I really love making homemade soups in my crock pot. Most of the time when I'm using it to make soups I'm making a homemade broth first. Today I used a ham bone with meat attached to it left over from a Thanksgiving dinner that I had in the freezer to make Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup. On other occasions I've used ham hocks from my favorite local butcher. When I can take the leftovers from a previous meal and make it brand new,I feel like I just got a freebie.