There are a few things to mention. I want to jot down my split pea soup recipe because it was so deliciously awesome. And tell you about the endless quesadillas that I've made. And gush about the pork sausage that my man brought home (he can bring home the bacon... fry it up in a pan...).
So here goes. The first part of the split pea soup recipe is to have your dad smoke a giant ham. Then everybody has to eat the ham. Then your mom should put the ham bone and some tiny remnant bits of ham into a bag in the freezer. Then she should forget about it until she realizes that it needs to be used before freezer burn sets in. Then she should give it to you so that you can make soup like this:
Split Pea Soup in the Crockpot
1 ham bone (or a package of cooked bacon)
1 bag (16 oz) of dried peas
1 diced onion
2-3 diced carrots
1-2 diced medium potatoes
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
salt & pepper to taste
note: if you are using a wonderfully flavorful smoked ham bone, you could just use water instead of broth and still have plenty of flavor OR you can stick with the broth and have really really richly flavored soup :-)
Dump all of the ingredients (except the salt & pepper) into the crockpot, put the lid on, and cook on low for at least 4 hours. Everything will just fall apart and become a tasty, thick delicious soup, so it does not matter how coarsely or finely you chop the veggies. Taste before serving and season if necessary. Done and done.
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The next bit is not so much a recipe as something that happens almost every day around here. Miss Lily Ruth is now a full-blown toddler, and as such, she is pretending to be a picky eater since intake of food is one of the few things that she has control over. One thing that she never turns her nose up at is quesadillas. At home we use multigrain tortillas from Central Market. If we're out, she ADORES hand made flour tortillas from any of our favorite Mexican restaurants ;-)
Lily's Lunch Quesadilla
1 Tbsp refried beans
Shredded or sliced cheese (any flavor)
2 slices Hormel Naturals deli meat - sliced (optional)
1 tortilla
Spread the beans over 1/2 of the tortilla, if using meat, sprinkle it on now. Top with cheese. fold the tortilla in half. Warm in a skillet until golden and toasty. Cut into toddler-sized pieces and watch the Doyen of Nyet become the First Lady of MORE! Then make some for yourself and melt into a pool of mama happiness due to gooey cheese.
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Recently, Daddy Don went on his company's annual hunting expedition. He's not much of a hunter in real life, but he loves that trip. They have a fantastic time at a beautiful ranch. Their every whim is indulged. Food, drink, pool tables, card games, skeet shooting... oh, and at some point they wander out and shoot at animals :-(
This year, he shot a hog. The photo is horrific, yet my husband looks so handsome. I am tempted to crop the pig out and keep his smile. The company that processed the meat made sausage from most of it and chops from the rest. The sausage is unbelievably good! Seasoned beautifully and portioned into 1 1/2 Lb packages. We've made multiple batches of spaghetti sauce, chili and just cooked it up plain... and we still have a metric ton of it in the freezer. Tonight, I'm going to roll it into meatballs to add to pasta and sauce.
I wish that I was more inspired, but I have two lungs full of mucus and a giant headache. Pasta is the best I can do today.
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