Pantry Pick of the Month- Garbonzo Beans/ Ham and Bean Stew

I am a game player.  I just outed myself.  I turn most chores and things I do into a game.  I make up a game to get stuff done.  I came up with a game to have some fun with cooking and for this blog that I'd like to try this year. It is motivated by the fact that I have a lot of cans and boxes and packages of things in my pantry that need to be used.  Some of them I bought to make a recipe that I never made, and some I have no clue why they're there.  Kinda scary!  So, here's the game:  I'll reach into my pantry (it's really a deep closet and it's hard to see what's in there) and pull out a can or package or box and then do an Internet search  and find a recipe that uses that ingredient.  So, here's my January pantry pick:

I reached in and that's what I got.  I was very a little disappointed because I know there's better stuff in there, but that's the game.  I don't have any idea why I bought it.  When I went to allrecipes.com, I found that I could  use Garbanzo beans to make everything from fudge(really?) and brownies to bean salads to soups.  Since it's January, I chose a soup.  It actually was really good and I may be buying garbanzo beans on purpose from now on. I loved the texture of the garbanzos.  This recipe had very positive comments and 5 stars and was touted as the perfect Super Bowl Food.  Since I never watch the Super Bowl, I'll never know.  But I don't see why it wouldn't work!
I will give you the original recipe first, and then I'll add all of the ingredients that I put in- some suggested in comments by other allrecipes.com readers who had tried it.

Ham and Bean Stew
1 15 ounce can black-eyed peas, drained
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
1 16 ounce can chili beans with sauce
1 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ham, cubed (I used a ham steak)
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste (or you can put in some whole peppercorns)
That was it in the original.  Here's what I added:
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
2-4 Tablespoons brown sugar
2-3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Chicken stock, as needed (about two cups)
Bacon, crumbled (optional)
A squeeze of ketchup
A splash of seasoned rice vinegar
A sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
A sprinkle of garlic powder

Sour cream to top when serving
In a saute pan, melt the butter.  Add the carrots, onions and celery.  Cook together until soft and add the brown sugar and garlic and mix well.  Put in the crockpot (or I just left in my Le Crueset and added the rest of the ingredients.  I then cooked it on the stove for awhile, and then put it in the oven for a few hours.  It was delicious.  I'm sure the crock pot would work great, too) .  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook all day on low.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Another great use of garbanzo beans is Shonna' recipe on this site for hummus:
http://hungryhintons.blogspot.com/search/label/Hummus