Ham and Vegetable Soup

Soups are a mainstay in my menus during the fall and winter months. And most of the time, you'll find a soup recipe on the menu for a Monday evening. It makes for easier menu planning to have a routine for certain days of the week. And for Mondays, it's soups for supper!

I love cooking a big pot of soup for supper at the beginning of the week. It's great to serve it for supper that day, and then to have more servings throughout the week for a few lunches, or maybe even for another main meal.

This recipe has been in my collection for many years. This year I made it with the ham bones that I had put in the freezer from our Christmas Dinner main dish of spiral-sliced ham. I left an ample amount of ham on the bones, making it great to use for this recipe.

It's the middle of March now, and I'm still going through my soup recipe collection! I've collected quite a few! I'll probably keep on for a month or so, up until Easter on April 21 this year. 

To print the recipe, click on the "Source: tasteofhome.com" link below the photo ...

Ham and Vegetable Soup

Source: tasteofhome.com

Course: Main Soup

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 2 pounds smoked ham hocks
• 4 medium carrots sliced
• 1 cup celery thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 8 cups water
• 2-¹⁄₂ cups red potatoes unpeeled, diced
• 1 cup frozen corn 
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen cut green beans
• 1 can condensed bean and bacon soup, undiluted (11-1/2 ounces)
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Place ham hocks, carrots, celery, onion and water in a Dutch oven or soup kettle; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until meat starts to all off the bones.
2. Add potatoes and vegetables; bring to a boil oil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove hocks; allow to cool. Remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; discard bones. Return meat to kettle. Stir in bean and bacon soup and pepper; heat through.
3. Yield: 14-16 servings (4 quarts).

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NOTE: This is an updated post from the original, published in 2011.

On My Heart: The Gospel

The gospel

gives us freedom, forgiveness

for our past, our mistakes.

The gospel

promises us hope and joy 

for our tomorrows, our future.

And the gospel

is essential and a lifeline

for our todays, our present.

We need to learn 

the great significance of the gospel

even, and especially for today, 

for each day, for our moments.

“I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but

Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live in the flesh

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave Himself

for me” (Gal. 2:20)

Do I often wake up, and walk through

my days in my own strength,

exerting my own energy, efforts?

Or do I live my moments in 

dependence on the gospel, 

on His life in me?

Credit: Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash

40 Days: A Time to Prepare

It has been

a long, cold winter.

Snow, ice, the bitter winds

have covered our land.

A longing for spring

envelopes our thoughts;

a deep heart-felt yearning.

And I feel it stirring

in my heart.

It's time to dream,

it's time to ready 

 my heart for spring.

It's time to stir up

the hard ground,

and prepare my heart

to listen anew, to hear,

to receive new life.

How do we hear more

clearly, how do we listen

from the heart?

How do we prepare

the soil, how do we prepare

for spring, for new growth?

It's a quiet focus ...

a purposeful preparing;

pausing, listening,

welcoming His Presence.

Preparing our hearts

to receive from Him.

Thoughts on my heart as I long for and wait for spring. Especially after an exceptionally long, cold winter. The white blanket of snow still covers the hardened ground, and I long for the fresh newness of spring. And it is the same with my heart. An even deeper longing, this yearning to hear more, to listen more closely, to have the soil of my heart soft and ready to receive all that He has for me.

May my heart, your heart, be tilled and prepared for a new harvest. May these 40 days leading up to Easter, to spring, be a time to prepare for fresh new growth. Click here for one of a multitude of sources to use as we prepare our hearts for Easter, for new life.

  

 The freshness of spring

is calling, the time for

new flower beds, for beauty

of blossoms, for new life.

"Let your roots grow down

into Him, and let your lives

be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong

in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow

with thankfulness."

(Colossians 2:17 NLT)

On My Heart: Peace

It's what

we're all looking for, longing for.

In a world of conflict, and unrest,

it seems illusive, nowhere in sight.

The world is "groaning, burdened

and broken by vertical, and

horizontal conflict". Peace seems to

"be a distant and delusional hope".

(Paul David Tripp)

Where is the peace we long for?

Is it found in right government,

or in the right leaders? Can we

manufacture true peace with the

right laws and the correct formulas?

"God had a solution. It would not be

a negotiation. It would not be a call

to action. it would not be a strategy

for peace. No, God's solution would

come in the gift of His Son."

(Paul David Tripp)

Peace came in the form of a Person.

This is the good news of the gospel.

"And peace with God is the only road

to lasting peace with one another."

(Paul David Tripp)

Lord, how we long for peace in our

world, in our land. May it start

with Peace in our hearts.

