Ham and Vegetable Crockpot Soup

Contributing Writer: Jamie Sanders

One of things I like to do is to get my kids involved in the kitchen. They love to help me cook. Eating what they helped prepare makes dinner time so much more fun. It’s also the perfect opportunity to teach them about healthy eating and good nutrition.

Usually I have both kids helping me together, but since my son has started school, my daughter and I have been able to spend some quality one on one time in the kitchen. I can see her self-confidence blooming. She starts kindergarten next year and I am really going to miss this time we have together.

We had a cold front, dropping our temperatures from the 70’s to the 40’s with a blustery north wind that makes it feel even colder. The extra cold temperatures make it a perfect night for a warm comforting bowl of soup. I have the ham bone leftover from our Christmas meal in the freezer an it is just what I need for the soup I have in mind.

Ham and Vegetable Crock Pot Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
1 can* of sliced carrots
1 can of corn
1 can of peas
1 can of sliced potatoes
1 can of green beans
1 ham soup bone (the more meaty it is the richer your soup will be…)
dash of salt and pepper to taste

*1 can equals about 1 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen veggies. If you substitute fresh or frozen veggies, be sure to cook them before adding to the crock pot and add an additional 1/4 cup of water per can substituted.

Directions:

Combine everything in your crock pot and cook on low for 3 hours. Remove the ham bone from the soup and cut off any meat that is still attached. Return meat to the pot and discard the bone. That is it!

All I did was pre-cook some of the fresh and frozen ingredients, lined them up, and my daughter combined them in the crock pot