Split Pea and Ham Soup for the Soul

So most of us who are of any number of religious or ethnic backgrounds have been there: After a family Easter (or any other) dinner, everyone is bloated on too much food, siblings and relations start filtering out the door, and the host will say, "Does anyone want to take the ham bone home?" Most people in the room are done thinking about food, and will politely decline. They are wrong. It turns out the tail end of a ham can turn a tiny amount of money and effort into a brand new meal (or two).
Here's what to do: Chop half an onion, and sauté (I save my bacon fat in a jar for these occasions, but if you don't, a couple tablespoons of oil works). Remove from heat and add one 16 oz bag of dried split peas, your ham bone (if you like, add some veggies too - I chose carrots), and enough water to cover everything. Simmer it under a cover until the peas have dissolved into green liquid (approx. 2 hours). Then, take out the ham and chop the meat off. Discard bone. Once you have the ham pieces (I prefer larger pieces, but it can be cut very small) back in the soup, simmer it to thicken it up, and salt and pepper to taste.
I served it with fruit salad and some baguette. All told, the ham bone was free, I had the onion in the fridge, $1.15 for the split peas, and $1.99 for the bread. I had to buy the fruit in this case, but this summer when I've got salad from the garden I'll have dinner for two and leftovers for lunch for all of $4.00. Here's what it looked like: