Too bad it isn't money but it is baking chicken and a pot of split pea soup. Mmmm! Neither of those are on the menu for this week but one of the nice things about my kind of menu planning is the flexibility it provides. I'm off today and it's cold outside and that put me in a cooking mood so rather than make Swiss Steak, which is what I had in mind for tonight's dinner and doesn't take much effort or create a great smelling house, I put a highly seasoned whole chicken in the countertop convection oven and started a pot of soup in one of the slow cookers.
The man person isn't too fond of split pea soup but will eat mine once in awhile. Instead of cooking the peas until they're mushy or running them through a blender, ending up with a pot of green gunk, I cook them in a pot of broth with seasonings, vegetables, and meat. The resulting soup is ambrosia on a cold day! Today's version is made with beef broth, one small red potato, carrot, onion, green beans, plenty of garlic and the meat from a smoked turkey leg. Oh man, it smalls so good and tastes better!
And to keep this on the topic of personal finance, having the soup and chicken ready to go will keep us from eating lunch or dinner out, saving us about $20 for each of those meals. Okay, that's a tenuous tie to personal finance but it works. 
Happy eating, all!
Mmm, what's that I smell? No, it isn't money, darn it.
December 16th, 2009 at 06:17 pm
December 16th, 2009 at 06:27 pm 1260988040
December 16th, 2009 at 07:47 pm 1260992838
December 17th, 2009 at 02:30 am 1261017035
December 17th, 2009 at 12:19 pm 1261052393
Homebody, I love lentil soup, too! Have you ever made the lentil and cheese dish from the More with Less cookbook? It's fantastic!