Foodie Friday- Warming up with Split Pea & Ham Soup

 The other morning we woke up to this, 6 inches of white fluff after a night of blowing snow at almost whiteout conditions. Two days prior the temps had been at 66 degrees, sheesh! I just happened to bring a bag of split peas to my mother-in-laws', already knowing that it would cool down for a day or two, so I was able to satisfy my hankering for split pea and ham soup. We had an over abundance of ham left over from the funeral, and gave away as much as possible, fed the troops with more, and still had a bit to use up. I waited a week as I didn't want us to suffer from ham overload, we already have enough hams in our family.

Here's a recipe I created from browsing other recipes and reaching into my memory bank of watching my mom and stepmom, both excellent cooks. I had to make a substitution or two as my mother-in-law doesn't keep much in the way of herbs and spices around. It's easy and quick to get started. I must say, this came out sooooo yummy and is the perfect comfort food on a cold and stormy day. Serve with crusty french bread, fresh fruit and you have a meal to live for!

SPLIT PEA & HAM SOUP

2 cups dried split peas, sorted and rinsed

1 ham bone, if available

2 cups diced ham - use good quality ham, not the cheap stuff

1 medium onion, diced

2 large peeled and coin sliced carrots, quartering the larger coins

3 stalks of celery, diced

2-3 tablespoons of EVOO or extra virgin olive oil

1 quart chicken stock + 1 quart water

1 teaspoon each thyme, tarragon or mint, lemon pepper

1 bay leaf

2 dashes cayenne pepper  and a dash of seasoning salt if needed 

In a large soup pot over medium heat add olive oil and veggies, cook until tender. Add ham and bone and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and let soup bubble gently until the peas break down, about an hour or so. The soup should be somewhat thick when stirred, but not gloppy, yes that's a word. :-) Taste to see if you need any seasonings, and serve with warm bread and fresh fruit. Serves 6-8. Enjoy!

To Catch a Mouse

 

Last night as I was sitting at my computer I heard a scratching sound. At first I thought it was the wind blowing something outside the apartment, but then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. EEEEkkkk! A little furry nose stuck out from between my canned goods stacked against the wall. So I call my hubby who says there should be traps in the tool box. Nope, they weren't there but I did remember seeing them in the move. So I hunted around but couldn't find them. Rats! no pun intended...;-) 

I went back to my work, thinking I would run up to the store after work today. So then I hear something ripping! "Alright, that's it!" I said to myself as I peeked into the closet where the rest of our food storage is. I saw the new bag of chips we'd just picked up at Costco last weekend, sitting on some jars on the floor of the closet, I picked it up and yes, the little bugger had started to chew a hole at the base of the bag.

Here I'd been thinking how nice it was to be in a clean and easy to keep clean apartment, with no bugs or critters to worry about. No more roly poly bugs racing across my bathroom floor, or Satan spiders running at us while we were sitting there taking care of business. I thought I had done all I could to keep what ever vermin might be lurking, and yes apartment living is a joy? NOT!!!! Well I put in containers and buckets the rest of the food that a critter might be able to get to, and got ready for bed as it was late. I then remembered that the traps were with some of Kent's things up in our closet. So I got one out, set it and put a little cheese on the paddle. I guess you have to mash the cheese onto the paddle as it was gone this morning, but there was no mouse to be seen. So I re-set the trap, with cheese mashed in. We shall see what happened when I get home later. This may be an interesting venture, mouse against woman. Who will be the winner? I will of course as mice carry disease. There are those who believe we should just catch them and set them free in an animal friendly environment, but I don't know the virtue in that. For those who do believe this way, or just want to keep them from invading your space, here's a video link I found that might be what you want. For me, it's going to be traps since we can't have pets here. 
How to Get Rid of Mice???

Fighting the Weight Battle and Winning....

