End of the Easter Ham - Great Soup Recipe

First, it was a nice day with temperatures reaching 52 degrees. The lake had a light skim of ice on the edges in the morning, which would melt off later. Still no sign of the eagle but seagulls were flying around.

I signed up at www.presidentschallenge.com to try and do some exercise for 1/2 hour , five days a week. Today I did my first half hour on the recumbent bike. Took a walk around the property and dug a little in the garden. Pretty good for me.

Now, on to the Easter Ham. It was a particularly meaty, spiral sliced ham from Giant Eagle. We'd reached the end of about a week of ham meals so I decided to finish up cooking and/or freezing it.

HAM, LEEK, AND MUSHROOM SOUP

2 cups diced ham
3 leeks (about 6 inches long) thin sliced, including green
2 Yukon potatoes, cubed small
2 - 14 oz. cans low sodium/low fat chicken broth
1 - 2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup half and half (or milk)
3 TBSP flour

Dice about 2 cups of ham and start it sauteing in a 2 quart sauce pan. Clean and slice three leeks and tossed them in on top of the ham. Keep heat low and add a little water to prevent from scorching. As leeks begin to soften, add the potatoes. Saute a few minutes and then add both cans of chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, stir, and continue to simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir flour into the half and half (or milk). Slowly stir into simmering soup. Soup should thicken some but still be liquid. Serve hot with fresh ground pepper.

Between the low sodium chicken broth and the ham, no additional salt is needed.

I have an experiment to run. I think if I take 4 eggs, whip them up, add two cups of the soup and maybe a cup of milk or cream, I can bake it and it will be somewhere between a custard and a quiche. Still sounds good to me. I wonder if Mikey will like it?

Renee and Nyardo were out enjoying the sun. Nice to see a family spending quality time together.