Beans and Ham Hock Soup

This recipe sounds kind of gross, but it's actually really good (especially for beans!). I got it off the bob's red mill bean package.

Ingredients:
2 cups bean blend
2 1/2 quarts water (best with broth)
ham hock or ham shank
1 cup chopped onion
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce or 1 qt tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp- 1 TBSP chili powder
garlic, minced


Directions:
Wash beans then soak overnight. In the morning drain, rinse and bring water, beans and ham hock to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered, 3-3 1/2 hours. Add onion, tomato sauce/tomatoes, and seasonings. Simmer 30 minutes.

Once everything is cooked, I take the ham hock out and pull off the meat and put it back into the soup, throwing away the bone and other non edible parts.

Old-Time Beef Stew

If you don't want to wait 4-6 hours for the crock pot, this takes about 2.5 hours from beginning to end and is easy and delicious.

Ingredients:
1.5-2 lbs stew beef
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3 cups water
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
5-6 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
3-5 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup peas (opt)
2 Tbs cornstarch

Directions:
Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika and allspice. Cove and simmer 1.5 hours. Remove bay leaves. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, and peas. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Mix with a little hot cooking liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen, Food Network

Beef Stew (from Brooke Streadbeck)

Stew meat or chuck roast (cubed)
flour
salt
pepper
potatoes, peeled and cubed
celery, peeled and sliced
carrots, sliced

Coat meat in flour and salt and pepper. Brown in pan with oil. Put in crock pot and cover with water about 1 inch higher than the meat. Put on low and cook for 8 hours total. After about 5 hours peel and cut up potatoes (to amount you want), celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

(The picture isn't mine. I don't use peas but you can.)

Broccoli Cheese Soup (from Rebecca Lewis)

Saute:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 TB butter

Add:
2 cups water
3 TB better than bouillon (chicken)

Boil and add 2 cups of broccoli (or more to taste).
Let simmer and cook until tender.

Add 1 pint of cream or more to taste. Heat until simmering.
Add small cube of velveeta cheese in chunks and stir occasionally until it melts.
Add salt and pepper to taste.