Best Ham, Bean, & Vegetable Soup Ever

Ingredients

1 (20 ounce) package 15 bean mixture, soaked overnight
1 ham bone
2 1/2 cups cubed ham
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
5 large carrots, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 (12 fluid ounce) can low-sodium vegetable juice
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons lemon juice
7 cups low fat, low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions

Place the soaked beans into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low for 30 minutes. Drain. Add the ham bone, ham, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, vegetable juice, and vegetable broth. Season with Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, chili powder, bay leaves, pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Pour in enough of the chicken broth to cover the ingredients.
Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 hours. Add more chicken broth as needed throughout the day. Remove the ham bone and season with salt if needed. Continue to simmer for a couple more hours. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Homemade chocolate sauce

1/2 c. sugar (I do full amount)
2 T. coco powder
1/8 t. salt
about 1/8 c. water (more if needed)
1 1/2 - 2 T. butter
1/4 t. vanilla

in small saucepan add sugar coco and salt and mix. then add enough water to mix together smooth. Bring to Boil and boil 1 min. remove from heat and add vanilla.

Tortilla Rice Soup (Becca)

This is an easy, flavorful soup that is hearty, but light. I got the recipe from my niece, Rebecca Miller. One of our favorites!

Combine and cook in a crock pot for 4 hours:

8 cups chicken stock
1/3 c. sliced green onions
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can diced green chillies
1 cup cooked chicken breast
1 lime juiced
1 can black beans

Put soup in a bowl and add a little of the following:

cooked rice
chopped avacado
tortilla chips
1/2 lime juice

To make chicken stock, barely cover a whole chicken in a pot with water. Add 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 large stalk of celery, 2 garlic bulbs, bay leaf. Cook on low for a few hours until the meat falls off the bones. Use the broth and the chicken meat for the soup. DELICIOUS!

Ralph's Salsa Ingredients

tomatillos 1/2-1 tomatillo
roma tomatoes 12-15
salt
lime juice
cilantro handful
basil 1 leaf
garlic 1-2
1 anihime pepper
1/2 of jalapenio
1/4 white or yellow onion

Potato Leek Chowder

I'm going to try hard to not make this recipe confusing...I looked at a bunch of different potato leek soup recipes and just compiled them and threw stuff in. So here it goes...

2 Large Leek (mostly just the white part but a little bit of green too)

5 Medium Potatoes Diced

3-4 Tbs. Butter

4-5 C. Chicken Broth( depending on how much broth you want. I did about 5)

2 C. Milk(I had like a 1/4 cup of cream that I needed to use so I threw that in and then did 1 percent milk for the rest)

Spices to taste:

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

Chives

Garlic Powder

Garlic Salt

Dash of Nutmeg

Saute Potatoes and leeks with butter in large pot. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Gradually add the milk and continue heating the chowder DO NOT BOIL. Stir in the spices and just test it until you like the taste. We all loved it! Even little man loved it!

Best Ever Cornbread

So I have been on the search for a really yummy cornbread recipe...Well I think this is it!! I got it from my sister in law Camilla. I think she said she found it on all recipes but I cant remember. Either way I am so happy she found it! I love it! I feel like all the other recipes I try are either dry, too sweet, or crumbly. This recipe is so good because it is so moist and doesnt crumble and it is the perfect sweetness.

1/2 cup unsalted butter(I have always done normal salted butter and it works great)

2/3 cup sugar (I do like a heaping 1/3 cup)

2 eggs beaten lightly

1 cup buttermilk (I have just done buttermilk because I had it on hand but camilla has just done the milk with lemon juice and it still turns out great)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour ( I usually do 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white)

Melt the butter in the microwave until soft. Pour it into your mixer and mix it with the sugar until well combined. Combine your buttermilk and baking soda together on the side in a small bowl then pour into the mixer with the eggs and beat until combined. Add salt, cornmeal and flour into the mixer but this time stir by hand until fully incorporated but with a few lumps still. You don't want to overwork it or it will be tough!

Pour the mixture into a greased 8 inch pan..

Bake at 375 for 25 - 35 minutes... you'll just have to check and keep an eye on it. If you use a non stick pan it cooks quick so be careful!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

These cookies are SO yummy! I love them! They are really fun to make around Christmas time. The only trick with these is to NOT over cook them. At least if you like them to be yummy, soft, and chewy. But if you like a crunchy more well done cookie then go for it!

Mix together in electric mixer until well combined:

1 Stick Butter

1/4 C. Shortening(I have never done shortening I just do butter. So 1 and 1/2 cubes)

1 C. Brown sugar ( I usually do 1/2 to 3/4 cup)

1 Egg

1/4 C. Molasses

Then add:

2 1/4 C. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Ground Ginger

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Cloves

The recipe says to chill but I have made them and not chilled and they have still turned out...roll into balls and dip in sugar. I usually bake them at 360-365 for 9 min then leave them on the pan for about 3 min after I take them out of the oven. (recipe says 375 for 10 min) So yummy!