Split Pea Soup

    Hi everyone! I am excited to share a favorite soup of ours today.  I admit-I hesitated to share this because the soup is just so......green. To some it might not look too appetizing, or if you've never had it you may be picturing a mouth full of frozen or canned peas. This tastes NOTHING like that!

   At our house I've been fixing some type of bean or pea soup once a week.  I encourage you to check out the bean/rice aisle at your grocery store as we share some of these recipes on Thrice the Spice!  Beans/peas are such an easy soup to make, are extremely healthy and low-fat (if they have any fat at all), and are also inexpensive.  Plus-you can generally make a bean soup using only one pot.  What's not to like?

   This is the package of split peas I bought at my local Wal-Mart.  The bag costs less than $3 and includes the directions for cooking on the back.  Split peas don't have to be rinsed or soaked ahead of time, which is a huge time-saver.  You simply put the whole bag of peas in a pot and add 6-8 cups water or broth (I suggest chicken or vegetable).  I usually add some salt and pepper to taste as well.

You can easily customize this soup to fit your family's needs.  This particular night I also chopped 3 carrots, 3 celery stalks, and half of a large onion and put that in the soup as well.  I also added a bit of "Rustic Italian Seasoning" I had on hand, which included spices such as oregano, thyme, garlic powder, etc. 
You could also add in ham, or potatoes.  

I hope you'll give split pea soup a try! 
Sara