I've found that the best tool to help me lose weight is the bathroom scale. No fancy diets, no "plans" or medications, expensive products, or exercise equipment can take the place of knowing where you are on the scale.
Of course you need to watch what you eat, exercise, and get plenty of rest in the process of fighting the weight battle, but it doesn't matter if you don't have a way to monitor how you are doing. That's why the weekly meetings some plans have, have weigh ins.
I check my weight daily. Obsessive perhaps, but it tells me if I'm eating too much, and tells me if I'm still losing or staying the same. My goal is to lose a pound a week to every two weeks. As long as I don't gain during that time I'm fine. If I start to gain then I can assess what I need to do, whether it's exercise more, or just eat less of those things that aren't good for me.
No, I'm not starving, I have plenty of fruit and veggies on hand as well as nuts, whole grain chips and crackers. We eat normal meals such as tonight, when we will have Chicken A La King over rice, with some sort of veggie as a side. I'm making peach pie for dessert because it's FHE night, but I will have a smaller slice and only half a scoop of ice cream on the side. I don't believe that losing weight means giving up everything good tasting, or enjoyable, though we really love fresh foods and dishes made from scratch so we never feel deprived.
So, if I can say anything to anyone trying to lose weight, start with getting a good scale. Have a plan for exercise. I walk with friends 3 days a week, and Kent and I will take a nightly stroll when we can. I also ride my stationary recumbent bike2-3 times a week, which takes up little space in our back room. Sunday is a day of rest and recuperation, which is vital to a good weight loss plan. Our bike cost $150 and the scale about $30 dollars. Such a deal when you consider the health benefits and money saved in going to the doctor, or buying into all the other expensive plans, equipment or "helps". How much weight have I lost this summer? 16 lbs so far, with 25 to go. It works for me!

Winning the fight?

I live for summer days in Oregon when I can buy blueberries by the bucket fulls and snack on them! So sweet and tart at the same time, they burst with flavor as you bite into them. I'm trying to fight the sugar cravings I get when I'm tired, and I'm tired because I had to take a Benadryl. I had to take a Benadryl because something is making me sneeze and I have an itchy mouth, even though it's been wet and rainy here. So I am fighting back by trying to eat things that will satisfy my sweet tooth without adding to my waistline. I find it easier when it's warm out, I seem to naturally gravitate towards fresh fruit and veggies, but it's downright cold here right now! Staring at a computer screen for too long doesn't help so I need to go for a walk and get my head cleared. I think though, that in order to win the weight loss war I do need to start a food diary so here goes.
June 18
Breakfast - 1 cup Left over beef stir fry noodles with extra peppers and onions. A bowl of fresh blueberries.
Lunch - 1/2 serving of low fat turkey slices on one slice of dill rye bread with lettuce, onion, yhonnaise and a sprinkling of Craisins. 9 tortilla chips with cheesy salsa.
Dinner - leftover lentil pilaf with a few chicken chunks, and more peppers and onions. 1/2 cup rocky road ice cream, more blueberries
I know, a lot of leftovers here, but we have been going out a lot and I can usually only eat a half a plate of food at a time. Tomorrow I will try and stay away from the ice cream and the cheesy salsa. The lentil pilaf is a wonderful recipe I will have to get my friend to share. It's full of nutritious ingredients, tasty and low fat as well. The stir fry wasn't too bad except I couldn't tell what the veggies were it was cooked for so long. That's another story though and we won't be eating at that restaurant again. For breakfast I think oatmeal with walnuts and Craisins will do the trick. I am not one to cut out carbs just for the sake of cutting them. If I eat carbs I try to go for whole grains, not processed junk. Honestly, we eat way too much meat and need to look to other sources for protein that aren't a heart attack waiting to happen. Marvelous Marvel has a wheat berry recipe she has been promising to share so I will snag that and share with you if it passes the Parsons taste test kitchen. :-) Regardless of how my menu looks right now, I am losing a bit of weight, probably due to walking up the hill to the lake, and lots of yard work.  Oh, and chasing the deer away from my flowers and lilacs, the little buggers! I also zigzag my way up through town on my bike alternate days. Why not go straight up the road? I've got too much to haul around right now...;-) I'm off to walk to the store for throat lozenges so taataa for now! I hope that if you are waging the weight loss war, you are winning!

