Winter Recipe: Navy Bean and Ham Soup

Well, Christmas is now over.

Time to slowly take down all the holiday decorations and clean up all the shredded wrapping paper from the living room.  Which brings me to my next project of turning our unfinished lower level into a play room. Between recent birthdays and christmas, I'm drowning in toys, toys and more toys. It's time to make a place for sophie play and have fun without me and jeff worrying about tripping over everything. But that project and post is for another day.

Today, I want to share my great-grandmothers navy bean and ham soup. This soup is perfect for leftover holiday ham, or if you are like me, and purchased a ham during after holiday sales.

This soup freezes well, so its great to make in a big batch. Easy lunch idea anyone?

This recipe can be altered a little bit, depending on how much ham you have.

I used 2 lbs of dried navy beans

Roughly a 1 1/2 lbs cooked ham (diced)

1 onion (diced)

3 carrots (diced)

3 celery stalks (diced)

garlic powder - to taste

seasoning salt- to taste

dash of cayenne pepper

dash of pepper

1/4 tsp.baking soda

Soak beans over night. In morning, boil about 15 minutes.

Add 1/4 tsp baking soda. Boil about 2-3 minutes more. Drain and rinse.

Cover beans with water. Add ham (and ham bone if you still have it). Also add chopped carrots, onion and celery.

Season to taste. Simmer for 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Winter Recipe: Mexican Cornbread

Nothing goes better with winter chili and hearty stews then cornbread.

My family this year did something a little different for Christmas dinner.

We had Cincinnati chili, salad and Mexican cornbread. Each family is in charge of bringing part of the meal to contribute, so I made my Nana's cornbread recipe.

This cornbread was delicious, and I got tons of compliments. It's made with creamed corn so it nice and moist. Sorry I didn't any pictures, it disappeared so fast!

What you need:

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. melted butter

1 egg

1 small can creamed style corn

1 box jiffy cornbread mix

1 small green pepper (or can do a small can of chilies)

2 c. grated cheddar cheese

*If you like it spicy- try adding some jalapeno

Step 1: Mix all ingredients (except cheese) in a medium bowl.

Step 2: Add half of mixture in a greased 7x11 pan.

Step 3: Add 1 1/2 c. cheese. Then add rest of mixture on top. Top with remaining cheese.

Step 4: Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas

 from our family to yours!

Love,

The Mariers



Photos by Shayna Marier



Winter Recipe: Baked Potato Soup

 With winter now in full swing,

nothing is better than a warm bowl of baked potato soup.

This soup was super easy to prepare

and you can even use leftover mashed potatoes!

What you need:

12 slices bacon (cooked and crumbled)

2/3 c. margarine or butter

2/3 c. flour

6 c. milk

2 c. chicken broth (more if you prefer thinner soup)

5-6 medium potatoes (cooked, peeled, mashed in chunks)

4 green onions (chopped)

1 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese (plus a little more for topping)

1 c. sour cream

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 tsp. garlic powder.

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

Step 1: In a stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour slowly until smooth.

Step 2:  Gradually stir in milk,stirring constantly until thickened.

Step 3: Add in potatoes, onions, salt pepper and cayenne. Bring to a boil and stir frequently.

Step 4: Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes (stirring here and there)

Step 5: Stir in majority (save some for toppings) of bacon, cheese and sour cream. Cook until heated through.

Step 6: Top with more cheese, onions and bacon crumbles.

Serve with sliced french bread. Enjoy!

Good to be back...

      Wow I can hardly believe that it has been OVER two months since I posted on this blog of mine. But I can say with pride and joy that I sucessfully completed my last semester of classes in college! ok ok,  well my last classes as an undergrad. I do plan to go on to Grad School once I am in the field for a little while. Thankfully, all I have left now if my student teaching next fall. I am very grateful for this break. So the moral of the story is that.. I'm back! and truely missed blogging.