On track

Well, I survived the cleanse. And I feel pretty good. So, I had this amazing biscuit our kitchen produced. It was light, buttery, a touch of chived and it was still warm. It rocked. Until the pain started. A week without gluten and the first taste set me off. I felt as if I had swallowed a basketball. A spinning, bouncing basketball. I guess I have to stay away from gluten. Or at least cut waaaaay back.

That said, I spent today prepping foods for the upcoming week. I mixed up a batch of meatballs and a couple of pounds of turkey sausage. Mixed, baked and into the freezer. I also finished a pot of chicken, split pea soup. It's pretty amazing stuff.

I started the pot on Friday. I put the organic yellow peas to soak before  left for work. When I got home, I drained them and added a quart of homemade chicken stock, some water and pepper. I left it on low while I walked to the produce market to buy more ingredients. I got a call and was told a couple of co-workers were at a local establishment having a cocktail and would I join them. Well, the pot WAS on low... I folded up my Trader Joe's reusable grocery bag and walked the two blocks to the restaurant for a cocktail. The Sazerac was awesome. So was the second one. We were about finished with the second drink when I mentioned my soup. My friends walked to my place and turned off the stove. A third cocktail, a pizza and some wonderful fried Brussels sprouts and I walked home, put the pot in the fridge and let it sit until today. I grated in a yam, added 1/4 cup of Rocky Mountain salad mix from the Spice House and set it on the heat again. It simmered for a couple of hours and I added a cup of diced chicken. I came up with 10 cups of soup.

1 lb split yellow peas soaked overnight
1 qt chicken stock
water
1 5" yam, peeled and grated
1/4 c Rocky Mountain Seasoning from the Spice House
ground pepper to taste
1 cup diced chicken

Rinse soaked peas, add stock and water to cover. Add spices and pepper. Simmer until peas are soft. Add chicken and heat through. At this point, I measured 9 and a half cups of soup so I added a half cup of water to make 10 cups.
1 cup serving equals 202 calories, 1.68 grams of fat, 17.6 grams of protein, 7.5% fat, 32% protein, 60.5% carbohydrates.  Zero gluten.