Sandy's Bean & Bacon Soup

3 boxes, (32 oz each), chicken broth

1 lg onion, minced

3 lg cloves garlic, minced

1 C minced carrots-(I bought a bag of shredded carrots and minced those up fine-much easier!)

2 med potatoes, diced small

8 slices of thick cut smoked bacon, chopped (cooked separately from soup)

Fresh ground pepper to taste

I didn't add salt during the cooking process because of all the sodium in the broth and bacon.

The night before cooking the soup, I brought 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil, added beans and turned off heat, put a lid on and let the beans soak overnight. Next day, remove 4 cups of water, (32 oz) and replace with one of the boxes of chicken stock, add the onions, minced carrots, garlic and potatoes, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a nice simmer. Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, cook the bacon to render the fat out, and when it's cooked to your taste, throw in the pot with the beans, add ground pepper to taste. Keep an eye on the liquid level and add broth to your liking. I wound up using all 3 boxes of the broth throughout the cooking process and my soup came out just thick enough, not soupy. My soup cooked for about 3-4 hours on a slow simmer. It was delicious!!! Enjoy!