*** Omit the parmesan for a dairy free/paleo friendly version ***

Say hello to Avril!

Avril lives in New England, USA where she works as an elderly care provider, where she's the mother of two little girls and where she cooks and bakes like crazy for her blog Baking and Creating with Avril .

 Avril's blog is filled to the brim with wonderful family friendly recipes made with love, igniting her dream of one day potentially opening up her very own bakery.  How exciting Avril.  Although the thought of bakers hours leaves me in a cold sweat!

Baking and Creating with Avril also happens to be my Secret Recipe Club blog for the month of August.

I'm a sucker for soup in the Wintertime so when I spotted this little recipe of Avril's....voila....recipe chosen!  Doesn't get much simpler than that my friends.

(See Avril's original recipe here)

I made just a few slight changes to Avril's original recipe, purely because I'm slowly turning into a lazy cook.  

I utilised the deliciousness of the ham hock to make the stock, meaning I didn't need to add any extra stock to the pot as the flavour was wonderful all on it's own.  I also (you will note) did not use any dried split peas in this recipe.  I love dried split peas, but my taste buds on this day were crying out for simple freshness, so I simply stuck with green peas.