Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried split peas (I use mix of colors, but green is traditional)
• 6 cups cold water
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced bell pepper (color of choice or mix)
• 1 cup celery leaves and stalks, chopped
• 3/4 cup TSP ham bits
• 1/4 cup dried onions
• 4 veggie bouillion cubes
• 2-3 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Soak the peas overnight in cold water. Drain and put in a heavy soup kettle with approx 8-10 cups of water. Cover and simmer 1.5 hours, then add the dried onions, carrots, peppers, celery, TSP ham and spices.

Simmer about 1 hour longer, adding another cup of water if soup dries out too much. Put the soup (or half the soup) through a blender or food processor. If the soup not thick enough, add 1/2 cup soy cream.

To make into soup mixes, add all dry ingredients to Ziplock bags. This includes everything except carrots, peppers, celery and water. Keep the split peas separate in one part of the bag and the spices in another part, so you can follow the directions as written.