Potato Ham Chowder from Leftovers

Jan here, celebrating the change in our weather!

We've had a hot, dry summer, but for the past couple weeks the temperatures have moderated to more normal number (mid-80's for August), and the sky is taking on that deeper blue of late summer. As the equinox approaches (only a month away!), our days are shortening quickly - we're losing a minute of sunlight on each end, making today two minutes shorter than yesterday. Eventually my husband will be driving to work and back in the dark and the storms will be blowing in from the north.

Wait! Don't bring winter on too soon! Autumn is just beginning!

And with autumn comes soups and stews.

Do I hear an "amen?"

True to my frugal upbringing (having parents who grew up during the depression and an Amish ancestry will do that), many of my soups and stews are made from leftovers.

The children with Grandma and Grandpa...many
years ago!

When the children were young, the soups were quite often tomato based. I'd break up the leftover meatloaf, add the leftover veggies I kept in a margarine container in the freezer, use the leftover boiled potatoes from the same night as the meatloaf, add a can of tomato sauce, and some beef broth, and we'd have vegetable beef soup. It was almost free!

That's the kind of cooking we lived on back then, and it was delicious. Especially when I added a loaf of homemade bread!

Then came the teen years. You remember those, right? Leftovers are a distant memory.

Well, guess what?The teens have changed into adults, most are out of the house, and we have leftovers again!

Over the weekend, I had fun making this chowder from the leftovers in the fridge...

Potato Ham Chowder

ingredients:

1) leftover potatoes - I had made pot roast last week, and when I got the potatoes from the pantry, I found that they were on their last legs. So I cooked all of them with the roast. The leftovers sat in the fridge for a couple days, waiting for the weekend.

2) leftover ham - After Christmas, I cut the leftover ham into bite-size pieces for future soups, and stored containers in the freezer. I used the last one for this soup.

3) leftover chicken broth - I love cooking chicken in my instant pot for my lunch. A chicken breast or a leg quarter with a salad on the side makes a delicious, quick meal. But then I have broth left over! I keep a container in the freezer and add to it whenever I have chicken for lunch. So I had about 4 cups of broth in the freezer, waiting for soup.

4) seasonings - I would normally add onions and other seasonings like thyme or tarragon, but I had already added those seasonings to my chicken broth. It was a delicious hodge-podge. I did add some garlic powder and a bit of salt and pepper.

Put everything in the crock pot and let it cook for about 4 hours on high, 6 -8 hours on low. Since all the ingredients are already cooked, you're letting the flavors meld together into blissful deliciousness. :)

Before serving, add some milk. You can use fresh milk, or cream, or a can of evaporated milk (which I did). 

If you want your liquid to be thick - more like gravy - whisk about a quarter cup of flour into the milk before adding it to the pot, and keep cooking the soup until it thickens.

Hubby opted for thick chowder rather than soupy.

But for a true frugal Amish wife chowder, the liquid should be soupy and creamy.

Don't you love nearly-free meals?

Back to the weather! I think I said last week that this time of year is our favorite in the Hills, with the tourists thinning out and the temps cooling down. We took advantage of this to head into the Hills last week for one of our favorite hikes.

This hike is called the Iron Mountain Loop. It starts from a picnic area along the Iron Mountain Road and heads into the Black Elk Wilderness Area. 

Beautiful views!

We started the hike early in the morning, so we were treated to sightings of white tail deer (a rare sighting around here - the mule deer are much more common) and a lot of chipmunks. And even this guy!

The sunlight was gorgeous.

We finished the seven mile hike well before noon.

The first time we did this hike (six years ago), we were exhausted and sore at the end of it. This time? Well, regular hiking pays off. We could have done another couple miles...although we were ready for lunch and a rest, first.

We can never get enough of these Hills!

BUT! The big news today is the ECLIPSE! We aren't in the area that will see the total eclipse, but almost. 96% is huge! So I'll be out watching it around lunch time...along with tons of other people.

Are you in the path of the eclipse? Or is it a non-event for you?

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com