Yellow Split Pea Soup

I am addicted to soup. It's cheap, easy to make, freezes extraordinarily well, and makes great leftovers. I also work in substandard conditions and am frequently cold for one-third of my day. Therefore, consuming warm beverages and food is essential for maintaining a normal body temperature. Actually, I do not work in a poor environment, but I do sit near a window, which likely contributes to the unchanging presence of goosebumps on my arms, legs, and neck. 

Being that I do not buy meat (I'm not a vegetarian, but I live alone and am incapable of cooking in small scale, which means that meat products have a high probability of spoiling), I live off vegetables, legumes, and pasta and am always looking for new recipes that offer some variation from traditional vegetable soup. I've been wanting to make pea soup for a while now, but have always been a bit apprehensive because of a horrible pressure cooker story that I'd heard years ago. Then I remembered that I don't own a pressure cooker, so the chances of my pea soup hitting the ceiling are low. 

I had every intention of making green split pea soup because that's all I've ever known. However, when I made my weekly pilgrimage to the market, I quickly realized that the green bits were straight up sold out, with yellow being my only option. Ah, whatever... I bought them and hoped for the best. 

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp pepper

8 carrots, chopped

1 pound dried split yellow peas (about 2 1/4 cups or one standard-sized bag)

10 cups stock

salt to taste

Method: 

1. First and foremost, soak your peas for a little bit. This will release some of the starch. Dump them into a bowl and cover them with water and let them sit while you chop and saute your carrots and onions. 

2. In a stock pot, saute onions in oil. Once they are translucent, add carrots and garlic. Continue sauteing for a few more minutes. 

3. Drain pea water. 

4. Add peas and all remaining ingredients to the stock pot. Let simmer for about 45 minutes, skimming foam off top every so often. 

5. So here's the deal. When I tried this as the recipe was originally written (not as written here), the soup was too thick and was almost like a thick puree. So, I decided to add more water and blend. If the soup is not too thick, cool; enjoy as written. If it's too thick, add some water and blend it. 

** You can also make this in a crock pot if you so choose!

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Super Easy Diet-Friendly Brownies

As you can tell, I am quite the chocolate fanatic. Yes, I do eat foods other than those of the chocolate variety, but I haven't posted the recipes because they've been too simple (a whole baked chicken), repeats of old posts, or things that I haven't bothered to measure out. For example, I whipped up a side dish of whipped cauliflower/red potatoes. I didn't really measure my seasonings, so I figured that would be a pretty crappy post for a recipe blog.

Anyway, I've been doing really well on my diet and aside from the tablespoon of mini chocolate chips that I sprinkle on top of my plain yogurt, I haven't really been spoiling myself with the good stuff. That's why today, with my diet in mind, I pulled out "Old Reliable". Old Reliable is a ridiculously easy brownie recipes that calls for two ingredients. And while it won't leave you groaning, "Oh my goodness gracious, that's the best brownie I've ever had in all of my life," it will definitely satisfy your chocolate craving without forcing you to unbutton your pants. Don't judge me... you know you've done it while no one's looking.

So the two ingredients are black beans and a box of brownie mix. "What's up with the mix?!" you might be asking yourself. Well, my dear friends, the answer is quite simple. Creating a batch of brownies that each measure 2 x 2 and contain only 110 calories is easier that way. Sure, I've found recipes for "healthy" brownies, but the recipes are usually so disgustingly altered that there's no possible way that it could even taste like a brownie, let alone any sort of delicious treat. Also, even if I did do it the "right" way, I would have to spend like sixty big ones on a single batch. Here are my instructions to you: If you're seriously counting calories and aren't afraid to make a compromise in order to save yourself $56, make these. Like I said, they're not the most FABULOUS things you've ever tasted, but it certainly does the trick when your other option boasts three times the calories.

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans, drains

Water

I box of Ghiradelli brownie mix (Do yourself a favor and splurge on the Ghiradelli. The first time I made this, I bought the bargain brand. Let me tell you, they were so disgusting and fake tasting that I threw them out. Yup yup... I threw the whole God-forsaken tray out, which if you know me, is a deal of epic proportions.)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325'.

2. Pour rinsed beans back into can. Fill said can with water.

3. Empty beans and water into blender and puree for a few minutes.

4. Empty brownie mix and bean puree into a bowl and mix, baby, mix!. There's nothing like burning calories while baking up a storm.

