Super Easy and Delicious Ham and Bean Crockpot Soup

We baked a ham the other night and had a ton of leftovers. We discussed different ways to use it up and ham and bean soup sounded like a winner.  However, I was not going to the store to buy anything new and I wasn't going to slave over a stove to make it.  To the crock pot I went. I used this recipe from simply recipes as a guide and I'm stealing their photo because their soup looked waaay prettier than mine.  But mine tasted daaaaayum good!

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Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup diced potatoes
- 2 cups cooked ham
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 can white kidney beans
- 1 can pinto beans
thyme, salt, pepper and parsley

I cooked it on low for 7 hours and it was delicious!  The only thing I would do different is probably make more!! And add more ham.  I totally could have added another cup and adjusted maybe another cup of chicken broth in.  So delicious!

What do you do with ham leftovers?

Veggie Chili & Cracked Corn Cheese Sqaures

In my quest to declutter my house, not to waste groceries and all my list planning came this random recipe for a veggie soup. Pretty much, was trying to empty out some of my cupboard, use up the rest of some veggies and make a hearty soup that would give us some lunch leftovers. Plus, it let me use my crock pot and allowed for my husband and I to eat at what time worked for us since we were both busy that night.

Ingredients
1 small onion
1 can garbanzo beans
½ a green pepper
Jalapenos
2 celery stalks
Left over Spanish rice
Frozen corn
Garlic powder
1 beer (Labatt Blue )
1 can diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
¼ cup salsa
¼ cup bloody mary mixer (extra spicy)
1 can kidney beans
Chili powder
Seasoned salt
Oregano
Shredded cheese & Sour Cream for the finished product

First, I chopped up the celery, green pepper and onion.

Then I threw in the seasons and 1 beef bouillion cube.

Yum, all of those seasonings.




Then I threw in the beer, jalapenos, salsa, diced tomatoes, corn, beans, leftover rice and everything else. It was definitely a lot juicer than I thought it was going to be. I was slightly worried it would be too chunky.

Cracked Corn Cheese Squares

I was looking through my Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals Cookbook to get some inspirations the other day when I found a yummy cornbreadish recipe that I thought would go great with a chili type of soup. Plus, my husband is a huge fan of cornbread and I am indifferent and we had a box mix taking up space. Enter this recipe.

Above is a photo of all the ingredients I used.

They were:
1 package corn muffin mix
Softened butter for baking dish
Handful of shredded cheese
½ cup corn kernels (plus another handful)

Following directions on the corn muffin box, I dumped the mix and an egg into the bowl.



Then I added the milk that the box recipe called for and dumped in the corn. I started off with the recommend amount and then added more cuz I thought it could use some.

Then I added the cheese. Next time, I would probably add more cheese because I love it so much. But I didn't want to go too overboard and make it weird.

Then, I dumped it into a greased pan and let it bake for about 20 minutes. I followed the heating instructions from the box I used. I checked it at about 15, 18 and 20 minutes and it was golden brown at 20.

Here is a finished product of my bowl of soup, mixed with sour cream and shredded cheese.

And my husband got into the pan before I could take a photo of the bread!

Verdict? I liked the soup but the beer was a little overpowering. It was spicy, filling and yummy. My husband barely ate any, but I blame that on the leftover Spanish Rice I put in the recipe because of him being stubborn about how I make rice. Otherwise, I am sure he would have been fine with the soup. (I hate picky eaters, which he is one!)

The bread was so so to me but then again, I am not a fan of it to begin with. My husband loved it.

What is your favorite empty the cupboard meal?