Ten Bean Soup 

Yield 6 quarts 

1/2 cup dried black beans 

1/2 cup dried kidney beans 

1/2 cup dried navy beans 

1/2 cup pinto beans 

1/2 cup Great Northern beans 

1/2 cup dried blackeye peas 

1/2 cup dried split peas 

1/2 cup dried chick peas 

1/2 cups dried lentils 

1-1/2 cups diced ham (optional) 

1/2 cup cut fresh green beans 

2 bay leaves 

1 Tbsp tarragon 

1 Tbsp summer savory 

Salt and Pepper 

Put beans in a large pot; add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring beans to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let beans soak 1 hour. Drain. Cover beans with water by 2 inches in a large pot. Add ham, if desired. Stir in green beans, bay leaves, tarragon, and summer savory. Bring to a boil. Cover, boil 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves. 

Ladle hot soup into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two piece caps. Process 1 hour and 30 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure in a pressure canner.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Thick Beef Vegetable Soup 

with Cabbage

Navy Bean and Bacon Soup 

2 lbs dried navy beans, soaked overnight 

2 quarts tomato juice (I used 2 qts of home canned tomato juice) 

2 cups carrots, diced 

4 cups potatoes, diced 

3 cups celery, chopped 

1 teaspoon canning salt and pepper (Black or White) 

1 bay leaf 

3 cups onions, diced 

2 lbs bacon, diced OR 1 cup of diced ham 

Directions: Combine all ingredients except bacon and onion in large pot. Cook over medium heat until soft (this took almost 45 mins on low).

Cut bacon into small pieces and fry in skillet. Remove bacon and cook onion in bacon grease until soft, drain on paper towels. Add bacon and onion to bean mixture and heat until it simmers. Taste for salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf before putting in jars. Fill hot mixture into sterilized jars, filling to within 1" of tops of jars (I found that using the home canned tomato juice the juice in the soup was pretty thick and there was not enough of it. So I used hot water to finish filling the jars to 1" headspace). Pressure can 1 hour and 15 mins for pints and 1 hour and 30 mins for quarts at 10 lbs.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Navy Bean and Ham Soup

I have three soups for you good people today... my soup recipe files are in alphabetical order and the ham/bean soups seem to be so similar, but with differences (so I didn't want to leave any out) that I thought I'd put these last "hammy" soups all in one post so we wouldn't get bored with all that ham and beaniness... and we can move along to hamBURGER! Plus, we have a LOT of soup recipes and we may run out of cold weather before we get to them all! Enjoy this THREE-fer!

Today's recipe... Remember... Disclaimer: Some folks don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they may live in another country where the standards are not the same, they may use heirloom methods passed down through the generations, they may choose other canning methods not recommended. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take NO responsibility for them.



1 pound Dried Navy Beans -- or mixed soup beans or Great Northern beans or red beans 

1 ½ quarts Water -- or chicken broth 

1 tablespoon Garlic – minced (optional) 

½ pound Onion -- chopped 

5 stalks Celery -- sliced (optional) 

6 ounces Carrots -- 1/4" slice (optional) 

1 ½ -2# ham shank or a meaty ham bone or ½ pound ham 

1 each Bay Leaves, Whole Parsley, chopped - to taste 6 whole black peppercorns.

Soak beans 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse. (Or rinse beans, add to 2 quarts water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.)

Cover with water or chicken broth; add shank, peppercorns and bay leaves (in a spice bag or tea ball), parsley and garlic. Simmer; covered, 1 hour, adding carrots, celery and onions last 15 minutes.

Remove spice bag and ham bone, cut off meat and dice in 1" pieces. Wash jars; keep warm until filling. Heat lids in hot water for 10 minutes until ready to use. DO NOT BOIL LIDS.

Divide ham among jars. Using a slotted spoon, ladle hot solids into hot jars, about 3/4 full. Fill with liquid, leaving 1" headspace. Use hot water to fill if necessary. Remove bubbles with plastic knife and wipe jar rim carefully before sealing.

Cover and seal, place in pressure canner (with 3 quarts simmering water), exhaust steam 10 minutes, process in pints 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10# pressure (for up to 1000’ elevation), quarts for 1-1/2 hours.

