Ham and Bean Soup

This is a delicious recipe from my mother's recipe collection. This meal is very filling, fiber-filled, and an inexpensive meal that will serve a bunch of people! It is an excellent meal on a cold winter day.  My mother makes the best split pea soup. Split pea soup makes a good hearty dish to serve in the winter on cold days.

Recipe Ingredients<

• 1 Bag of dried split peas (green)
• 2 Medium to large potatoes, skinned and cut into pieces
• 2 Large carrots, scraped, and with tops removed (easier to use baby carrots already fixed in bag)
• 1 Celery stick sliced
• Sweet onion (cut up or whole)
• Small can of tomato sauce
• Water (enough to fill 3 quart cooking pot)
• Ham bone, ham hock, couple slices of bacon, or a small slice of ham (this is for flavor)
• salt and pepper
• Small amount of milk for serving

To Prepare Recipe

Bring peas to a boil in 3-quart pot, cool and put in refrigerator over night. This will reduce the cooking time. Drain off water, leaving peas. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and ham pieces. Fill with water. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for least 2 hours, or until done. Checking and stirring often so soup will not over thicken and burn. As soup thickens, peas will disintegrate. When done, remove from heat and remove any bones. Add can of tomato sauce. Cool. If you like your soup smooth, you can put it in a blender a little at a time and blend. It is better this way. When serving, add a little milk to your bowl of soup and stir. This makes a lot of soup, and it freezes well.

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Ham and Bean Soup Recipe

You can use Pinto Beans, Yellow Eye Beans, Navy Beans, or Any Dried Beans

You can cook this on the stovetop or in a crock pot.

Dried beans are mountain stable; many mountain folk grew up eating beans and Tators (potatoes) almost every day. Beans are cheap and when fixed right are delicious. Beans are an excellent source of fiber.

Recipe Ingredients

• ˝ Pound of dried beans (any variety)
• Slice of bacon, ham hock, ham bone, or if you don't have any thing else, 1-2 Tablespoons of bacon grease
• 3-4 Quarts of water
• 1 Teaspoon of salt

To Prepare Recipe

It is best to par boil beans first. This is when you boil the beans for about 2 hours. Then cool and allow to sit in the refrigerator overnight. This method cooks the beans faster. After the beans have set over night, drain the water off. Add another 2-4 quarts of fresh water. Add salt, meat or grease. Boil beans for another 2 hours or until mushy.

I usually cook my beans without the par boil method. I put the beans in a crock-pot, fill with water, and add seasoning, meat, and salt

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Slow Cooker

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