Split pea soup, Marinara sauce, and cookies!

Is my hubby the only one out there that turns into a small child when he is sick? What would they do without us? My DH has been sick since last Friday, actually it started last Thursday night. Sore throat, stuffy nose, little cough, but by Saturday we were in the midst of full blown nastiness. Poor guy! He had sinus surgery on Wednesday and then got sick. Now he is a stuffed up, hacking mess. He was miserable and misery loves company. I finally got him in a better mood with Split Pea Soup. It is hard to believe that after 10 or more years of marriage he decided to try it. (He was sure it would be gross, look at the color?) And now it brings a smile to his face even when he is sick.

Sheree's version of Split Pea Goodness

1/2 onion, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 potato, chopped

1 cup dried split peas ( I use a mixture of yellow and green)

2 T. barley

4 cups "no chicken broth"

1 tsp dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion, carrot, and celery for about 5 min. Then add your minced

garlic and cook for about 3 more min. Next add the broth, peas, and basil.

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on it and stir often. Split pea soup gets thick and can burn on the bottom. I have had it take as long as 3 hours for the peas to get tender. Once done I use my immersion blender and puree it a bit.

Enjoy!

I have posted about this before, but it is such an amazing marinara sauce. If any of you out there are testing for Melody and haven't tired this you are really missing out. It is a very simple sauce, but has a kick from the red pepper flakes. I would love to share it with you, but it is a tester. I add some ground seitan to it and you have an amazing meat sauce. We ate one batch in two days. It was so good I made another batch to freeze and keep on hand. We had some wonderful garlic bread with it. Definitely no fat free, but oh so good. I minced about 3 cloves of garlic, mixed it with some Earth Balance, and olive oil. Spread it on your favorite sourdough bread and broil until little garlic crispies appear. Another smile from DH sad sick state.

In our home the word cookie is not allowed. You see our fur babies know exactly what that word means. Therefore when we want cookies we will ask where are the round things. lol I have posted about this recipe before, but they are so good. I had hid the recipe because we were getting out of hand making them. Apparently DH is on the mend and wanted some "Round things". He was hunting everywhere for the recipe. He wanted to make them while I was at work and surprise me. He didn't find the recipe, but when I got home we pitched in together and got the job done. This recipe is from Have cake will travel and it is the simplest recipe you will every make. I know it by heart. (That tells you how often we make it) Anyway DH made 6 delicious cookies. He was very proud of himself being this was his first attempt. By the way, the recipe calls for 1/6 of a cup of soy milk and nut butter, which equals 2T and 2tsp. Check out the recipe and indulge for the holidays! Oh, we make ours with vegan carob chips. Oh SO GOOD!

I hope you all are staying well, but if the bug gets you feel free to try my soup and see if it works. If it does you will no you are on the mend when the cookies come out of the oven. :o)