Had to get creative with split peas recently and made this. Does not have all the bells and whistles that split pea soup has but it did taste good for something so cheap.

16 oz dried split peas bit of salt as much bacon bits as you feel like adding, I added in a bit more than two small palm mounds. 6 cups water or whatever the bag of split peas called for when it tells you how to cook them, I think it was 6 cups.

Put the water in a pot and dissolve the salt in it. Add the split peas and cook on medium stirring on occasion, I think the directions on the bag said to cover. Cook for 30 min then add in the bacon bits. Cook some more for 45 min and its done. Cheap and easy.