Ham Salad

Throughout this series I've really enjoyed reminiscing over old family meals we ate growing up. This sandwich spread is one I remember my grandma and mom making all the time.

I've changed the recipe a bit from the original, mainly because I don't think I could stomach bologna anymore ha! My grandma had a meat grinder and we would use that to chop up the meat. I figured my food processor would do a fine job so that's what I used. I bet even a blender could work if that's all you have.

These are great to enjoy for a no cook meal or to take along on a picnic. I see lots of stores selling their own versions of this sandwich spread, when it's so easy to make your own I just don't see the point in purchasing it. This way you at least know what ingredients are going in. That gives me piece of mind right there.


Ham Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 lb good quality sliced ham
2 tbsp dill relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions:
In a food processor, pulse ham until in little bits. Remove and dump into a small bowl. Mix in relish and mayonnaise until well combined.

Serve on buns with lettuce. Store remaining spread in the fridge. Keeps for about one week.

Barbecue Breakfast Kabobs

We had a really good Sunday surrounded by family and the warm sunshine.  The hubby's grandparents have been in town from Missouri so we've been trying to spend much of our time with them. In the morning we all joined at the in-law's house for brunch, there was quite the spread, including these grilled kabobs.

Now we had these for brunch, but you could most definitely add some additional veggies and serve them up for lunch or dinner. The sauce is great, it's actually just a combo of barbecue sauce and raspberry jam. My mother-in-law prepped these the night before so all we had to do was heat on the grill. Easy peasy!

Barbecue Breakfast Kabobs

Ingredients:
1 fully cooked ham steak
1 beef sausage ring
1 bell pepper
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine jam and barbecue sauce. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Set aside.

Cut ham steak, sausage and bell pepper into chunks. Thread onto skewers. Brush sauce over kabobs.

When ready to heat, grill for about 15 minutes, rotating the skewers. These will just need to be heated through. You can also heat in oven if you'd rather go that route.

Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

How's your week been? It's been a pretty good one around here, busy of course.  Our youngest daughter celebrated her fifth birthday on Wednesday. We didn't plan much for this year and kept the celebration just within our own family. But we treated her to dinner out (a rare treat!) and she was thrilled to bring cupcakes to school for her friends.

I'm curious to know, do any of you choose to not throw elaborate birthday parties for your children? Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course parties are lots of fun. In this day in age I just was wondering if families still opt to keep birthday celebrations low key?


Life has just been busy lately and I guess I really haven't shared some of those changes with all of you. Most of you know I have since gone to work outside the home, I am with our local public school system at a nearby preschool. I love working with this age group as it's so familiar to what I was already doing. I also am working Friday nights and Saturdays at a local grocery store for some extra money. And lastly, I have begun taking a course two nights a week for my full time job. I just finished the first eight week term and next week begin another class. In the fall I will complete one more and then hopefully be done with that.

Some days it feels like a lot of my plate, but I have quite the support system at home so that helps. Blogging is still a passion and something I will always strive to keep doing, even if I can't publish posts as often as I'd like to. Please know that I appreciate your loyalty, and knowing that you keep reading and coming back for more is what keeps me going!

Like so many of you, dinner many nights is something quick for us. We've made these a few times and have always liked them. They're especially good during the warmer months with salads, fresh fruit and veggies. Sort of like picnic type food. Or even during tailgating season as handy appetizers. Feel free to use your own favorite types of cheese in here.

I know these would make for a nice freezer meal, I will have to add them to my list for my next session.


Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 pkg (12 rolls) King's Hawaiian rolls
1 lb. good quality sliced ham
sliced cheese, your choice
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Mix together melted butter, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Brush mixture on inside of buns.  Layer each roll with a couple slices of ham and then cheese. Baste any remaining butter mixture onto tops of sandwiches.

Arrange sandwiches in a large baking dish, 9x13 should work fine. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Ham and Egg Breakfast Bake

Well I really can't believe Christmas is already here. Maybe it's the lack of snow here in Iowa or just the fact that we've been so busy. Regardless, I am excited to be off work for almost two weeks! I'm looking forward to spending the holiday with our families, relaxing and who knows,  maybe even doing a little freezer cooking.

Christmas morning I always like to have something special for us to eat after we open presents. The usual cinnamon rolls or waffles are favorites but the hubby likes more savory dishes. So I created this with him in mind.

I combined some of his favorites: ham and cheese. And it can even be made ahead of time which I love. Christmas eve night toss everything together in a casserole dish and let it set in the fridge overnight. Then while you're busy opening presents in the morning, your breakfast can be baking away in the oven. Perfect if you ask me!

