BEAN SOUP!!!!!

I have had a 'hankering' for a good ole pot of bean soup for over a week, but.... I had to use the ham I cooked, to get to the bone, in which to make the bean soup with.  Amber and Jessica were home this weekend, so of course, I sent them each as much of this ham home with them as I could.... thus expediting my way to the ham bone!  LOL  

Usually I have to do the 'quick soak' of the dried beans when I make bean soup, but this time, I have been sooooo ready and prepared, I actually 'over night soaked' the beans.  Then yesterday I cooked them slowly...... all day long...... with that big ole ham bone with the beans.  When the beans had cooked to tenderness, I removed the ham bone and strained the soup to get all the icky fatty pieces out of it, then I removed whatever bits of ham that was left on the bone and added that back to the soup.  And before I put the ham bone in with the beans, I had removed as much of the ham on the bone as I could and put it aside.  After straining the bean soup, I cut up the other reserved ham from the bone, chopped that up and added it to the soup.

I didn't want the ham to get overcooked while the beans were simmering all day, which is why I added the ham at the end and just warmed it up in the soup for about 20 minutes before serving.  And of course I made cornbread muffins to go with the bean soup.  After Joe finishes his bean soup, he immediately gets a glass of milk and crumbles a corn bread muffin inside and eats it like dessert.  It's his favorite thing!  I do not like mushy and/or wet bread, so I think this is quite gross..... but he absolutely loves his cornbread in a glass of milk.  My father used to do the same thing, except he put his cornbread in buttermilk, and he too thought this was the best dessert ever!  And to the buttermilk version..... I say a DOUBLE EWWWW!!!  LOL LOL

The bean soup was exactly what I had been wanting for a week.  Joe is out of town all this week so I get to enjoy the rest of the bean soup all by myself..... which isn't a bad thing since we all know that bean soup will give you the toots and well...... it's nice not to have to worry about that issue when you are alone!  Tee Hee!!!  And the fiber that is in the beans is sooooo good for you, a great source of protein too.

When I don't have a ham bone available in which to make bean soup, or if I don't have time to make bean soup..... Bob Evan's has a wonderful bean soup that you can buy and take home with you.  I have even purchased bean soup from Bob Evans, brought it home, made some cornbread muffins, and fried potatoes and called that dinner.  Bob Evans has big chunks of ham in their soup too...... and it is the ham from a whole ham, not processed ham cubes, but real genuine ham.... which makes it soooo good!

Happy and satisified...... thinking of my next hankering that needs to be fulfilled!

Toots to you!