Split Pea with Barley Soup

This soup has been one of our family's favorites for a long time. It fills you up without using too many of your calories for the day. It makes a lot, so you people with smaller families should half the recipe, and you'll still probably have leftovers for lunch the next day... or two. I usually make half-whole-wheat breadsticks and cut up some fruit to go with it.

8 cups water
1 pkg (16 oz) dry green split peas, rinsed
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup uncooked barley (find this either where the oatmeal is or with the flour and other grains)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham (I use John Morrell 12 oz diced ham--it's usually in the meat department)

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except ham. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until soup reaches desired thickness. Add ham and cook until thoroughly heated. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Makes 10 cups.

Nutrition Info:
Serving size - 1 cup
Calories - 228
Total fat - 1.6 g
Saturated fat - .3 g
Trans fat - 0 g
Cholesterol - 12 mg
Sodium - 673 mg
Carbohydrate - 38.4 g
Dietary fiber - 13.4 g
Sugars - 5.6 g
Protein - 16.8
Vitamin A - 1%
Vitamin C - 4%
Calcium - 4%
Iron - 14%