Finally! A husband approved soup!

I was sitting here worried about what I was going to do with all the ham I had leftover from Christmas.  Well actually, I didn't cook it until a few days ago because we stayed at my in laws house for dinner.  Fast forward a few days and without the crowd expected we had ham and potatoes coming out of our ears!

I had seen this recipe before but David is sorta anti homemade soup.  He loves the can stuff, but I don't buy them so he is soup deprived!  Plus when it comes to soup, hes a bottomless pit.  It never fills him up. The boys and I needed something for lunch so I went ahead and threw it together.

I did change a few things.  I didn't add celery because we didn't have any.  I did add corn, because well, I love corn in soup and it made it more like a chowder, which I love!  I upped the amount of potatoes and ham. And water too. Its a very versatile recipe.  The first batch was very thick. I over cooked the potatoes so I think they thickened up the soup even more. But the second batch was perfect with a little extra water and I didn't overcook the potatoes.   Wait?  Second batch?  Yup.  After we had it for lunch, it was requested again for dinner.  I had to run out and get crackers though. It was so easy and pretty quick too.  Just up my alley!  The boys were my taste testers and by the way they gobbled it down I had a little bit of hope that David might like it.

When he got home, Anthony immediately offered him some of the good soup mom made and with a skeptical OK from him, I warmed him some up.  "This is the best soup you have ever made"  His words not mine.  Say whaaaaa? Yup he loved it.  Not one little complaint. This is big y'all!

You will need

• 4 cups peeled / diced potatoes
• 1/2 small onion finely chopped 
• 1 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup of corn
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

1. Drop the potatoes, onion, ham into a pot with the water.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so you don't turn them into mashed potatoes. Stir in the chicken bouillon and pepper.  Add corn.  
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour.  Stir constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk and whisk out all lumps. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick.  About 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot.  Cook soup until heated through.

I was so excited that everyone enjoyed this.  I used a low sodium bouillon but I would love to find an even lower substitute.  The original recipe added a 1/2 t of salt which I left out and I passed on the crackers.  So while it wasn't a good choice for my sodium restrictions, I know a little bowl wouldn't hurt me! 

For a printable version click HERE