Ham and Bean Soup

There is nothing better than a bowl of homemade soup on a cold and drizzly day. Yesterday morning at 8 a.m. , when I was looking in my freezer to take out something for dinner, I noticed a ham hock I had frozen from last Christmas. So, I decided I would try making som ham and bean soup. I put the ham hock in a stock pot and filled it with water (about 14-18 cups). I put it on the stove on high until it came to a rolling boil then I turned the temp down to med-low and let it simmer most of the day. Be sure to check the water level every now and add when necessary. About 6 hours later it smelled great!! I pulled what very little ham was left from the bone and discarded any bone, grissle, and fat. Next I added the following:

5 carrots, halved and chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
fresh ground pepper to taste

I let this simmer for another hour or so. Then I added three 15 ounce cans of navy beans and simmered for another 10-15 minutes. My next secret???? In order to thicken the soup just a bit I gradually added about 1 cup of mashed potato flakes. You need to stir this in well so that you do not get any potato clumps in the soup.

I served this with fresh hot honey whole wheat bread I had baked in my bread machine the same day.

It was great and it really hit the spot on a cold and drizzly Iowa day. Enjoy !!!

Blogger Newbie

Well, I have found something else to occupy my time-blogging. I had always entertained the idea of couponing but for some reason I could never get organized enough to stick with it. When I ran across a couple of blogs dedicated to couponing I thought I would give it another try. Anything I can do to help save some money is a good thing. One of my alltime favorites is shopping at my local CVS and I am learning several new ways to make my money stretch and help other people in the process. Many of the things I buy for practically pennies are donated to a local food bank that is headed up by my church.

My second favorite thing to do is cook - especially for large groups of people. Five years ago my husband and I, along with my friend Jen, began holding Thanksgiving dinner at our church. This is an alternative for anyone within our church to spend Thanksgiving with other members of our church family. This works out great for people that do not have anywhere to go, don't want to cook, or any other reason. Each year we have served between 60-80 people. We are going to expand a bit and have invited some families that have been displaced from their homes due to the recent flooding in Cedar Rapids this past June. It's a lot of work but it is a labor of love and I do it in the name of God.