It's A Good Day for SOUP!

Winter has finally arrived in Southern California, and a wet winter at that! We're on day FIVE of straight rain and despite what most Californians are saying, I LOVE the rain! It's a change in what we're used to, yes, but we so desperately need the rain. We need the Sierras to be packed with snow to fill our aqueducts and reservoirs, etc.

But it's weather like this, that calls for a nice warm meal at the end of the day- a day of running kids to school, errands, and husbands coming home from work, or coming out of the cold office in our home. And what better a warm meal, than soup!!!

I'm thankful, my kids like soup, or should I say they don't refuse it when it's put in front of them at the dinner table. This last Monday, I made my Gramma's Dutch Country Bean Soup for dinner using the ham bone from Christmas that I froze. And boy was it yummy! It made a lot too! Enough that I was able to take a jar of the soup to my parents the next night for their dinner.

I have a couple of soups I've tried recently that are delicious and have been added to the "keep" pile of recipes. I thought I'd share a few here on my blog in case anyone else would like to try them out.

Gramma's Dutch Country Bean Soup
1 lb white beans
1 ham bone or ham hocks (in the meat case of your grocery store)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. sliced carrots
1 c. chopped celery
1 small can of tomato sauce
1/2 c. diced potatoes
2 tsp minced parsley
salt and pepper

Soak the beans in water overnight.

Cook the ham bone in a pot of water for four hours. I kept having to add water. Rinse the beans with fresh water and then add them to the ham bone and cook slowly for another 2 hours.

Add the onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, salt and pepper and simmer until the veggies are tender.

Remove the ham bone and trim any meet off the bone, cut it up, and toss it into the soup. Serve and Enjoy!

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Black Bean and Chicken Salsa Soup
1 pound chicken (I used 4c. cut up cooked chicken breasts)
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth (I used 3 cans)
1 cup frozen corn (I used one can)
1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz) ( I used my homemade stuff, didn't measure, just tossed it in)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/c cup diced onions
1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)

Toss everything into your crockpot (except the sour cream) and put on HIGH for 4-5 hours. Just prior to serving, stir in sour cream and mix it well.

I served the soup with shredded jack cheese on top. We also found ourselves crushing up some tortilla chips and tossing it in to the soup as well.