"Holiday Leftover" Ham-n-Bean Soup

     I call my ham n bean soup "Holiday Leftover" due to it being a delicious way to utilize those containers of left over veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy that you have in your fridge following your holiday meal. Typically I make a pretty large size ham for both Easter and Christmas, and since my family is small, I make 2 cans of corn, 2 cans of some bean, like string beans or baby limas, and 5lb. of mashed potatoes. After dinner I cut up a moderate amount of ham to be eaten for sandwiches or however preferred, and I leave a hefty amount of ham on the bone. The day after the holiday is soup making day lol. 

     As usual, I use a very large stock pot because soup leftovers ROCK for several days! Start by placing your ham bone with meat into the pot, fill it with hot water, bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered several hours. Let the water cook down a fair amount. While waiting, chop 4 medium onions into 1 1/2" chunks, and slice up 5 both large carrots and celery stalks. Remove ham and bone from broth and place it into a large mixing bowl to cool. Add your raw ingredients and bring to a boil again, then reduce to a simmer. Add 2 LARGE cans of white northern beans and 2 large cans of pinto beans...juice and all goes in. Now the fun part...get those leftover veggies and things out of your fridge...dump in your corn, limas or what-have-you type of beans, left over gravy and YES even your left over mashed potatoes! These will melt down and add much richness to your broth! Continue to simmer. I don't typically add salt to ham soup, but I do add pepper...about 2 tsp. I don't like to over power ham n bean soup with any other types of seasonings since this dish has such a wonderful taste just standing alone.

     All that's left to do is to separate all your ham from the bone, cutting or ripping into smallish size chunks and removing fat and tough skin segments. (After the bone cools, treat your dog to this flavorful treat :-D) Add the ham to the soup and when all veggies are tender, your soup is done! Enjoy Enjoy!

Ingredient list: baked ham bone with meat
                 4 med-lg onions
                 5 large carrots
                 5 celery stalks
                 2 lg. cans North.White beans
                 2 lg. cans Pinto beans
                 left over corn, beans
                 left over mashed potatoes
                 left over gravy
                 2 tsp. pepper         

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