Ham and Egg Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:
4 slices thick deli ham, cut into small pieces
4 English muffins, cut into chunks
6 eggs
1 cup milk
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a 2 qt. casserole dish place two slices of ham in bottom of dish. Layer muffin pieces on top.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, milk and seasonings. Pour over the mixture and sprinkle cheese over top. Cover with foil and let set in fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.

Remove from fridge when ready to bake. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Then remove foil and bake for another 10-15 mins. or until center is set. Remove from oven and serve warm.

Two Minute Ham & Egg Bowl

I shared this picture, along with the easy instructions on the Facebook page recently; but I felt the need to share again in an actual post. These help to make our mornings a little easier. It's a very simple and healthy breakfast and I love the fact that I can prepare something nourishing for my family in such little time. Heck, I could even bring along the ingredients to work with me and have one for lunch if I wanted.

I didn't have any individual sized ramekins; while mine is still pretty small, you can certainly make this using only one egg and thus decrease your cooking time to only one minute total. No matter how rushed your mornings are, I think everyone can take two minutes and enjoy a dish of these ham and eggs. You'll have a great start to your morning and feel full for hours.

2 Minute Ham & Egg Bowl

Ingredients:
1 slice deli shaved ham
2 eggs
small handful of cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Place ham in bottom of a small ramekin. Add eggs on top, do not stir. Microwave for 45 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir. Place back in microwave and cook for an additional 45 seconds. Season with salt, pepper and sprinkle cheese on top if desired. Enjoy!

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Coming up on the blog later this week: a new Freezer Friday recipe and a review of the new 100 Days of Real Food cookbook including a recipe straight from the book! Stay tuned!

Zesty Italian Melts

We've been enjoying the fruits of our labor from my most recent freezer swap. Weekend lunches are something I always seem to struggle with. Anyone else have this problem? It's easy if we have some leftovers to reheat, but other than the quick sandwiches and what not, I don't always have a great plan. Maybe I try to make things too complicated, I don't usually make the same meal more than once unless it's an absolute favorite.

So it was really nice to pull out these sandwiches, along with some twice baked potatoes and have them ready for lunch after bowling league and our errands on Saturday. Not much thought involved at all, which is really nice! That's what I love most about freezer cooking, at times like this when I don't want to stress about the next meal, I can simply pull something out of the freezer and be done. It's truly a life saver. Now I just need to keep on top of it and make sure I'm doubling meals here and there so we always have a little stash to fall back on.

I spotted these sandwiches in a favorite cookbook of mine, it's one that's devoted entirely to make ahead meals for your freezer. All using wholesome ingredients too. I wanted to try these out for our freezer swap and I hope everyone's enjoying them. I know our family sure did!

I really liked the herbed butter spread on the inside of the buns, the hubby on the other hand didn't so much. But that's no biggie, next time I'll leave it off some. You can really use just about any type of meat you like on these. I stuffed ours with shaved ham and some salami and then added a slice of mozzarella cheese on top.

I wrapped each sandwich in foil and then placed them in a large Ziploc freezer bag. Then we can help ourselves to individual sandwiches as needed. We reheated ours in the oven for a bit, but the microwave would work just fine. In fact I like that idea for easy lunch packing or for when the kids want to help themselves to a quick meal.

Sandwiches aren't something we eat a whole lot of, but with warmer weather coming and nights out at the softball complexes, they will probably start making an appearance on my menus more often. I like this idea of making up different kinds of subs and sandwiches, wrapping them individually and then stashing away in the freezer. I'm looking forward to trying some different variations soon.

Zesty Italian Melts

Ingredients:
4 tbsp softened butter
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
8 sandwich buns
1/2 lb. shaved ham
16 slices of salami
8 slices of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
In a small bowl, cream together butter and spices, until well mixed. Spread a layer onto each bun. I only did the bottom layer but you can do both top and bottom, if you wish.

Add two to three slices of ham to each bun, along with two slices of salami, alternating. Top with a slice of cheese.

Wrap each sandwich in foil. Place them into a gallon sized freezer bag. Make sure to label the bag with the contents and date.

When ready to enjoy: remove from freezer and let thaw in the fridge. Heat sandwiches in the oven at 300 degrees, for about 15 minutes. Just until cheese is melted and warmed through.

You may also heat in the microwave for a few minutes.

Makes 8 sandwiches

Ham and Bean Soup

I had every intention of sharing this recipe on Friday with you but things got a little busy over the weekend and it slipped my mind. The girls had Thursday and Friday off from school due to conferences. From Thursday night to Sunday it seemed like we were on the go, but it was a wonderful weekend indeed.

