blender or food processor to give the soup more body, experiment, and enjoy!

Black Eyed Pea Soup

-1 lb dried black eyed peas, rinsed, soaked and cooked according to directions on bag

-chopped up ham (if using)

-1 medium onion, diced

-several cloves of garlic, minced

-2 cans tomatoes with chiles (like Rotel, mild or hot depending on your taste)

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

-3-4 cups chicken broth (from can, homemade, or bouillon cubes)

Add onion and garlic to peas when cooking according to package instructions. Once peas are cooked to desired consistency add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 20 minutes until the flavors are combined.

Shannon

Monday, March 2, 2009

Whole Wheat Pancakes

This Saturday morning I made these as a delightful breakfast for my hubby who has been craving pancakes, but doesn't usually eat many carbs. It was nice to have the chance to do something special and out of the ordinary for him in the middle of all of the chaos and craziness of packing and moving. We both LOVED these pancakes (that you don't have to feel guilty about at all because they are so healthy) and will probably add them in as a fairly frequent breakfast rotation.



Whole Wheat Pancakes
-1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 egg
-1 cup soy milk, plus more if necessary (I think I used 1/4-1/2 cup extra)
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon sugar
-1/2 cup blueberries or chocolate chips (optional) (I did about 1/2 the batter with blueberries and about 1/2 the batter with chocolate chips)
-and in going with my healthy theme, pure maple syrup for serving with the pancakes

Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside. Beat together the egg, milk, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir in flour until just moistened, add optional ingredients if using, stir to incorporate. Preheat skillet over medium heat, grease with cooking spray, butter or oil. Pour approximately ¼ cup of the batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, about 1 ½ minutes. Turn, and continue cooking until golden brown.

(shown with two blueberry pancakes on left and two chocolate ones on the right)

Shannon