Crock Pot: Ham & Veggie Soup

Into the crock pot on a rainy autumn night: From my deep freezer: About a pound of country ham and left over tomatoes & Okra with onions. From the pantry: Canned corn, green-beans, tomato paste. Drain the brine off the canned veggies, replace with fresh water, enough to make it thick but still a bit runny. Let cook on high until it gets all bubbly, the reduce heat and let simmer for a while. A few hours in a crock pot, much faster in a sauce pan. Use meat thermometer to make sure meat is safe temperature. After the meat is cooked, take it out of broth, dice it, return it to the soup. Stir well. No seasoning needed, since there was plenty of salt in the ham and canned veggies. Serve with warm bread, I used buttered toast because it was what we had. Be careful of bones. Not bad for a rainy night with no fresh groceries in the house. General Cooking Tips This is a very basic soup recipe. You can pretty much just use what you have on hand, fresh, frozen or canned. For canned veggies, I drain the brine they were packed in to reduce the sodium. In my opinion, simple is good. If you put in too much, the flavors can compete and cause it to have packaged aftertaste. I highly recommend everyone have meat thermometer. Safe cooking temperature will vary based on what meat you used, and whether that meat was raw or precooked (consult any major cookbook or google for meat temperatures).