Running....a wonderful addiction

Yesterday morning as I was out running I heard the "talkie" on the radio share a news blurb about how there's been an increase in depression among people who went to see the movie "Avatar". Because of the vision of how life could be in this fantasy world of Avatar, people I guess took the movie way too seriously.
So this morning the same "talkie" was mulling over the over abundance if you will, of Americans who suffer from depression. His take was that we have turned into a bunch of soft pansies and can't deal with anything. Of course he was railing on the few who really do need to get a life, but there are medical reasons at times for depression and those shouldn't be discounted.
I had a problem with being severely stressed when I was married to my ex. I won't go into details as it doesn't really matter anymore, but I did go see my OB/GYN doctor because I thought I was having terrible PMS. He suggested I change my diet, and exercise, but he did give me tranquilizers as well to calm me when I felt out of hand. I decided to follow the first two things on his list, exercise and diet, and wow what a difference! I never did take the tranquilizers, but I lost 25 lbs, and gained a new found confidence in what I was capable of. My main form of exercise? Running, which is no easy task when it's umpteen below zero, but I would put on tights, and knee high socks and thick fleece jogging pants, a turtle neck, a sweatshirt and a fleece jacket as well as my ski head band and face scarf and off I would go, running around our .6 mile circle until I hit 3 miles. That was almost 20 years ago, and I still love to run, even though I haven't been as consistent as I should be. The chiropractor would have heart failure, but I'm sorry it works for me and doesn't hurt me anymore than any other exercise does. For me, running is my only and favorite addiction. Here's something I found on running if you have been thinking about an exercise program. Oh, and for the record, I lost 15 lbs last year by adding running to my exercise routine.
Running is very good for your health. It provides a great cardiovascular workout, strengthens and tones your muscles. Regular jogging gives better overall physical condition as well as some other health benefits, including mental benefits such as relaxation and reduction of anxiety.

Regular running and jogging is a good way to improve your health and fitness. Many people are concerned about long term damage to joints such as knees, ankles and hips, as a result of running. However, with good quality running shoes and a sensible approach, the risks are minimal, and the benefits of being fitter outweigh those possible risks. There are several beneficial effects of starting a running routine:

Read more: http://www.motleyhealth.com/articles/2008/10/health-benefits-of-jogging-and-running.html#ixzz0cYYgm4yI

Have a great day, and happy running!

Okay, Play My Game

Take these two words WARM and COLD and by changing only one letter each time to make a new word , see if you can go from WARM to COLD in just four steps. This is part of a game you can play to keep your brain functioning and improve mental agility, especially as you age. Aging has it's ups and downs, the upside is that you no longer have to worry about looking like a top super model, just being able to fit in a decent size should win you model of the year I say. And have you noticed that there must be some direct correlation between hair on men and women, as men start losing the hair on their heads, women get more on their face. Thank goodness our eyesight starts to fade as we get older as well, as my husband doesn't seem to see the tiny lines starting to find their way across my forehead and around my eyes. He still thinks I'm a "babe"...lol.
So back to mental agility, as we age and our bodies are not as agile as we like, we can still keep our brains sharp and maintain that brilliant wit we are known for...okay, maybe not me, but there are some out there that are quite witty. crossword puzzles, word games, count games, lists, are all ways we can keep sharp. We can also improve mental agility by moving our posteriors around a track or the block several times a week. We don't have to run, walking is great. This can help decrease the risk of dementia as well. Eating right can also help. Eat your fruits and veggies as well as fish to stay alert as well. For more information on this check out www.brainagility.com.
Oh, and yes this was a test....did you get it right?