Potato Ham Chowder

Have you ever decided that you wanted something different for supper, but didn’t really have all the ingredients for the recipes you scoured the web for? Well that’s how I felt about supper yesterday evening. So I decided to use what I had and figure it out along the way. I didn’t take any picture because I was scared of what it would taste like, but wow! I really got the approval from the family on this one. It was very tasty and the only thing that could have made this chowder better would have been homemade bread to go with it. This is the perfect cold weather meal to warm you to the bones…..

Potato Ham Chowder
(This fed my family of 7 with second helpings and enough left over to freeze)
Ingredients:
7 small potatoes, peeled, cubed
4 carrots, diced
1 cup celery (I didn’t have celery, but it would have tasted even better with it)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup ham chopped
2 cans creamed corn ( I can’t stand this stuff, but it really was good in this)
4 cups milk
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp Rosemary
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
Sea Salt (to taste)
Shredded Colby jack cheese (optional)
Instructions:
Add potatoes, carrots, and onion to a pot (at least a 5.5qt) and add enough water to just cover the veggies. Bring to boil and let simmer until veggies are soft. Add seasonings to the veggies. Do not drain.
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add flour to the melted butter and stir together. Then add milk and whisk constantly on medium heat until thickened. If the mixture begins to bubble, removed from heat immediately so it doesn’t scorch.
Now add the milk mixture to the veggies and stir well. Then stir in creamed corn. Keep heat on low.
I chopped up ham and cooked it in a skillet before adding to the pot because I didn’t want the chowder to be greasy from the ham, but I could have added it directly to the pot because it didn’t have enough grease in the skillet to do anything to the chowder.
After adding ham, make sure the chowder is heated through, serve in bowls and top with cheese. Enjoy!
Oh and do yourself a favor. Go ahead and make homemade bread with this. Trust me, it will be worth it.