Recession recipe #1

So I've been trying to spend less money at the store over the last few months as my 401(k) has become a 001(k). I honestly never paid that much attention to what I was buying cost-wise...I just replaced what we'd gone through the week before. Since it was time to shake up the menu as all four of us were getting into a rut, I decided to take the opportunity to pare down the grocery budget. You know what's cheap? Beans. Lentils, black, black eyed, split pea, etc. The beef and barley soup from earlier benefited from this new found frugality as well.

Now for the recipe: Split Pea and Ham Soup. (Replace the chicken stock with veggie stock and leave out the ham for the non-carnivore version.)

We eat chicken at least once a week and as you know, buying a whole chicken is usually cheaper than the sum of it's parts. Since I can't give the bones to the dog, I have a big freezer bag of chicken bones and parts in the freezer and when it gets full, I make chicken stock.

A chicken carcass. I love the word carcass.
6 cups of water
Celery
Onion
Carrots
Bay leaf
Salt

Combine, boil and simmer for 4 - 5 hours. Should yield 4 cups of stock.

Refrigerate or freeze the stock depending on when you are going to use it.

For the soup:

4 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb split peas
Fresh thyme
1 small vidalia onion
3/4 cup cubed ham. More if you want it
s & p

Wash and pick through spit peas.
In a stock pot (a Le Creuset works well) caramelize onions over low heat.
When onions are translucent, add ham and spices and saute for a couple minutes.
Add stock and peas and bring to a boil
Reduce and simmer for 90 minutes

Enjoy