Day 18 - A Month Without Groceries

August 30, 2009

I am definitely starting to run out of ingredients and as a result need to be more creative in what I use to make my meals. One thing that remains important is to keep the meals interesting and tasty for my family. In looking for alternatives, I realized there are a lot of options for coating chicken, fish or pork for baking. The obvious bread crumbs is a good stand by, but equally as good is ground up nuts, crushed saltine crackers or pretzels, hash brown potatoes, potato buds, or the broken chips at the bottom of a bag (potato or otherwise). To make the coating stick, you can brush on a small amount of salad dressing (Italian, Ranch, French, Russian, Thousand Island) or mayonnaise. It is a great way to use up items in the refrigerator that are close to their expiration dates while adding flavor to your meals.

Tonight for dinner, I plan to make split pea with smoked turkey soup. The photo will not likely do the meal justice as the color of split pea soup is, well, pea green. Don't be afraid of trying it. The flavors are wonderful. It is important to note that you can use ham hocks, leftover ham, sausage, or whatever protein you may have left in your refrigerator to make this soup. I like to use turkey to lighten up the meal. You can also make it vegetarian by using vegetable bouillon and omitting the meat. My basic recipe is as follows:

SPLIT PEA SOUP
1 pound smoked turkey, shredded (you can substitute ham hocks, ham, bacon, sausage, etc)
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, finely diced
2 cups dried split peas (you can substitute soaked navy beans)
6 teaspoons chicken bouillon (you can substitute beef or vegetable bouillon or a packet of onion soup mix)
12 cups water
salt and pepper

In a large pot, bring the water, onion, and bouillon to a boil. Turn down heat to low and add shredded turkey and split peas. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or until the peas are soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

Leftovers can be frozen. You may have to add more water to the soup when it is leftover. This meal goes a long way. Additionally, the total cost for the whole batch (as outlined above) comes in at approximately $4.50 and feeds 6 conservatively. Today, I don't have carrots or celery so I will leave them out.