Split Pea Soup Recipe

Well, this is not an innovative or new recipe by any means, but split pea soup can be a frugal and deliciously healthy dish. Dried split peas are very economical and have a long shelf life. (I like to buy mine in the bulk section at Winco.) I got my potatoes for 99 cents for a 10 pound bag, my baby carrots @ 79 cents a pound, and the celery was pretty cheap, too. Add half a brown onion, chopped, and some leftover ham from a meal a few nights before and we had a big pot of pea soup for a very low price per serving. (I didn't actually work out exactly what that price was, i'm too lazy, but, trust me, it was a cheap way to feed a big family + some guests.)

you'll need:
*2-3 cups dried split peas, rinsed and rained
*8 to 10 cups water, plus more for replacing evaporated water while pea soup boils
*1/2 medium onion, chopped
*20 baby carrots, cut into 4ths
*4 celery ribs, halved and then sliced
*5 to 8 potatoes, peeled and chunked (amount varies depending on how much you like potatoes. We like more rather than less in our soup.)
*ham steak (optional, I make this vegetarian style quite often by omitting the ham), diced, or you can just throw in a ham bone for flavor without having chunks of meat in your soup
*salt & pepper to taste

1.Throw your split peas, water, and diced onion into a large stockpot. bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. DO NOT ADD SALT until later, because if you are using ham in this recipe the ham will add a bit of salty flavor on its own-if you salt now you may end up with very salty pea soup.

2. Boil about 20 more minutes. If you keep it at a medium high boil, your peas will start to disintegrate. After your second 20 minutes is over, add your diced ham. I like to cut mine fairly chunky so that my pea soup will be hearty with good sized dices of meat. You may want to add more water at this point to replace the water that has boiled down. Depending on how thick you want your pea soup to be, you can add as much water as you'd like.

3. Boil for another 20 minutes. Make sure you stir often because this will begin to thicken and the bottom could burn. I like to use a good, heavy bottomed pan so that it doesn't burn so easily on the bottom. Keep on checking the water level and adding water to suit your taste.

4. Add your carrots, celery, and potatoes. Taste the broth to see how salty it is. You may add a teaspoon of salt to give some flavor to the potatoes so they don't end up tasting flat. You can also grind some fresh pepper into the mix if you'd like. Boil for 40 more minutes, stirring often. You should end up with a thick, hearty soup, with nice chunks of potatoes and ham and some dices of celery and carrot for flavor and color.

This soup is high in fiber and iron, making it a hearty and healthy choice for your family-you can also sub the ham for turkey ham, it is still very flavorful and has less fat and calories. I usually use regular ham but I trim it very well before I dice it for our soup. We like to serve ours with whole grain bread and Smart Balance margarine-this tastes delicious dipped into the soup. This is great on a cold fall or winter day and the leftovers are awesome for lunch for hubby the next day, too!

Note: If you soak and rinse your peas for several hours before making this, it shouldn't give you gas.

Fried Rice Recipe

When it comes to frugality in the grocery budget, using up leftovers tops the list. This recipe uses some leftover rice and meat, and if you have leftover peas and carrots you can throw those in here as well. (Personally I like using frozen peas and carrots in this because they retain their texture as they cook and don't become soggy.) I like to make mine in a large heavy bottomed nonstick 12 inch skillet-it gives me enough room to stir everything in without it spilling over the sides and onto the stove top.

I don't really measure the stuff I throw in this, but i'm going to include measurements because I know some people rely on them. Please remember that they are approximate.

• 2 cups leftover steamed white rice, preferably chilled overnight
• about 1/2 c. to 1 c. leftover meat, diced small. (This depends on how much meat you like in your fried rice-also, if you are using fresh meat and not leftovers, using less meat can save you money.) For this pic I used some bacon ends (pork) but you can use leftover chicken, beef, etc-even shrimp if you'd like
  
• about 8 oz. frozen peas and carrots mix
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced-mostly white tips-you can cut off the green stems, chop and reserve to use for garnish
• 4 eggs, scrambled, with a dash of soy sauce-I use either Kikkoman or La Choy
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• dash of sesame oil
• vegetable or olive oil for frying

