Potato Ham Soup

Late December/Early January was cold. Infact, I'd go on a limb and say freezing. I mean Southern California having 40 degree weather? We were bundled up in scarfs, coats, sweats and lots of socks. It was definitely different, but a nice change. And each day it was cold, I couldn't help but feel like a warm cup of tea or hot chocolate and/or a nice warm bowl of soup. And with a leftover ham hock and tons of ham after Christmas, there was the no more perfect time for soup.

Potato Ham Soup

Total Time: 45 mins

Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients:

-3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
-1/3 cup diced celery
-1/3 cup finely chopped onion
-3/4 diced cooked ham
-3 1/4 cups water
-2 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
-1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp ground white or black pepper, or to taste
- 5 tbsp butter
-5 tbsp all-purpose flour
-2 cups milk

Directions:

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in stockpot. Bring to boil then cook over med heat until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with fork and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Mama Heada Thoughts:

I wasn't sure how this was going to come to fruition but I needed to use the ham in the fridge, so I decided to try it out. And boy am I glad I did!! I didn't measure any of the veggie or ham since we like lots of goodies in our soup and it was delicious. M thinks it's a fantastic clam chowder base, so maybe one day we will test that out. In the meantime, we garnished it with green onions and cheddar cheese and served with leftover brown and serve rolls. 

And according to Allrecipes, the nutrition can be found here and isn't too bad!!

Can't argue with that!