Ham, Potato & Corn Chowder

Hello! Hola! Bonjour!

Do you remember when you were in school and you had to write a paper for English class? You have writer’s block and don’t know how to begin. You just stare at the empty page or screen for what seemed like hours on end.

Think also of when you talk something up to your friends and then are afraid that you’re going to let them all down because it’s not as GRAND as you led them to believe?

That’s how I feel with this first blog post.

It’s not even really the first post. It’s more of a round 2 of first posts. lol Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves at times?

So I decided to just write. In fact, the first section was written in a text to myself because it was 12:47 am and my computer was in the other room. But, hey, writer’s block is officially over! You gotta do what you gotta do.

I’m also getting my steps in. Two birds, one stone. But that’s a story for another day.

For this first recipe I’m sharing with you, it’s a new soup/chowder I made a couple months back – Ham, Potato & Corn Chowder. You can find the original recipe here.

I decided to make this recipe for two reasons. One, I had some leftover ham that needed to be used. Two, it was low enough in points that I felt like I was being bad without actually being bad.

Let me explain points real quick. I will be referring to them quite often. I follow the Weight Watchers program. Within the program, all foods are assigned points. You then need to stay within your daily points. Several factors go in to determining how many points you should eat each day. For me, the magic number is 23. In addition to this, there are such things as Blue Dots. You get a Blue Dot for that day if you stay within your healthy point range. This range is 10 points below your given daily point magic number and 5 points over the same number. For me, my healthy point range is 13-28. Think of each Blue Dot as receiving a gold star from the teacher. We like Blue Dots!

Ok, back to the chowder. Typically creamy things are high in points. So are potatoes. The actual potato isn’t terrible. It’s often what the potato is turned in to. French fries are high in points. Mashed potatoes are high in points. Twice baked potatoes are high in points. You see what I’m saying. When this Ham, Potato and Corn Chowder came in at 7 points per serving, I was thrilled.

This dish is easy to make. Most soups are. It just requires a decent amount of chopping. Get out your knife and cutting board and let’s begin.

Start by chopping up either a very small yellow onion or half of a larger one as well as your carrots and celery. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a dutch oven or large pot.

*Tip – for fewer points, use a light margarine. I use Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Light and it’s 4 points for 3 Tbsp’s. 1 Tbsp of real butter can be 5 points on its own.

Add all chopped veggies to pot with butter.

Cook the veggies until they begin to soften. At this point add in your garlic, thyme and flour. Stir so that all the veggies are well coated. Cook for a minimum 1 minute to cook out the raw taste of the flour.

Add in the chicken broth, milk and diced potatoes.

*Tip – Fat Free milk is much lower in points than any other type of milk. FF – 3 pts per cup; 1% – 4 pts per cup; 2% – 5 pts per cup; whole – 7 pts per cup.

Simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Add in the ham and corn.

Everything is now cooked. Heat the ham and corn, season with salt and pepper and you’re done.

Yumm!