Let pressure drop of own accord ( about 30 minutes), open canner, remove jars to clean towel and let cool and seal, setting apart to allow air to circulate. Remove rings and wash jars carefully.

Yield: 6 pints if using carrots and celery, 4 pints without.

NOTE: This is an old time soup .... you can dress it up as you like by adding in onions, carrots, etc. Makes abt 2 to 3 quarts (can be doubled or tripled) 

1 lb Fresh Green Beans, cut into about 1" long pieces 

3 to 4 Potatoes, peeled and diced 

2 Cups Ham, chopped into 1 inch cubes 

4 Cups Chicken Broth or Ham Broth 

Add chicken or ham broth to a large stock pan and heat to a boil. Add green beans, potatoes, and ham. You are not cooking the vegetables and ham, just heating them up a bit .... simmer for about 5 or 10 mins. Fill 2 to 3 quart size jars about 1/2 full of green beans, potato, and ham mixture (use a slotted spoon) and finish topping off with broth to 1" headspace. Remove air bubbles, add more broth (or hot water if you run out of broth if needed), assemble lids. Process in a pressure canner for 90 mins for quarts (75 mins for pints) at 10 lbs of pressure.

Potatoes, peeled and diced 

Ham, 

cubed Carrots, skinned and cut 

Butternut squash, peeled and diced 

Broth (Chicken, Turkey, or Ham) 

In a quart jar, layer potatoes until half full. Add several tablespoons of diced ham. Fill remainder of jar with carrots and squash. Pour in hot broth to 1" headspace and wipe rim of jar with paper towel which you wet with water and vinegar to help remove oils. Place lids on finger tight.

Fill your pressure canner with your jars. For pints, pressure can 75 minutes at 10 lbs and for quarts, pressure can 90 minutes at 10 lbs. To prepare, you can eat as is or add cream to soup to give it a creamier texture.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Hamburger Soup

everything from soup to nuts

and everything from A to Z and everything but the kitchen sink
n. everything imaginable. (Colloquial.)

Today's recipe... Remember... Disclaimer: Some folks don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they may live in another country where the standards are not the same, they may use heirloom methods passed down through the generations, they may choose other canning methods not recommended. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take NO responsibility for them.



2 lbs dried great northern beans, soaked overnight 

3 pounds of baked ham, diced in uniform pieces. 

2 quarts of homemade chicken broth or 5 cans store bought 

2 cups carrots, diced 

1 cup diced onion 

3 cups peeled and diced potatoes 

1 cup celery, chopped 

2 cups peas, fresh or frozen (optional) I didn't add them in this batch 

4 bay leaves 

6 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tablespoons of dried parsley 

1 teaspoon canning salt per quart or 1/2 tsp per pints (If you use store bought chicken broth you can omit) 

1/2 teaspoon pepper (Black or White) per quart or 1/4 tsp for pints

Procedure: 

1. Clean and soak beans overnight 

2. Rinse beans and return to large stockpot 

3. Add all ingredients except salt and pepper 

4. Cover with chicken broth and bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for about 30 mins up to 45 mins to 1 hour if you want your beans mushier. 

5. Remove Bay Leaves 

6. Using a ladle and canning funnel, fill your hot jars leaving a 1″ head space. (I used a slotted spoon and filled my jars a little more then halfway with beans, ham, and veggies, and found there was not enough juice in the soup to fill each jar completely up to a 1" headspace so I only added enough to cover the beans and other veggies and finished topping it off with hot water to 1" headspace, this broth is very rich and can handle it). 

