Leftover Recipe For Ham Soup

Leftovers are becoming more and more popular as the economy drops. Even at my house where we used to throw food away almost every evening, we now keep just about everything and use it some way or another. Sometimes I experiment with the leftovers and end up needing to throw them away, but sometimes I experiment with them and end up creating a very wonderful meal that we can't wait to have leftovers again. One such recipe that I just threw together was a ham and bean soup that my family loves.

I made a pork roast one night that was smothered in BBQ sauce. I didn't think we would have much left, but alas in the end we still had half the roast left. Since I am a big fan of not letting anything go to waste, I threw it in my crock-pot thinking I'd deal with it the next day.

We went to bed and when we got up in the morning the smell of the ham had gone through the house and it smelled just fabulous. After breakfast I decided it was time to start making something with it, so I pulled it out of the crock-pot to let it cool and gathered up some ingredients as follows.

Ham and Bean Soup
1 c. of beans (I used northern but have since used navy and a few others)
1 tsp. pepper
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 dry ham bouillon cubes
½ tsp. liquid smoke

I then pulled then cut the remaining ham into cubes and discarded the leftover fat. Put the ham with all the other ingredients in the crock-pot and let it cook on low for about 8 hours. I made some simple bread sticks to go with it and together they made a fantastic dinner. Now my family can't wait for me to make this leftover recipe.