Thursday evening was spent driving all over {at least it felt like it} In between conferences we picked up our very last farm share plus some poultry I ordered from our farmers. The girls were so excited to see our turkey and pick which one we'd take home. They had so many questions and I love their interest in where our food comes from. They've even asked if we can go help work on the farm sometime next summer.

Friday night we picked out our pumpkins at a local patch. Only our youngest would stop to pose for me. I tried to get her to hold her pumpkin but it was too heavy of course so we settled for her mini pumpkin she picked out.

Saturday morning we headed down to the last farmers market of the season, I was particularly happy to find spaghetti squash. Later that morning we participated in our church's trunk or treat, I managed to get one pic of the girls before. Unfortunately it was so cold and windy that day, they didn't want to stand still for long. We'll have to try that again.

Last picture I promise. Sunday night we carved pumpkins at my parent's house, it's been their tradition since our oldest was little. They take the kids to pick their pumpkins out and then my dad carves them with the girls. It's their little thing to do and they all love it!

Okay, back on track now. Growing up my dad made ham and bean soup from time to time, especially after having a nice ham dinner. He'd take the leftover ham and the bone and make soup. My mother-in-law also makes this soup, but she adds potatoes to hers. Which I always thought was interesting. We love this hearty meal in our house, it's not something I make very often but every once in a while we crave it.

We had some extra carrots in the fridge from our produce box so I threw those in as well, they were a perfect addition. Like a lot of meals, I always make this in the crock pot. Let it cook all day, my house smells wonderful and then come dinner time it's all done. I love nights like that.

Ham and Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. white northern beans
1 ham shank (mine was 1.5 lbs.)
3 potatoes, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water


Directions:
Pour bag of dry beans into slow cooker, cover with water and let soak overnight. In the morning, remove any beans that are broken and drain water. Return beans to slow cooker. Add in ham, potatoes, carrots, broth and water. Stir to combine, then cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove ham and shred meat. Return meat to slow cooker and stir to combine everything. Beans should be tender at this point and ready to serve. Season with salt if needed, but I didn't need to season mine at all.

Ham Balls

Every year my mom makes these for my birthday dinner, along with an amazing pineapple upside down cake. I look forward to this meal every single year. When I was in 5th grade she became manager of a deli counter at a local grocery store, this recipe was one that she discovered in their books and soon became a regular on our dinner menu at home.

If I had to guess, I would say ham balls are sort of a Midwestern thing. I know quite a few people that have yet to try this delicious meal. I think you honestly either love them or hate them. My husband and one of our girls does not care for them, while the other two girls and myself love them.

Our local Fareway store grinds up their own ham loaf, half ground ham and half ground pork; I always use this mixture when preparing these. I love the sweet and pineapple taste of ham balls, they are definitely on the sweet side but I wouldn't say overbearing. Serve these with baked potatoes and veggies and I think it helps to round out all of the flavors.

Since my batch made close to 3 dozen balls and I knew we wouldn't eat that many in one sitting. I froze the remaining two dozen. Once you have your mixture made up, take a medium sized cookie scoop and place balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Stick the ham balls in the freezer for at least 1-2 hours and then transfer to a freezer bag. These will keep in your freezer for a few months and you have another meal already made up for when things get busy.


Ham Balls

Ingredients:
2 lb. ham loaf (or use 1 lb. ground ham + 1 lb. ground pork)
2 eggs
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c milk
1 tbsp honey
1 c graham cracker crumbs

15 oz. can pineapple tidbits
1-2 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:
In a large bowl combine ham loaf, eggs, mustard, brown sugar, milk, honey and graham crackers. Mix together well, I find using my hands for this works the best. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray, if you're making an entire batch you will probably need more than one dish. With a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop mixture into balls and place into prepared dish. Drizzle a little bit of water into pan so that ham balls won't dry out. Bake at 350 for about 45 mins-1 hour. During the last 10 mins of baking, add in pineapple and sprinkle brown sugar on top. *I don't usually put the whole can of pineapple in, use as much or as little as you'd like.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli salad is one of my favorites and one recipe I'm pretty sure you might already have. But this comes from my mom, it's not something I make very often because I'm usually the only one in the house that eats it. My mom gave me this recipe along with several others at my bridal shower almost 7 years ago. My awesome bridesmaids put together the cutest recipe box for me because they knew how much I love to cook and bake, they also asked each guest to bring along at least one of their own recipes to put inside. It was one of the best gifts I've ever received and to this day I still love it! I seriously think it's one of the best gifts to give to a new bride.

