Little House on the Prairie Moments

I made Ham & Beans tonight. Yum. We had the big ham dinner two days ago. That’s where I got the ham bone for this soup. I told Rich I always feel like I’m on Little House on the Prairie when I save the ham bone for soup later. Yes, when I put the ham bone in a zip-lock bag, put it in my refrigerator to cook it later on my electric stove, it’s exactly like Little House on the Prairie. Duh. I loved that show.

My daughter’s more of a realist than I am. At the very ham dinner I mentioned above, I was talking to my boys about what we now refer to as the “Goose Incident.” There were hundreds of geese in the field south of our house. I took a picture of them and posted it on Facebook. I referred to them as “my geese” – I would wave to them and say, “Hi Geese!” as they nested in what I referred to as “my field.” It’s not. Regardless, one Saturday soon after the geese arrived, the hunters came. I come from a family of hunters. I have no issue there. It was hard to watch it all unfold from our kitchen window. As I was telling this story to the boys – complete with horrifying sound effects, hand gestures and facial expressions – my 7 year-old daughter says (as she holds her ham up on a fork), “Mom, you have to get used to things dying. This comes from a pig!” Allison hasn’t watched any Little House on the Prairie. She doesn’t get us. 

If you feel like having your own Little House on the Prairie experience, try this soup. It was the perfect thing to warm us today after Rich and Allison were at the barn (very Little House on the Prairie-ish, don’t you think?) for horseback riding lessons. The cornbread is from the Pamela’s mix that’s pictured. It’s the best cornbread I’ve ever had…gluten or no gluten! It’s nice to have that surprise sometimes. I hope you enjoy this as much as our family does. Ma, Pa and the girls would've loved it!

Ham & Bean Soup

4 cups     vegetable broth

4 cups     water

4 oz         ham (ham hocks or ham bone)

1 cup       onion

1 cup       celery

1 cup       carrot

4 cans     Northern Beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper to taste

Place broth, water and ham into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 45 min to an hour. Remove ham bone and cut ham off bone and return ham to pot. Add vegetables, cook for 30 minutes. Add beans and cook for 20 minutes. Cool for a few minutes. Serve with corn bread or baking powder biscuits.

Nutrition facts for 333 grams of Ham & Bean Soup:

Calories: 159

Fat: 1.9

Carbs: 27.5

Fiber: 9.3

Protein: 11.3