Live Below the Line- Split pea soup.

Split Pea Soup

I have taken this years "Live Below the Line" challenge. This means that just like all of the world's people who live in extreme poverty, I will be spending no more than $2 on my daily food. This event runs from the 7th of May until the 11th of May. You can donate here. Massive thanks to Nina who made the first donation! Thank you so much! :)

Today was day one.

To last the week I have bought versatile foods: Ones that can be cooked a number of ways.

• One bag of onions.        $1.
• Lentils.                          $1. Originally $2, but I swapped half for split peas.
• Split peas.                     $1.
• Mushrooms.                 $0.69.
• Potatoes.                      $2.
• Curry Powder.             $0.50.
• Tomato paste.              $1.
• Salt and pepper.           $0.30.
• Rocket.                        $1. Originally I was going to get $2, but I swapped half for...
• Tea.                             $1.

I woke up feeling edgy. Eating like this reminded me so much of being in my late teens, living out of home with not the nicest person and starting uni, making meals from a carrot and a stock cube. I used to eat plain rice with sweet chilli sauce as a regular thing. One week I survived on microwaved pumpkin with salt. We once made a curry out of onions, oil and curry powder. We couldn't afford the rice to go with it. I must say those times did make me imaginative but I never want to go back.

These ingredients I had all in the cupboard. It seemed silly to go out and buy a whole bunch of new stuff. I calculated what they all cost and worked out at least three main dishes. A soup, a curry and a stew with roast potato will be my mains. The rocket and onion will be my salad and the popcorn my go-to snack.
You may be wondering what I'm going to eat for breakfast. I personally like soup for breakfast.
The hardest thing is not being allowed to nip into the backyard and grab a bay leaf or a bunch of parsley. The cost of every item needs to be factored in. We also can't accept food donations.

Today, I'm going to share the soup with you. It actually tastes pretty good- hearty even. It's amazing how simple food can be. This type of thing makes me realise how much we complicate things. I did cook it in my pressure cooker, admittedly. I'm sure with more time it would taste just as good on the stove.

Time: 2 Minutes prep, 25 minutes in a pressure cooker, Maybe 1 hour on the stove.
Serves: 4.

Ingredients:

• One onion, sliced.
• One cup of split peas.
• Two tablespoons of tomato paste.
• Four cups of water.
• One diced potato.
• A good pinch of salt.
• A few shakes of salt.

Method:

Pressure cooker: Place all of the ingredients in a pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the pressure and it's ready to go.
Stove top: Place the ingredients in a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour or until the lentils are cooked. Serve.

Todays food intake:
Breakfast: Soup.
Snack: Plain popcorn.
Lunch: Soup with Rocket and onion salad.
Snack: Plain popcorn.
Dinner: Roast potato and lentil stew. More about that tomorrow.