Split pea soup w/ sweet potato and Mexican seasonings

This is one of my favorite soups that I make regularly.. I have found that it is a very good dish for entertaining non vegans. It's from the complete vegan cookbook . And it is fabulous! My oldest son is in town who is a pure carnivore.. Sad but, true. There was a chance he would grace us w/ his presence at dinner time.. I was realistic knowing he would be visiting w/ his good buddies and the chance of him driving back out to our house was really slim to none.. But, secretly I remained Optimistic ..Optimistic enough to make a dinner I knew he would eat despite the lack of flesh...
With it a made a "whole wheat beer quick bread"..(hey veganknitter, I did it! Thanks for the comment/suggestion) this is such a forgiving recipe. Last night I used 1 cup spelt, 1 cup whole wheat, 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup almond meal.. Many of the reviewers commented about only using non aluminum baking powder or it is too strong tasting. I have made this bread using many flour and beer combos.. The kids prefer a lighter beer (sounds kinda funny huh?), I mean they prefer the bread when i make it using a lighter beer while, I kinda like a darker porter beer it kinda makes it a bit more like sour dough-ish... Happy friday!