5. Pour batter into prepared 13 x 9 pan and pop the sucker in the oven for 30 minutes.

** A 13 x 9 pan will yield very thin brownies, but if you're contemplating making this, you're already conscious of portion sizes, right? Correct.

6. The next day, jump onto your scale and rejoice over the fact that you haven't packed on a few pounds! GO YOU!!

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Flippin' Delicious Apricot Chicken

I am crazy about turning ordinary food and ingredients into tasty, satisfying dishes that leave me feeling full without making me feel like I've just gorged on a few thousand calories. Additionally, I love trying new recipes, but often find myself taking someone else's ingredient card and modifying it about 90% of the way. That's how I came about the dish below. I wanted to find something to do with the apricot preserves that I'd just purchased, but the recipes that I found online all called for a package of french onion soup mix and a bottle of salad dressing. While they all got rave reviews and a full panel of orange stars, I steered clear. For starters, I didn't have any French onion soup mix (how dare I actually keep fresh onions in my cabinets), and because the very thought of loading my healthy chicken up with dressing made my stomach churn. Twice.

I can't offer you a comparison between my version of onion-y apricot chicken and the Lipton-salad dressing-apricot version, but I can definitely asssure you that the tasty delight that I'm moments from presenting will leave you wanting more and wondering why you've been marinating with only teriyaki for so long!

The served this with a side of veggie-sprinkled barley along with steamed broccoli. Perfect.

Ingredients:

2/3 jar apricot preserves

1 very small onion, chopped

1 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp-ish dried parsley (I only added this for color)

1 chicken bullion cube

2 cloves garlic

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, sliced thin-ish

Method:

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onions until they are slightly carmelized.

2. Add garlic and continue to saute for another minute.

3. Reduce heat and add preserves. Once the preserves have "melted", add parsley and bullion. With a spood, break the cube so that it gets distributed more easily.

4. Once ingrdients are incorporated, remove from heat.

5. Spoon preserve mixture over chicken breasts and allow to marinate. I let mine marinate for about 24 hours. You don't have to wait this long, but I did... because I'm awesome.

6. Preheat oven to 350'.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness of breasts.

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100% Whole Wheat Banana-Oat Muffins

What can I say about these muffins other than the fact that they are simply aaa-maaaa-zing! I enjoy taking recipes that are tasty as written, but super unhealthy, and amping them up with nutrition and seriously bumping down the fat content. And not to come across as holy terror, but I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

So let's chat about bananas. I recently had a horrible experience with them, as I accidentally chomped down on what I believe to be a mass of spider eggs, which had hidden themselves in the bottom tip! Apparently, spiders lay their eggs in the tips of bananas and although they are sprayed before shipped to a grocery store near you, some can survive the chemical showdown. Anyway, the eggs caused my lips, tongue, and face to go numb, and also caused my right hand to twitch maniacally. Wanna talk about scary? I was so freaked out that I went to the emergency room, which probably made things worse, especially when I found out that the person next to me was infected with the black plague. No, she didn't really have the plague, but strep throat is equally as scary.

As someone who loves bananas, I wasn't sure how to deal with this experience. Then it hit me... don't eat the tips! So now when I eat bananas, I discard the first and last 1/2" of the fruit. Perfect- no problems since. I hope the fear of consuming spider eggs has not scared you away from eating bananas because then you'd be screwed out of the chance to make the following recipe. I made them yesterday and am happy to report a fully-functioning set of nerves in the craniofacial region.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup (a little less) old fashioned oats
3 very ripe bananas, mashed to smithereens (discard the tips!)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt (I know it sounds like a trivial amount, but salt is a very important ingredient because it draws out the flavor)
1 egg
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (Make sure they're mini. If you use the regular-sized ones, they'll sink to the bottom, and you'll lose all credibility as a baker!)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350'. Grease or line muffin tins.

2. On a large plate, mash the bananas with a fork until they resemble baby food.

3. In  large bowl, combine egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and applesauce. Once all ingredients are incorporated, stir in the banana.

4. To the bowl, add salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix.

5. Slowly add flour. Once the flour has been added, mix in the oats.

6. Add in the mini chocolate chips.

7. Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. I filled 17.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Mine baked for 15 minutes and were perfect.

Enjoy them... they're wonderfully delicious and actually pretty darn good for you! Pin It