Black eyed peas sans Fergie.

This delicious mess is AMAZING and like I said, delicious. I found the recipe here and it's CHEAP. Sorry for all of the caps, it was just that yummy and SOO easy and again, delicious. Here goes:

CREAMY BLACK EYED PEA SOUP

2 T olive oil

1 tsp whole cumin seeds (my corner store had none, so I used corriander seeds and it was YUM)

salt and pepper

red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T tomato paste (though I added 2 because I like it)

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1 can black eyed peas, drained

1 c water (I would probably add 1 and a 1/2 or 2 next time)

1/4 c sour cream

You HAVE to get everything together and ready next to the stove because it comes together in a hurry. Coat the bottom of a pan with the olive oil until it's hot. Add seeds and pepper flakes, stir 30 seconds. Add garlic until golden, but don't burn those lil nuggets. Add tomato paste and keep mixing and stirring. Add thyme until wilted, keep stirring for another 30 seconds. Add peas and fry all together for 2 minutes. Add water and bring to boil, reduce to simmer for 5 mins. Add sour cream, reduce to super low heat, don't bring to a boil again. Season and serve! 

It only serves 2 people for a meal, not one of those 4 day soups. I cooked a veggie sundried tomato sausage in lil pieces and put that in the soup. YUUUMMY.

Toot toot beep beep.

This is one of my favorite soups, however I hear many people have a fear of soup made with broccoli due to the fact that...let's just say...it gives them a tummy ache. If you either have an iron gut like myself or live alone and are jobless so if your "tummy hurts" no one is there to notice. This one involves a lot of "riffing," if you will. You can really add anything you want when it comes to spices and veggies. I will italicize things that I got creative with. Word?

BROCCOFLOWER SOUP

5 c Stock (any kind you like)

5 c chopped broccoli and/or cauliflower in any ration you prefer

2 c chopped carrot

1/2 c chopped onion

spices (I used salt, pepper, dried basil, chili flakes, and this 21 flavor seasoning crap I have from Trader Joes)

1 T tomato paste

Dice veggies and add to stock. Simmer for 20 minutes and puree. It is super delicious and is relatively cheap. Yummy, right?

A woman's work.

Food is expensive! Going out to eat is fun, though. Mainly because you don't have to deal with messes or think too much about it. Good news! If you don't have a job, you have plenty of time to think about it and to make your kitchen into an Eden-like haven for food mastery. I am a firm believer that you want to spend time in rooms that are organized and well assembled. A well armed and labeled kitchen will save you money in the long run and once you're well educated and armed for culinary battle your time spent watching Top Chef (darn it, Carla) can be spent admiring their mise-en-place rather than simply talking crap on Leah's baby talk and Hosea's goatee. Here are some thoughts on how to both economize and organize your food space:

• Recipe box: I recently organized my recipes which had been printed onto various scraps of paper, reproduced from the internet and made up from my brain. They went on index cards and into a plastic box that cost me a whopping $2.25. My cards came with 5 dividers (they were $4 something) so I made sections for sweets, bevs, dinners, sides/salads and soups. I also color coded the name of the recipe so I would have easy access to my vegetarian recipes. Handy and cute!
• Pot rack: I have meagerly kitchen storage space. It's pathetic. Therefore, I have 2 racks for pot and pan storage. It looks "restaurant kitchen-chic" and I don't have to stack them awkwardly at ankle height only to fold myself in half each time I need to use one. I also recommend those stacky bowls from Crate and Barrel. I have never used anything more, except for that little tiny one. 
• Pantry power: I am obsessed with storage containers that hold food that people actually eat. Not just weird spaghetti canisters whose contents are older than...well, me. I mean functional containers for things like lentils, quinoa, cous cous and other assorted items. These things are usually very inexpensive and can turn themselves (with your help) into magic dinner. Stock up and force yourself to be a slave to your pantry. 
• Potlucks!: Now that your kitchen is organized, well stocked and you are smart in the ways of a host of recipes, you can have a potluck. I was told recently that the potluck is BACK, so look into it, people! They're cheap, you can insist that everyone bring copies of the recipe for their dish and if people get too drunk they can sleep on your couch. 
• Dishwasher: Remember the person you got to rub your feet? Ask them to do the dishes!

Neat, huh?