Yellow Split Pea and Spinach Soup

For as long as I can remember homemade soups have always been a favourite of mine. Since being banded I've also found that they're an easy way for me to get a nutrient rich meal into my tummy. For the past year or so I've become increasingly aware of how little meat I eat and therefore I've been consciously making an effort to cook more with other protein sources like beans, peas and lentils or pulses. 

I have great intentions of preparing a bunch of easy to freeze/thaw/re-heat foods for Folk Fest. I decided that I should really do a test run for any recipes so that I don't end up out at the festival starving with a bunch of soups and stews that I don't like. 

The original recipe can be found over here on the Soup Chick's blog and my review of the recipe is below. 

Yellow Pea and Spinach Soup

I used yellow peas instead of lentils (I couldn't find yellow lentils anywhere). The only spice I didn't have was coriander which many of you might already have. 

Tomato paste tip: this recipe calls for 1 tsp of tomato paste, I'm not lucky enough to live somewhere that I can purchase my tomato paste in a resealable tube or something so this is what I do. I use a small cookie scoop (approximately 1 tsp in size) and scoop the tomato paste onto a a lined baking sheet, freeze and then transfer to resealable freezer bag or container. Now whenever you have a recipe that calls for just a 1 tsp or 1 tbsp of tomato paste you just need to pull some out of the freezer pre-measured. 

Because I used unsoaked yellow peas my soup took much longer than the 4 hours on low in the recipe. After two hours I changed the temperature from low to high and continued to cook for an additional 4 hours.   I will say that I have an old slow-cooker so the temperatures might not be the greatest. I then turned off the heat, stirred in the coconut milk and spinach and adjusted the seasoning to taste. 

Overall, I like this recipe for me but not for Folk Fest. It doesn't have enough substance and I can imagine we're going to need some hearty meals in us. 

Why do we Blog?

This isn't my first time deciding to join the world of blogging. It usually starts the same way where I find myself in need of an outlet or forum of expression.
Somewhere out there in vastness that is the internet you could probably find a blog from a 16 year old so me misunderstood and full of the usual teenage cliches, at the time this wouldn't have been a blog so much as a live journal. Any else remember live journal?!?
Fast forward a few years and you'll find me at 24 years old making a rather large life decision to have bariatric surgery. Two years prior my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was awaiting knee replacement surgery. She had always been over weight and I couldn't help but wonder how much her weight was the cause of her health problems, it is possible it was a co-morbidities situation and guess what? I was headed in the exact same direction. I felt like I needed to make a change and it needed to be big. I had already done the yoyo game and piddled away my money on so many fad diets and unused gym memberships. During the time leading to my lap band surgery I became immersed in an online community of blogging bandsters. I began to follow their progress and share my own.
A year later in an unfortunate blessing in disguise my Mom was laid off from her job and seeing that both of my parents were nearing retirement anyways they decided to sell the family home and move out to the lake. Yes I still lived at home at 25, so that's how it was a blessing in disguise because it forced me to move out and so on.
When I first bought my house I continued to blog but I began to find that it wasn't fitting into my new routines and everything that came with home ownership. I jumped ship again but still believe that the blogging community served its purpose for me during that time of my life.
Fall 2012 I hit a deep point in my life after the end of a relationship. I tried reaching out to the blogging community but I didn't know where to go. I was too deep in my own confusion to be of any real asset to an online community of any sort. I posted only a few times before letting go and seeking help and solace else where.
That brings us to now, Spring 2013. You're probably wondering "What mind numbing crisis is she going through now?" None!
Why do we Blog then? I'm starting my new journey into blogging because I want to share and learn. I don't know if I will find connection in fellow bloggers through common interest or not but there are things in my life that I discover and think are worth sharing. New music, movies, recipes, patterns. I'm a lady of many talents and interests and I'm ready to move on to the What part of my blog.

Love Les