So on Easter Sunday, I decided to cook Easter dinner. Yes, on Easter Sunday at about 11:45 am, I committed to making dinner. Okay, it was only going to be for 6 of us, so that’s not too bad.
My family of four headed to the grocery store to plan out the meal because I had no clue what I would make. I cooked crock pot ham, honey, cinnamon carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, and spinach salad. We had lots of ham left-over. Fortunately for us, we love ham!
I’m finding ways to transform the ham into delicious dishes so we are not just eating ham repeatedly, even though the Imaginative One would love that. Last night I made ham and black bean soup using Bob’s Red Mill’s Black Bean Soup mix. To make this soup, you can use any black bean soup mix or dried black beans.
Ham and Black Bean Soup
Stars of the recipe:
- 2 cups of black bean soup mix or dried black beans
- 8 cups of water
- 3 cups of diced ham
- 1/2 lrg. onion, diced
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Steps:
- Rinse and sort the black beans or black bean soup mix.
- Put the black bean soup mix or black beans, water, and 1 c. diced ham in a large soup pot.
- Bring the water to a boil and then to a simmer.
- Let cook for 1-1/2 hours until the beans are soft.
- Add the chicken stock, onion, remaining diced ham, salt, and pepper. Cook for another 10 – 15 minutes.
- Enjoy! (We had ours with a pretzel roll. We shared the soup with my mother-in-law. She had hers with rice.)
Believe in the Magic Traci Diary 
We had ham too. Your honey cinnamon carrots sound delicious. I made soup with white beans and asparagus with my left over ham bone. Ham makes any soup taste amazing!
They were good. I cooked the carrots in water, drained them, and then put them back in the pot. I added some Smart Balance spread, cinnamon, and honey to taste.
I’m really the only one who would eat asparagus so I didn’t make any.