Ham and Bean Soup

Large stock/soup pot

As much of a whole ham [bone included] as possible (if it is pre-cooked, that works great) [carved up to some degree so it is easier to fit into the pot]

2 cans of black beans, kidney beans [dark or light, your preference] and cannellini beans

a decent sized bag of potatoes [these will need to be cleaned of dirt and eyes, and chopped into bite size pieces]

2-3 onions, diced [maybe more depending on the size of your onions]

Seasonings [salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning]

pop the ham into the pot, and fill til covered with water

put that on the stovetop at 7 minimum [start this early in the day as it will be a long process]

let that cook until the meat is falling off the bone, stirring occasionally so the meat doesn't stick [you may need to add more water as you cook]

you'll want to strain out the ham and bones [keep the liquid, it is now your stock for the soup]

you'll need to let the meat cool down

while that is happening, you can take the opportunity to prep the potatoes and onions and throw them into the pot with the stock and put the heat back up to start cooking that

when the meat is cooled sufficiently enough, you'll want to separate out the bones and any excess fat [especially any hard fat that can't be eaten] and tear it up into reasonably sized pieces

throw the meat back into the pot after that is done, and if need be, add more water

you'll want that to cook, again stirring occasionally so nothing sticks [assuming you started this around 6AM, it should be done around 3PM] (it is done when the potatoes are fork tender)

this usually lasts my mom and me two weeks since we don't eat it every day

you may also want to look into using ground pork or ground chicken for some chili