Cathy's Navy Bean Soup

This soup is so hearty and delicious, and it's high in protein, fiber, and all those nutritious vitamins and minerals in the beans. I'm sure it would be great without the ham, if you prefer. It freezes well too.

     2 c. (1lb.) Navy beans or small white beans

     1  ham bone, 2 lbs. ham shanks, or 2 lbs. smoked pork hocks

     12 c. water

     2  1/2c. mashed potatoes

     2 tsp. salt

     ½ tsp. pepper

     1 lg. onion chopped (1c.)

     2  stalks celery (1c.)

     1 clove garlic, finely chopped

     Optional 1-2 carrots, sliced

Crockpot directions:  Heat the water to boiling first, then add it to everything else in the crockpot together and cook all day.

Stovetop directions:  Heat beans and water to boiling. Boil uncovered 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.

Add ham bone.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until beans are tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 1 hour.

Remove ham bone; let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove ham from bone. Remove excess fat from ham; cut ham into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir ham into soup.  Sometimes,  to make it creamier,  I use a potato masher to mash some of the beans against the bottom of the pot.

Proverbs 30:18 ~ Through a Mothers Eyes

There are three things that amaze me—

yea, four things that I don’t understand:

The way of the bottles to all disappear at once;

 

the way one meal can transform an entire face;

the fascination of a toilet full of toys;

 and the way of a very young man with a maid.

  

All inspiration thanks to my sweet, one year old boyish-boy.

Cathy's Autumn Chowder

Recipe post by my mother, Cathy.

This is not a seafood chowder. It's just vegetables: corn, potatoes, carrots and onion, with a bit of bacon for flavor, and a hint of cheddar cheese. It's been one of our favorite soups for four decades. I've made it many times on the spur of the moment, by having a pound of bacon and a pkg. of frozen corn in the freezer, and the staple veggies almost everyone has on hand. Make some homemade bread to go with it, and your family won't won't stop telling you what a great dinner it is. 

"Toasting to Mother"

Autumn Chowder

• 6 slices bacon, cut up
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp chicken base or bullion
• 2.5 cups potatoes, diced
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
•  (I double the carrots, and add some celery)  
• 3 cups milk
• 2.5 cups corn (I use frozen)
• ½ tsp pepper
• 3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 Tbsp flour

Instructions

1. Fry bacon in soup pot.
2. Add onions and brown until bacon is crisp.
3. Stir in water and bouillon or broth, potatoes and carrots.
4. Simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes).
5. Stir in milk, corn, and pepper and heat until simmering.
6. Mix cheese and flour together.
7. Add to the soup, stirring constantly until cheese is melted.  One tip: Never let a milk based soup come to a boil, it will ruin the creamy texture.

Cozying up for the Cold

My children think it is so exciting to put on coats and hats and go outside in the (literally) freezing cold. Left to myself I might think it was exciting to cuddle up on the couch in front of the fireplace in the warm house, but they get me out so I get them bundled. I do love the look of warm winter coats :-)

I actually got a photo with all three children smiling!
It took clicking away about twenty times but - Yay!

A very sweet (and warm) pass-me-down "cozy coat" for Lucy
from a good friend (thank you Kathleen!)

Helen now get's Lucy's pass-me down "Lizzy Coat" - named thus
because cousin Lizzy gave it to us and has a matching one.
(What, doesn't everyone name their coats?)

Lucy definitely has a certain "mom is taking too many pictures" expression.
Hmmm. Her daddy gets that expression as soon as he sees the camera
pointing anywhere near his vicinity. 

Amidst our tears, Oh Lord, we praise you...

Praying for comfort for our friends - see this post.

Early Morning Singing

The girls woke up way to early this morning (in my opinion). They were bright eyed ready for the day and so I took them out onto the porch so that they wouldn't wake up little Paul. We had a very fun time together, I just wish my voice wasn't on the video!

At Last...

A Phares family photo. Paul is now 9 months old and we have our first photo of us all together since we took one at the hospital the day after he was born. Ben has a strong dislike of posing for pictures but he was being very kind to me by allowing us to get this photo taken at a wedding we attended this past Saturday. As you can see, the children have changed quite a bit :-)

May 2013

August 2012