Ham Hocks to Financial Freedom

Last night we (OK, just my devoted hubby) did the taxes. While we had been anticipating the worst-nothing like taxes to bring out your inner pessimist-it looks like we will get an unanticipated refund. We plan to use it to pay off our car. When we (yeah, just him of course) ran the numbers last night it looks like we will be debt free by late summer.

This got me thinking about the financial journey we have taken as a couple. I remember how when we first started out we were poor. Maybe not compared to third world countries, but we had college debt, car payments, house payment, credit card payments, you name it. We would often try and economize with the food budget. One such effort involved me making Navy Bean Soup. This was a soup I had fond memories of as a child. My great-grandmother used to make it and it was one of those comfort food things. So I thought, beans are cheap, I'll make a big batch and freeze the left overs and we will have inexpensive meals in the freezer.

Great idea. If only. If only I knew that using 5 pounds of dry navy beans makes A LOT of soup. If only I knew you had to soak the beans over night first. If only I knew how much ham hocks like like human knuckles. (It still makes me shudder.) But never one to back down from a challenge I got out my 5 gallon pot and started cooking.

Well.

When it was "done" I had five gallons of bean jell-o (the beans were still crunchy) flavored with greasy bones that when you stirred the soup looked like knuckles floating by. Who wants the recipe? Not only did we chuck the entire thing, but we both felt maybe we should bury it in the backyard and read some scripture over it. Even the thought of going hungry was better than eating that soup. At the time of course I was in tears over the whole fiasco, but looking back we both laugh over the attempt. In fact if I ever want to eat out, all I have to do is threaten 'bean soup' and hubs RUNS for the car keys.

Oh how far we've come. BTW, in case anybody would want to give me their awesome recipe for bean soup, don't waste your time. No matter how good it is, neither one of us has the courage to try it ever again. Ever, ever, EVER again.