Easy slow-cooker ham and lentil soup

This is a great way to do a little bit of work early in the day for a stress-free and healthy dinner. It also is great to portion for lunches. A huge bonus for me is that my preschooler absolutely loves it, so it is my favorite thing to have on hand for her when we are not all eating together. You just need lentils, some leftover ham, ubiquitous vegetables, and pantry staples.

All of this stuff is cheap

This is a great thing to make when the sales are slow and uninspiring. I am using leftover ham, but you could get a hunk from the deli or buy a steak or quarter ham if you find a deal. Carrots, celery, onions, and garlic are always cheap, right? Most of the time. I went against my own tenet and ran out of onions today though, ugh. There are no obviously great sales so I ended up just buying them where I was and paid $2.49 for a three pound bag! That is the most one would expect to pay for onions and they are still pretty cheap. You can usually find a pound bag of lentils for a dollar. Tomato sauce, broth/stock, and ordinary herbs are all things we should have on hand. I am using Herbes de Provence (which I in-artfully added to this picture because I remembered it once it was too late to catch all of the ingredients together), but you can use any combination you like, really. Thyme, oregano, parsley, and many others would work. This is versatile!

You cannot possibly get any easier than this, right?

Dice everything, add to slow cooker.

Cook on low for about 8 hours. You want the lentils to be tender but not mushy. Unless you like them mushy, in which case cook as long as you want! Remove bay leaves, add salt if needed (I never end up needing it) and serve.

I like to serve it with crusty bread, but you could do cornbread, rolls, crackers, etc.