...1...(part dos)

Welcome back! Today we're going to be cooking up a delicious soup for the "mushies" stage! This isn't technically clear so we'll need to wait until the "clear liquids" stage is over before enjoying :)


This is my own recipe, it is not inspired by, borrowed from, or copied off of ANYONE else. If you see it elsewhere, they borrowed it from me ;) Well, ok actually it's my mom's, but she's the same as me so for all intents and purposes, it's mine.


Today we'll be making Witch Soup (ok ok, it's Split Pea, but it sounds so much more fun calling it witch soup, right?!)







Stephanie's Witch Soup


Ingredients:


1 tsp. butter or olive oil


1/2 cup chopped onions* (be sure to check out my tip on chopping onions!)


1/2 cup chopped celery


1/2 cup chopped turnip OR potato (I use potato)


1 cup dried split peas


1 to 2 thick slices of ham, cubed (or if you are buying pre-cubed ham, about 1 cup or to taste)


4 cups chicken broth or stock


1/2 tsp marjoram


A dash of minced garlic or garlic powder (I use minced)


A dash of pepper

Directions:

Heat butter or oil in a large pot. Add onions*, celery, potato or turnip, and minced garlic (if you are using powdered, don't add yet) and saute until tender (about 8 -10 minutes).

When tender, add chicken stock/broth, peas, marjoram, powdered garlic (if you're not using minced), and pepper. Now, for the ham- if you are going to be using this soup as a mushy post-op diet soup, then add all your ham in the pot with everything else. If you are post-op or not on a mushy diet, then only add half of your ham to the pot, save the other half to add in after it's done so that you can have some chunks of ham in your soup.

Heat to boiling then turn down and let simmer until peas are tender, which for me is approximately 30 minutes.

CAREFULLY ladle soup into a blender and blend well. You won't want to put it all in the blender at once, just do a few scoops at a time, then dump into a reserved bowl.



Once all soup is blended either add your additional ham if you aren't making this for mushies, or if you don't want chunks of ham, then you're done! You can enjoy now or freeze, like I'm doing.

*HOW TO CHOP ONIONS

If you hate chopping onions and can't stand the tears, follow these simple tips that I use every time an onion is involved in any recipe I make:

*Freeze your onion for about 10 minutes before cutting- this greatly reduces the air born molecules that cling to your nose hairs that make you cry.

*Peel your onion and then chop off the top, not the root part where it's all connected.

*With a very sharp knife, make vertical cuts about every 1/3 or 1/2 inch on the sides of the onion, pushing the knife into the middle of the onion each time. Do this around the entire onion. (PS-this is also how you make the Awesome Blossom!)

*Then take your knife and cut horizontally across the entire base of the onion, at whatever height you want your onion pieces to be. If you want longer onion slices, keep your knife higher up. If you want tiny bits of onion, slice closer to the bottom of the onion.

And that's it! You have perfectly chopped onion pieces with very minimal handling so you shouldn't have any tears! But if you do, wash your hands in warm soapy water and then turn the water as cold as you can get it. Then cup your hands and let them fill with cold water. Bring your face down to your hands and put your nose as close to the cold water as you can without breathing in actual water. Take deep breaths in through your nose and out your mouth. The water molecules will clean your nose hairs of the onion molecules that are making you cry.

***disclaimer- I don't actually have any proof to back up these scientific terms or theories, but it's what works for me!***

I am freezing my soup in 1/2 cup pre-measured portions in zip lock freezer bags. This way I can keep my soup fresh for longer and only unfreeze small portions at a time. Just use a 1/2 cup measuring cup and scoop the soup into a plastic freezer bag.

The best way to freeze these is to lay the filled bags onto a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in your freezer.



Once they are frozen, they will all be flat and you can stack them on top of each other or upright like books :) It saves a lot more space than freezing in Tupperware. then when you're ready to eat them, thaw in warm water and re-heat! I know that post-op I won't be eating a huge bowl of soup in one sitting, so this just reduces waste and keeps things fresh :)