16- Bean Soup

It's almost getting to fall and that always makes me think of SOUP! Nice thick, hearty soup with whole grain crusty bread you can use to dip...

With that in mind, I came home from work on Friday and decided to pull that ham bone from the freezer and throw something in the crockpot. ...hmm...no ham bone? I headed to the store for something to use for flavor and stumbled upon Smoked Neck bones (pork). We'll try it. Too bad I didn't pull all the veggies from the frig before heading for the store or I would've seen I had no celery-- who makes soup without celery? Oh well, we'll manage. Some of my best meals are made with ...whatever I find in the frig.

hmmmm.... which spices? I pulled a bunch out that I thought I'd add.

I love the grinders, but truth be known, I would not add the salt this time (I used 3 beef boullion cubes- I'd use two next time, just a little salty for me...)

I soaked the beans in a bowl of cold water longer than overnight, but overnight should do. I put the bones in a pan to simmer for 30 mins or so...

Now the prep work... sautee-ing onions sans celery...

three nice carrots to cut up...

I threw a pinch of dried rosemary leaves in the boullion-- not sure why, just liked the smell of it all together.

Well, here it is in the pot...! I used the broth that was left after simmering the bones (not much grease on the top, or I would have to 'skim' the top with a slice of bread) and added the boullion and enough water to make 6 cups (could have used 1-2 more cups of water).

This is the soup after I added the water, looks good, but meat stayed pink...For the full recipe, see below.

This was what it looked like when I 'de-boned the neck bones... REAlly lean meat.

Nice and thick, too...

Premium multi-grain sandwich bread from Stop & Shop. So hearty!...

And I love it with butter, and dunked in the soup. It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!