7. Pressure can 1 hour and 15 mins for pints and 1 hour and 30 mins for quarts at 10 lbs. To Prepare - I like my soup thick and creamy so I add 1/2 cup flour, 2 cups of milk, and 2 tbsps of butter for 2 quarts of soup when I fix it), heat until hot and serve. Or you can eat as is.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Ham and Vegetable Soup Base to make Ham Vegetable Chowder

Collard Green and Bean Soup 

Makes 6 to 7 quarts 

2 cups onions, chopped 

1 bay leaf 

5 stalks of celery, chopped 

6 carrots, chopped 

1 lb bag of navy beans (soak overnight in refrigerator) 

2 tsps canning salt 

10 cups of chicken stock 

2 bulbs of garlic, minced (2 whole bulbs not 2 cloves) 

1 bunch of collards, wash and remove center stems, chop 

1 tsp of black pepper

Add chicken stock, onions, bay leaf, celery, carrots, salt, minced garlic, black pepper to a large pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer. Add pre-soaked and drained beans. Simmer for 30 mins. Add chopped collard greens, a little at a time if they will not all fit, you only want the collard greens to wilt down, not fully cook. Stir to mix. Remove bay leaf. Fill quart jars 1/2 full with soup solids, using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with stock to 1" headspace (if there is not enough stock divide what is there among the jars and finish filling with hot water or heat up some more chicken broth). Remove air bubbles, wipe rims and assemble lids. Process in a pressure canner at 10 lbs of pressure for 90 mins for quarts (75 mins for pints). NOTE: Kale can be used instead of Collard Greens if you prefer.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

Black Bean Soup 

Soak 4 c. black beans overnight in plenty of water. In the morning or as soon as you can get to it, drain beans, rinse well, and pour boiling water or unsalted broth over. Allow to soak another 30 minutes, while you get everything else ready. 

Chop 2 onions, 

2 small stalks celery, 

2 or 3 carrots, and 

10-12 Roma tomatoes (you can use canned chopped tomatoes too if, like me, you can’t get a decent fresh tomato) 

Distribute veggies evenly between all 16 jars. Dry fry (cook in a skillet with no oil over medium heat) until fragrant, but be careful not to burn: 

3 T chili powder 

1 T cumin 

2 t. cinnamon 

1 t. ground ginger
1 t. black pepper 

1 T. paprika (Or, if you want to make it easier on yourself, and you like spicy food, just go with 4-5 T. of chili powder, and skip the rest of those spices) 

When the spices are smelling good, add 

1 T. oregano 

1 T. garlic powder 

2 lbs of burger 

Brown meat over high heat, it doesn’t need to cook through, just brown nicely for flavor. Distribute meat among jars. It’s probably been half an hour by now, so drain your beans again, but this time reserve the soaking liquid. Measure it into a pot, then add enough water to equal 11 cups total (if you used canned tomatoes, add in their juice here, as part of your liquid). Stir in a 

6 oz can of tomato paste. 

Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, back to your jars. Distribute beans between them, then add to each jar ½ t. salt and a big pinch of frozen corn Jars should be full to within 1 inch of top. Don’t be tempted to overfill, the beans are still going to expand a tad.

Get your canner and lids ready to go. When the broth boils, pour into each jar, to within ¾ inch of top (ie: should just cover the chunks). Process as per canner instructions, for 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure. (90 minutes for quart jars)


Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... Black Eyed Pea and Cabbage Soup

Black Bean Soup with Ham

1 lb. bag of dried black beans 

2 med. Onions, one halved and one finely diced. 

4 carrots diced 

3-4 cloves garlic, minced 

1 any hot pepper seeded and diced (optional) 

2 ½ quarts of chicken stock

2 cups ham diced 

2 tsp. ground cumin 

3 tsp. kosher salt (adjust to taste) 

1 ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper 

½ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional) 

2 tsp. Mexican Oregano 

Sort, and wash beans. Soak overnight in bowl with enough water to cover by 3 inches. Drain, rinse and put in a pot, cover with cold water by 3 in. Add the onion cut in half. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 30 min. In another pot combine chicken stock, spices and vegetables. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes until heated through. Strain beans, discard liquid and onion. 

Strain stock, reserve vegetable and stock. In a hot pint or quart jar fill ¼ full of beans, add ¼ cup vegetables and ham add stock leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles adjust level to 1 inch, wipe rim and add lid. Pressure can pints for 75 minutes, quarts for 90 min. at 10 lbs. or on 11 on dial gauge. Makes about 6-7 pints or 3-4 quarts.

Tomorrow's Soup of the Day... another Black Bean Soup