1. Heat skillet, add a bit of veggie oil and a dash of sesame oil. Make sure skillet gets good and hot. Fry cubed meat for 4 to 5 minutes to brown it up.
2. "Sprinkle" rice into the skillet with your hands. Make sure that they don't stick together in clumps, break them up into pieces of individual rice.
3. Fry rice for a few minutes. Make sure the heat is up nice and high, but don't burn your rice. Stir frequently and mix meat all up into your rice.
4. Add soy sauce to pan. Stir rice around so as to coat the individual grains with sauce. They'll turn kind of a nutty color.
5. Pour pea and carrot mix into the pan. Stir around to integrate the veggies into the rice.
6. With a spatula, slide your rice to one side of your skillet, leaving half of the skillet empty. Add a teeny bit more oil if necessary.
7. Pour scrambled egg mixture into empty side of skillet. Let set for a few minutes so that the bottom of the eggs can get firm-don't let your eggs get brown, that might add a funky flavor to your rice.. Mix and scramble until mostly cooked in the one half of your pan.
8. When your eggs are mostly set, stir your rice vigorously but gently to get all the egg mixed up into your rice. You want to use your spatula to break up the egg so that you have little pieces evenly distributed through the rice.
9. Toss in your scallions and stir into your fried rice. You can let it fry just a little more on high heat if you like your rice more firm and brown...

If you'd like, you can top this when serving with some of the sliced green scallions you reserved at the beginning. I like to throw some hot chili sauce on mine as well.

**This is probably going to sound weird, but when you initially make your steamed rice, let it set in the pan with the lid off for an hour or two before putting it away in the fridge. It will help it dry out a bit so that it doesn't stick together too much. Also, if you make your rice nice and firm it will work better for this recipe. Rice that is made with a higher proportion of water tends to get gummy in the pan and comes out clumped up and soggy. (Ask me how I know.) :-) I have found long grain white rice to work best for me.

This recipe gets better and better the more you make it. My first few tries didn't come out too well, texture wise. They tasted good but didn't look so great. It takes a little practice sometimes to get it down but the high heat is a must, it keeps everything frying and not getting soggy in the pan.

Atole de Arroz recipe

It's pretty chilly tonight, so i'm making atole. Atole is kind of a sweet, hot rice cereal type of stuff. It's really good and warming. This is how i'm making mine.
I'm not putting raisins in because I don't have any, and, well, i'm not really into hot raisins. :) This is a pretty cheap recipe to make because it consists of mostly rice and milk.

Atole de Arroz

3 cups milk
2/3 cup rice
¾ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook 15 minutes over medium heat.
Cover and cook 15-20 minutes. (oh, and don't eat the cinnamon stick when you serve it! LOL!
Serve warm.

Tomato Hamburger Mac

This is what i'm making for dinner tonight. It's simple, fairly quick, and it can be quite cheap depending on the type of hamburger meat you use. It's also a one pot meal, which is always convenient! :)

2lbs. ground beef (I use the 7% fat ground beef)
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
4 cups frozen green beans
1, 16 oz. bag of dried large elbow macaroni noodles

Brown ground beef in a large pot with onion and garlic. Onion should be translucent by the time meat is done. While cooking meat, add salt and pepper to taste.

When meat is done browning, open your can of tomato sauce and pour it into the pan. Fill up the can with cold water, and pour the water into the pan, three times, for a total of 84 oz. of water. Add the [still frozen] green beans, and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until green beans are slightly tender [to your liking].

Add the whole bag of macaroni noodles. Give it a stir, bring to a boil, and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn down the heat slightly and simmer until macaroni noodles are tender, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Add small amounts of water as needed or if you prefer a "saucier" dish. Make sure to stir often so the noodles don't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Serve with freshly grated Romano cheese on top, and a wedge of crusty shepherd's bread on the side. (A salad is a nice accompaniment as well.)

**Fresh or canned green beans can be substituted for the frozen. For fresh, the cooking time may need to be extended. For canned, you can just add the macaroni at the same time as the green beans-there is no extra cooking time needed.

***This recipe makes quite a bit, and is good for a large family. If you have a smaller family, you can always cut the recipe in half, or freeze half for later.

If you end up with leftovers and reheat them in a microwave, sprinkle a bit of water on top first so that the noodles don't dry out.

Navy Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe

This is a great winter dish! Thick and warming with a rich flavor.

1 pound dry navy beans
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1, 14 oz. beef smoked sausage, cubed (I used Hillshire Farm brand)
2 medium sized carrots, diced (or sliced if you prefer)
3 large stalks celery, sliced
1/2 medium zucchini, halfed lengthwise and then sliced
5 or 6 good sized russet potatoes, peeled and diced

Sort navy beans and put in a large pot. Cover with plenty of water. Add chopped onion and garlic, and a bit of salt (not too much because the sausage will be salty too.) Heat to a boil and simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours or until beans are tender.

Add sausage, carrots, celery, zucchini, and potatoes, and let simmer for about 45 minutes to a hour, until all veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add water as needed, or if you like more broth in your soup. Serve piping hot with soft buttered bread.

This soup would probably be really good with about half a red bell pepper, chopped, and added with the rest of the veggies. It would add some lovely color too!