Swedish Yellow Split Pea Soup and Red Lentil Soup

Thanks for keeping this little blog going. It's fun to see what yummy things you all are eating! Here are two of our favorites. They are super cheap, easy and healthy!

Swedish Yellow Split Pea Soup

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

Yellow pea soup is traditionally served every Thursday night in Sweden. If you’ve ever wondered why bags of yellow split peas are sold at IKEA, that’s why!

Recipe by:: Camilla

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1-1/3 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed
• 6 cups reduced-sodium ready-to-use vegetable or chicken broth
• ¾ cup water
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley or dill, divided

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 6 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
2. Stir in peas and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 40 minutes or until peas are very tender.
3. Transfer 1 cup of the soup solids to food processor. Add water and purée until smooth. Return purée to pan and stir in half the parsley or dill. Simmer, stirring often, for 5 minutes to blend the flavors, thinning soup with water if too thick. Serve sprinkled with the remaining parsley or dill.

*Sometimes we use celery in place of carrots and it turns out great. I don't always puree the soup either, it makes a mess, so I just use a potato masher in the pan and it works great.

Notes

Tip
* An equal amount of dried yellow lentils or green split peas may be used in place of the yellow split peas.
Storage Tip
* Store the cooled soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or in the microwave using the Defrost function. Warm soup in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

RED LENTIL SOUP

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup rice

6 cups chicken broth

2 Tbsp. oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/8 tsp. red pepper

1 small onion, chopped

Bring 6 cups of broth to boil and add lentils, onion, rice and seasonings. Simmer for one hour. Fry small onion in oil and pour over soup just before serving. Serve hot. 

*I haven't actually done that fried onion part. We also like to add some fresh parmesan cheese on top! Enjoy

Zucchinni Linguini

Zucchini Linguini
This is a quick and easy dish I made up while trying to think of something good to make with our zuchinni and yellow squash.  There are other dishes out there with this name, but this is something that I came up with on my own, and our family loves it.

(This is not my picture by the way, but my dish looks just like this) 
Ingredients:
2-3 Tbspns of olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3-4 tspns Italian seasoning (We like Mrs. Dash's Italian blend)
1 medium fresh zucchini sliced
1 medium fresh yellow squash sliced
1 can rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis: Mild
4 oz. cream cheese softened (you may leave this out to lighten the recipe)
1 pkg of Linguini noodles
1 tsp salt (may need more depending on your taste)
Parmesan cheese to taste
     
1. Cook the linguini according to package directions while cooking the rest of the dish.
2. Heat the olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a large skillet. Add the rotel tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, and saute about 5-7 minutes.
3. Blend in the cream cheese with the oil and vegetables until sauce is smooth and creamy. Let simmer on medium low about 5 minutes or until vegetables are just cooked. (Soft, but not wilted, with still a slight firmness to their bite)
4. Drain the cooked linguini noodles and combine with the vegetables and sauce.
5. Serve with parmesan cheese if desired.

No kneading, no rising Honey Wheat Bread

No kneading, and no rise time makes this bread fast and easy. Not to mention delicious!! This was a crockpot recipe that I adapted to conventional oven.

Ingredients:
2 cups warm (not hot) milk
2 TB canola oil (it's healthier than vegetable oil)
1/4 Cup honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 pckg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 cups whole wheat flour, divided
3/4 to 1 Cup bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

1. Grease or spray bread pan. In electric mixer, combine milk, oil, honey salt, yeast, 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix at medium low speed for 2 minutes.
2.Gradually add remaining wheat flour and 1/4 to 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix until completely combined. Unlike other bread recipes, this dough is VERY sticky. You may be tempted to add more flour, but you don't need to.
3. Transfer to prepared pan and cook in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour. If your crock pot is big enough, you can also put the bread pan with the dough in it, in the crock pot and cook it on high for 3 hours.

Triple Chocolate Cake in the Crockpot

We made this for dessert when we had the missionaries over for dinner last week. Because I knew it would be easy, I asked Alan to make it. He did, and it turned out really moist and delicious. Ingredients:

18 1/2 oz. pkg chocolate cake mix

3.9 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup (8 oz ) sour cream (I used fat free, it was fine)

4 eggs

1 cup water

3/4 cup oil

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, water, and oil in electric mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours, or high 3-4 hours, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs.

3. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Restaurant Style Bread Sticks

I have been on a quest for the perfect bread sticks for a long time now. This one is my favorite! The dough makes two, it freezes well, so I make 1 half into bread sticks and freeze the other half for bread sticks later! I got this recipe from Lauren's Latest. Here is a picture of how mine turned out. I don't have a stand mixer so I do everything by hand and it works out the same.

Basic Pizza Dough
yield: 2-12 inch pizzas, approximately 1 lb. of dough
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup…depending on the heat & humidity}

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.

Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.

Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it’s done!

The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!

Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
yield: 1- 12 inch pie

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet…a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}

Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara.

Vegetable Skeleton

I found this on Be Different Act Normal and though it was so cute. Had to share.

Not so good for you, but healthier than store bought Potato Chips

I had the Relief Society sisters over for our monthly Cooking Club last night. I taught them how to make Sweet and Sour Chicken, which you have to fry, so I was in a frying mood. So, for lunch today I sliced up some potatoes super thin and made some potato chips !! Yum.

Here's how you do it:

1.Heat cooking oil in a sauce pan or a deep fat fryer to 350. I use Canola oil because it's healthier than vegetable oil.

2.Slice up a potato SUPER thin. The thinner the slice is, the crunchier the chip will be. You might have to try a couple of slice until you get your desired thickness. We like them crunchy.

3.Place the potato slices in the hot oil. Fry them for about a minute until they are golden.

4.Remove the potato slices from the oil and let drain on paper towel. Season with salt and any other seasonings you like.

Enjoy!

PS. If I remember, I'll put the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe on here later. :)