What I made for dinner...

I found this E-book a while back from Crystal at The Family Homestead. It was a worthwhile investment, because we've used the recipes over and over. It looks like her format has changed to a CD, but the same great ideas are still there! She also has a menu planning section that I have yet to put to use....

The recipe I used tonight was the "Navy Bean Soup." I have tweaked it a little to fit my guys and their tastebuds. The results are very tasty! Good for winter soups, for all you people who actually have a real winter. (It was 73 down here yesterday!)

Navy Bean Soup

Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large soup pot

Chop up and add:
1 med. onion
1 cup celery
1 carrot
Cook until onion and celery are soft.

Add:
3 cups dry navy beans (small white beans)
12 cups water
1 Tbsp salt

Bring to boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Stir occasionally, cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Ham bone/meat can be added if desired.

Okay, now I did mine a little bit different than hers. First of all, I have NEVER had beans work without soaking them overnight. So, I soaked the navy beans. Then I used 1/2 a packet of onion soup mix instead of a plain onion. I also thawed and used some diced ham from our New Year's Day dinner that I had frozen. After I had all that going in the pot, I made some country/white gravy and added it to the soup. This made it a thicker soup, and not so plain. The guys ate it right up!! Good luck!