Smug

I will freely admit I used to turn my nose up at leftovers. That was until we had a year with two kids in college, two kids in daycare. Necessity meant it was time to get over myself. In an attempt to better manage our grocery budget (one of the few variables in our budget) we have become much better about planning our meals and using our leftovers. While I grow weary of the depiction that the recession has brought us all back to basics I will confess to feeling smug when I stumble across an idea, a sale, a recipe that is tasty and satisfying and stretches a buck.

Last night both my girls woke overnight with high, high fevers and coughs. The internet diagnostician in me believes they probably have the H1N1 flu, although Ava seems to be hit harder than Amelia. I cleared my work calendar and stayed home with the girls (with help from Grandma Jo). John got a little hung up at the end of the day, so I ended up pulling dinner from the freezer. As I popped my head into the deep freeze I found Bean Soup and some heat and eat french bread. It was so delicious and I was reminded of the crock pot recipe that led to having two hearty servings of this soup in the freezer. (Of course I made noodles and peas for the girls. Ava slept through dinner. Amelia ate 4 bites.)

When I was living in Washington, DC, the House and Senate cafeteria served Senate Bean Soup everyday. I loved it, ate it at least once a week, even in the summer. This recipe actually captures that soup. I combined a couple of recipes (with adaptations) from a google search when I was craving the soup a month or two ago. Bonus? It's a crock pot recipe!

1 meaty ham bone

2 cups dried cannelini beans

7 cups of water

1 clove of garlic - minced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon of honey (a good squeeze)

salt and pepper

Wash the beans. Throw everything in the crock pot and cook on low for a long, long time. (I put all this in the crock pot at 5:00am before I left for the gym, we ate around 6:00-6:15pm) Before serving, take the ham bone out, shred the meat off the bone (this will be easy peasy) and add it back to the soup. If you want to cut down on the cooking time, soak the beans overnight in water, drain, follow the recipe and cook on low for 8 hours in the crock pot. I ran the immersion blender through the soup really quick before we ate it, but I don't know that was totally necessary, but it thickened the soup up very nicely.

John and I ate this for a couple of dinners, then I froze the left overs. Tonight we ate the soup for dinner with heat and eat bread from the freezer and it was delish. Enough to make me feel a little smug.