Healthy Eats Monday: Ham and Bean Soup

I sure hope you saved your ham bone from Easter dinner!

If not, you are definitely missing out. We have become quite the ham snobs and prefer spiral-sliced ham. In fact, it's the only ham we buy. It is delicious! So, with our leftover bone, we make this soup. It's just as wonderful.

It is Cale's favorite soup and has become quite the tradition around here after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

Click here for printable recipe. If you print, be sure to follow "Go with the Flo!"

It requires a little prep:

First, rinse beans.
In a large saucepan combine 2 cups of beans and 8 cups of water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.

Meanwhile, chop 6 stalks of celery and 2 large onions.

In a large crockpot combine ham bone, celery, onion, 1 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 2 bay leaves. Add 8 cups of fresh water. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours. Remove bone and meat. When cool enough to handle cut meat off bone; coarsely chop ham. Discard bone and bay leaf. Return meat to saucepan. Heat through.
By the way, the ham bones freeze well, I actually used a ham bone from Christmas and froze the one from yesterday. The soup also freezes very well.