(Sharing thoughts as I am reading through an amazing devotional book, New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. I highly recommend this book which has a one-page reading for every day of the year.)

Credit: Photo by Aaron Burden 

A Collection: Books I'm Reading, A Snowy Winter, and Thanking God for His Care

A little rambling post this last day of February ... a collection of memories and happenings from this month. A cold, snowy month here, filled with cancellations and "snow days", and also a sweet month of rest and of God's love and care. 

Books I'm Reading ...

Amidst the days of Cru ministry/work, and family connections ... I always love to make little pockets of time to read. It feeds my soul. 

For my daily times of connection with God, I am focusing on reading through Matthew, as that is what our pastors at Citylight Omaha are teaching on now. I love following along with reading the passage for each week's teaching, and am enjoying reading out of my new (in(courage Devotional Bible (not pictured above). And also, I am reading Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies, which holds a one-page reading for each day of the year. So very good in bringing the truths of the Gospel into every area of our lives.

I'm also continuing reading Salt Fat Acid Heat, a thorough, detailed book on the essential basics of cooking, recommended by a food blogger that I follow. I'm a great one for following recipes, but this book teaches the why and how of putting ingredients together. 

Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt caught my attention when it was published last year, as I always desire to learn more on the sharing of our hearts and home. I am looking forward to reading the bulk of this book in March.

And it was a joy to find a new fiction book that I absolutely loved! I started and finished The Masterpiece during the month of February! Perfect for those cold, snowy evenings we had throughout the month. If you haven't read this yet, you really must read this latest book by Francine Rivers. Written so well, and a beautiful story of God's redemption, and how He creates a masterpiece out of each person who turns their lives over to Him.

Cold, Snowy Days, and God's Care for Us ...

This digital scrapbook page pretty much sums up what our winter has been like ... snow, snow, and more snow. We were so very blessed by a son-in-law and grandson, and also some very kind neighbors who helped us repeatedly with clearing our driveway! 

We experienced God's care in even more ways this past month. Early in the month my dear husband had a health scare that even required for me to call 911. It's the first time in my life that I have ever needed to do that. I am so very grateful that all turned out okay for my husband. He experienced a type of a "seizure" that day. After multiple doctor visits and medical tests through the month, it was determined that what he experienced is an after-affect of the (mild) stroke that he had three years ago this month. Gary is now on meds for that concern, and he has been back to work/ministry as usual all through the month. 

How does a person even know how to thank God for His care? I am so very grateful for His care for us, over and over again. Day by day with the routine happenings of life, and also, with the big scary emergency things of life. How we need Him, for everything. His mercies are new each morning.

Digital Scrapbooking: February

It's always good to pause, and remember. And photos are such a fun and beautiful way to look back, and to cherish memories.

This digital scrapbook page that I put together this month holds more memories than are even visible at first glance ...

First of all, you can see the sweet memories from the first day of February when we celebrated our daughter Sara's Feb. 2nd birthday! Such a fun warm time together on a cold night! 

But behind these photos, 

are beautiful glimpses 

into some amazing miracles! 

It was exactly 23 years ago today that this precious daughter of ours was diagnosed with leukemia. She was just three months from graduating from high school. We will never forget that day when we received the shattering diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia. That day started us out on a difficult, heart-breaking journey of chemo, then a relapse a year later, followed by a bone marrow transplant six months after the relapse. And just look at her twenty-three years later! We continue to thank and praise God for the healing that He brought!

And I cannot look at these joy-filled photos without remembering an even greater miracle. The miracle of restored relationship with us, and with God. Twenty-three years ago we were going through a very strained relationship as parents and daughter. Not only has God healed the leukemia, but He has healed our relationship, and most important of all, brought Sara back to a vibrant, close relationship with Him. How can we ever thank God enough for His mercy and His grace in caring for our sweet Sara. 

There are miracles written all over these photos! 

Thank You, Lord,
for all that You have done, 

even above and beyond 

what we could have imagined.

On My Heart: Compassion

To know

His heart is to

know compassion.

“When He saw the crowds,

He felt compassion for them,

because they were distressed

and dejected, like sheep

without a shepherd.”

(Matt. 9:36 CSB)

To know Him, to follow Him

is to seek to have His heart,

to ask Him to open our eyes

to those who need His love.

“The harvest is abundant,

but the workers are few. 

Therefore, pray to the Lord

of the harvest to send out

workers into His harvest.”

(Matt. 9:37-38 CSB)

This year, this week,

and today … Lord, give me

Your heart of compassion
for Your harvest.

Credit: photo by Joseph Pearson on Unsplash