Last week I made this salad to go along with our baked ham and cheese sandwiches. I can't remember the last time I've gotten to have broccoli salad and was literally craving it. I love the crunchy broccoli mixed with the sweet red onion and walnuts, the saltiness from the bacon and the sweetness from raisins. The dressing itself is also on the sweet side. The more you let the flavors mingle, the better it tastes; although I will say it's best enjoyed no later than the second day. It doesn't make a huge amount so I'm sure you'll have no troubles .

I will share real quick these baked ham and cheese sandwiches we made. They were pretty good and something very simple to make. I took a package of King's Hawaiian brand rolls, split them in half and filled them with a few slices of ham and cheese. We used provolone and colby-jack between all of the sandwiches. You could use whatever kind you like best though. I did mix together a few tablespoons of melted butter, 1 tbsp brown sugar and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and basted the insides of the top bun as well as the tops, just for a little extra glaze.  We baked them in a 9x13 inch baking pan, covered with foil for about 20 mins or so until cheese was melted. They were delicious, I don't think we had any left at all. These make for a very quick and easy dinner, lunch or even an appetizer.


Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:
6-8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 c walnuts
1/2 c raisins

Dressing:
1 c mayonnaise (I recommend Hellman's)
1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar

Directions:
In a medium-large sized bowl combine bacon, broccoli, onion, walnuts and raisins. In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients and mix well. Pour dressing over salad and mix together. Let salad marinate in fridge for several hours before serving.

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken {Stuffed w/Ham & Cheese}

We've been lucky to avoid all this nasty sickness floating around until this past week. The little ones and I all ended up with a slight cold and sure enough Wednesday evening our 5-year-old came down with this stomach bug that's been going around. She was so disappointed to have to miss her 100th day of school party, but I think she was more upset with ruining her perfect attendance for the year. After getting plenty of rest she's finally on the mend, but I've sure been busy washing every single blanket and sanitizing like crazy in hopes that no one else gets it.

Between taking care of her and the other kiddos, the laundry and the cleaning I haven't felt like making anything much for dinner lately. That is until tonight, I thawed out chicken breasts for dinner not knowing exactly what to make with them. Chicken breasts can be so bland and boring but if you're not afraid to experiment with marinades, etc it can also be a really delicious meal. We had some honey ham in the fridge needing to be used up as well and I remembered making these pretzel coated chicken breasts before a long time ago and how we stuffed them with ham and cheese; they were quite delicious.

So that's what we decided. I worked on our menu for the upcoming week, got the grocery shopping done; then came home about dinner time and the hubby and I got to work on these chicken breasts. I usually do most of the cooking around here but it's fun when he likes to join in and help me. They turned out just a good as I imagined and we even have enough leftover for lunch today. Can't beat that!

Pretzel Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Sliced ham 

Your choice of cheese for stuffing {we used swiss and cheddar/monterey jack}

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup flour

2 eggs

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set up dredging station with 3 separate bowls. One for crushed pretzels, one for flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and one for eggs (lightly beaten). For easier handling, cut each chicken breast in half, then cut a slit into each chicken breast half. Stuff each piece with 1-2 slices of ham and then your choice of cheese. Secure meat with a toothpick to hold everything together. Dip each side of the chicken into flour first, then egg (letting excess drip off) and finally into the pretzel crumbs. Once coated well, place onto a baking sheet. Bake for 30 mins or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink. 

Ham and Corn Chowder

I told you I was slowly warming my husband up to incorporating more soups into our meal times. I think it's working, this was another fabulous winner. Not to mention easy to prepare and I always say how much I love being able to use the slow cooker.

This sure made for a great Friday meal last week. I wasn't particularly in the mood for cooking and had this simmering all day. You see that amazing cornbread in the corner? We served slices of it alongside our soup, it was a great bowl of comfort. You can find the recipe for the honey conbread here. It's really one of the best I've ever tried and our family loves it.

I added chunks of potatoes to the soup which we love. When you're ready to serve this, you can certainly mash them up a bit or leave them like we did.

After dinner last week we took the kids for a drive around town looking at all of the Christmas lights. It's one of our favorite activities to do during this time of year. Our youngest will be 3 in March and she's really understanding everything this year which makes it that much more fun. Anytime we're out driving at night she's the one to point out all of the Christmas lights.

Ham and Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
2 cups diced ham
6 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1-11 oz bag of frozen corn
1 can chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
1-2 cups half-and-half (I used 1 cup, you may want to use more)

Directions:
Place potatoes, ham, corn and chicken broth into slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours. If desired mash the mixture to the consistency of your liking. Add in butter and half-and-half. Turn up to high and cook for an additional 30 mins.