Vegetable Ham-Bone Soup

I had a lovely spiral ham for Christmas Eve dinner and was left over with a large bone, which I tossed into the freezer so I could make something with it later. So here comes my Vegetable Ham-Bone Soup from the slow cooker. The flavour of the ham and peas is rich and comforting, well worth the wait!

1 1/2 cups of dried yellow peas, rinsed in cold water

1 meaty ham bone

3 good sized potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 stalks of celery, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 to 2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of dried thyme

freshly ground pepper

water

1. In a 6 qrt. slow cooker, place all ingredients, pour water in until the ham bone is completely covered. 
2. Cover and heat at setting #3 for 8 to 10 hours. Remove the ham bone (it will be soft and fall apart). Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Chili

Chili is the ultimate comfort food and perfect on a cold winters day. I make this chili 3 or 4 times a year. It’s easy to make (love my slow cooker), and can be adjusted to suit anyone’s tastes. Leftovers get placed in individual portion size tupperware and frozen for my lunches. 

Slow Cooked Chili (6 quart slow cooker)

2 pounds ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 chopped green pepper

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, undrained

2 16-oz cans kidney beans, undrained

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground pepper

Optional: Tobasco/cayenne/red pepper flakes to add heat - customize here

My slow cooker pot can be used on the stovetop, so I follow the below steps in my slow cooker pot, if yours cannot be used on the stovetop, use a large pan.

1. Preheat pot over medium heat. Add ground meat and brown. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic and cook for a few minutes to release some of the juices. 
2. Transfer to the slowcooker and add tomatoes, beans and spices. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer at Setting #3 for 7 to 9 hours. 
3. Top with cheddar cheese.
4. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Boston Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker

Ah, the slow cooker. One of the best inventions for working people. Turn it on in the morning and when you walk through your front door in the evening, the whole house smells like dinner. The dinner you didn’t put much effort into. The dinner you still do not have to put much effort into. Last night I decided I wanted to make Boston Baked Beans. I had ALL the ingredients therefore I didn’t need to go shopping. I did the cutting work in the evening, put the remaining ingredients in the pot this morning and left the house. When I got home, I had to mix the other ingredients in and let it cook some more. I had a serious craving for boston baked beans. They are comfort food. On a cool fall evening like today, they are the perfect dinner. They taste oh so good going down... not so great later in the night.. looking on the bright side, they contain lots of good-for-you fibre. I could always use more fibre. So here is the recipe for a 6 quart slow cooker. If you don’t have a slow cooker, go buy one. 

Boston Baked Beans

1 900g bag of dried Navy Beans

10 cups of water

3 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup (approx.) salt pork, cut into 1 inch cubes * - See note below

1/2 cup molasses

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons dry mustard 

1/2 cup Ketchup

2 tablespoons of maple syrup (because I’m Canadian - optional for non-Canadians)

2 cups reserved hot bean liquid

1. Wash and sort the beans. Put beans in pot. Add water, salt, onion and pork. Mix well so that pork is covered by beans. Cover pot.
2. Place pot on base and cook at Setting #3 for 10 to 12 hours until beans are tender (My beans were tender after 10 hours). 
3. When beans are tender, drain the liquid and reserve 2 cups. To the beans add molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard and ketchup; stir. Add bean liquid; stir. Taste it now. I ended up adding more molasses to darken the colour and cut some of the ketchup taste which I didn’t like.  
4. Cover and simmer beans on base at Setting #3 for 2 hours. Keep warm at setting #2. 

Makes a lot.

• Note: I used a few good slices of baked ham instead. You could also use bacon. And what is salt pork, anyway? I wouldn’t even know where to get it and it sounds nasty.

• P.S. This recipe came from my Slow Cooker manual with some yummy modifications.