old lady soup

Let me just start out by telling you all the cold, hard truth. I am lame.

I really am – today reminded me that I act anything but my age, which I suppose could be a good or a bad thing. I’m starting to act old. I have too many “mom” moments to count, my Husband can make 85 year old women swoon (that’s another story), and my palette is far too mature for my body.

For example, I am up and at ‘em every morning in between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. It doesn’t matter if it’s the weekend or I have the day off of work. If it’s 6:00, I’m up. I’d like to thank a moment to thank my mother for this. It’s either her fault or I’m really 75 years old at heart.

Little things make me happy – socks for instance. I was elated this afternoon when I finally remembered to buy black dress socks for work. Casual socks – for the old lady.

There may have also been an incident at the mall this afternoon in which I was involved with. A group of young boys (about 4th or 5th grade) were surrounding a gum ball machine – obviously very excited about which gum ball they would get. The first question that came to my mind was “where are their mothers?”, but that’s an entirely different argument.

I noticed one of the young boys had a bag which was about five feet away from him, and he was not paying attention to his merchandise. I passed them, then turned around and went back. I told the young boys they needed to “watch their bags so no one would steal them”. They, of course, were very grateful I reminded them of this. I, however, could not have felt more like a mom.

The worst part? I was wearing my glasses – I felt like Drew Barrymore in “Never Been Kissed” with the word “loser” stamped onto my face.

It was no surprise to me tonight that the sound of soup sounded absolutely divine for dinner. Not just any soup though – Green Pea Lentil Soup.

Gosh, I need a life.

Green Pea Lentil Soup

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 cups dry lentils (or 1 package pre-cooked lentils from TJ’s)
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1-2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 – 1 & 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

Directions: Began by heating your olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add your onions and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Once your onions and garlic are tender, add your celery and carrots and heat for another 2-3 minutes.

Add your vegetable broth and lentils. Continue to heat on medium high heat for 15-20 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Meanwhile, heat your frozen peas in the microwave (or stovetop). Using a food processor or potato masher, puree your peas until smooth. Add the pureed peas to your soup and stir until well incorporated into the soup. Add your spices to taste and continue to simmer on low heat.

Before serving I used my immersion blender for about 10 seconds to thicken the soup up just a tad bit, but it would be fine to leave it just the way it is.

The Husband was afraid of the soup because it was green – I guess with old age you begin to like foods that are pea green (or you become color blind) because I didn’t mind it one bit.

It’s a good thing this soup was relatively smooth – I’m not sure if my teeth could have handled it if it wasn’t. I’m also glad the dishes are cleaned every night by 7 p.m. since that’s about the time I begin dozing on the couch.  This old lady needs her rest.

Question: Do you act your age?

Tagged as: green pea lentil soup, recipe, soup