Scavenger Hunt Soup

It was a cool, rainy morning and for some reason I was wide awake a half an hour early... So I decided to go on a scavenger hunt. What type of scavenger hunt at O'Dark Thirty? One to the freezer to see what I might be able to use up in a quick soup. Once again I'll sing the praises of my Food Saver because I had a leftover chunk of ham from Christmas labeled "Ugly Piece-Soup/Beans", also found 3 cups of ham stock waaaayyyyy down at the bottom of the freezer, sounded like the beginning of a beautiful soup to me:@)

  If I had the time I would use dried beans, but this was a work day, so canned it would be. Also noticed some cabbage and a stray jalapeno... In it all went. I ended up with a very flavorful soup!

Scavenger Hunt Soup
1 Tblsp bacon fat
1 small onion-diced
1 large clove garlic-minced
1 large stalk celery, sliced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced-I made matchsticks
1 jalapeno, cleaned and small diced-loved the flavor this added!
1 large bay leaf
A few grinds of black pepper-I did not add any extra salt
3 C stock-I used ham
Cabbage, shredded-as much as you'd like/have, I added about 1 C
1 (14.5oz) can white beans, drained and rinsed
Leftover meat, diced

1. Add bacon fat and onion to pot, cook 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, celery, carrot and jalapeno, cook a couple minutes, stirring often.
3. Add bay leaf, pepper and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Add cabbage, beans and meat, simmer until cabbage softens up, maybe 8-10 minutes more.
5. Remove bay leaf, adjust S&P if necessary and enjoy!

This was a wonderful, hearty soup and the only other thing I wish I could have added would be a potato. 

I encourage you to explore your freezer and whip up a pot of soup using just what you have on hand! 

Eat well and have a happy day:@)