Ham and Shells Casserole

Thanks to Lauren at Lauren's Kitchen for blogging about this recipe - who originally got it from Hilary at This Girls Food. Might as well give a shout out to both of them :) It was really, really good! And boy am I glad it was, because it made a ton of food!

It's a bit more involved that my regular weeknight meal, but can easily be prepped the night before and thrown in the oven when you get home from work. And, as an added bonus it makes about 3, very generous, dinners worth for our family of three. So, I plan on freezing 2 of the portions prior to baking.

I made some modifications to the recipe which I'll explain below, and are included in the recipe I've posted. You can find the original recipe on either of the blogs above.

I used frozen spinach, and increased the amount, instead of fresh. If you are like me it's more cost friendly to buy frozen vegetables for a few reasons. A) they are usually cheaper and B) they don't go bad. Often times I'll have a meal written down for the week but we don't get to it for various reasons, so sometimes produce goes bad and I HATE that.

Subbed mozzarella for the goat cheese as I didn't have it in the house, thanks Lauren for the tip.

After I tasted the sauce it seemed a bit on the bland side, so I threw in about 3/4 a cup of blue cheese as well to give it a kick. I'm going to leave the recipe with goat cheese because I think it really would be best with that AND the blue cheese :). I was really happy with the blue cheese addition in the end, it gave the recipe a bit more twang. Is that a word?

I used macaroni noodles because that's what I had, shells would be better.

I increased the ham by 1 cup.

Oh, and I upped the rosemary, because I love it. Whew, I think that's it! LOL

I also didn't want to use 3 pans, as the original recipe would have you do. I reused one to make it a bit less clean-up. It allows you time to prep ingredients while the noodles are cooking, so I think it works out a little better than trying to do three things at once.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (16 oz.) medium pasta shells
• 3 large onions
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped frozen spinach
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3-1/2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup park-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) crumbled goat cheese (I used mozzarella)
• 3/4 cup cup blue cheese
  
• 3 cups cubed fully cooked ham
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°

Cook pasta according to package directions in a large sauce pan.

While the pasta is cooking, chop your onions and ham and measure out your other ingredients.

Drain pasta and set aside in a very large mixing bowl, mix with chopped ham.

Saute onions in oil until golden brown in the pan you used for the noodles. Add spinach and rosemary, cook for a few minutes until spinach is thawed (or wilted if you used fresh). Pour into the bowl with the noodles and mix.

Use the large saucepan to melt butter. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth and cook for a few minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring to prevent lumps from forming. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses until blended.

Add the sauce to the noodle mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper (liberally) to taste. I put these in greased casserole dishes at this point and sprinkled with the Parmesan cheese. I froze two and left one in the fridge to bake later.

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.

Split Pea Soup

What's the perfect way to get use out of that leftover ham bone from Easter? Make split pea soup! I make mine in the crockpot, so we have a nice hot meal when we come home from work.

1 (16 0z) package dried split peas - rinsed
1 ham bone
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery including leafy parts, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
6-8 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth or water)

Layer everything in the crock pot, then pour the liquid over the top. Don't stir. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Remove bay leaves, ham bone and any large chunks of ham. If you want a smooth soup, remove and puree 1/3 of the soup and add it back in. Cut up large chunks of ham and add them back into the soup. Serve and enjoy!

Biscuits and Gravy

My last few posts seem to be an homage to my childhood, lol. This was one of my Dad's favorite meals of all time and he made it for us quite frequently growing up. His parent's used to make it as well and they grew up eating it during the great depression. So here we are full circle. And, in a recession no less, so it's quite fitting. My husband was just laid off for the second time this year. Wonderful huh? You'll probably see that I'm going to stray from my menu plan a bit, or at least alter some recipes, because I didn't make it to the grocery store before he was laid off. So... we're eating from our pantry for a bit.

First up... Biscuits and Gravy! I had some cooked ground hamburger left over from spaghetti and nothing to make Tacos so this is what I came up with. Oh, and I threw in some leftover breakfast sausage I had too. Cheap and easy.

1 or 2 packages of white gravy mix depending on how much you like (or you can make your own, it's pretty easy).
1/2 pound of ground meat (sausage, beef or a mix of both )
Biscuits (refrigerated, make your own or use Bisquick mix)
Pepper

It's pretty easy... Pop the biscuits in the oven, then prepare the gravy and add your cooked ground beef. I add plenty of pepper to my gravy mix too. Then, open your biscuits up on your plate and serve lots of warm gravy on top! Voila, a very filling yummy meal!

Katie's version of Black Eyed Peas

Tonight I decided to make stuffed pork chops and while rummaging through my freezer for a side I found a bag of black eyed peas. I think I bought them once with the notion that they would be a good healthy finger food for my son Dillon and never made them for him. So, there they were, still sitting in my freezer. I thought hey, they need to be eaten...

I cooked them and then decided they needed a kick, so I added an onion and a green pepper. Then a can of rotel tomatoes. I also threw a pinch of garlic, salt, basil and a bay leaf in. No method to my madness. Then I realized I should just throw some ham in, and hey, I had some leftover ham! But, by then it was no longer a side, it was a meal! So, needless to say, dinner is done for tomorrow and I still don't have a side for tonight and my chops have 1/2 hour to go.

It is good though!

If I had to guess the recipe, here is what it would be:

1lb bag of frozen black eyed peas
Cook beans according to bag directions along with diced onion and diced pepper. Drain about 1/2 the liquid off.

Add:
1 can of rotel tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound or so of cubed or diced or chunked cooked ham - whatever you have.


Season to taste with:

Salt, Pepper, Basil and Oregano

Simmer for 1/2 hour or so.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I paired this with Baked Beans (Bushes with some mustard and brown sugar added in) and Oriental Salad. I served Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip as a sweet.

Ingredients

* 4 lbs pork roast (shoulder or butt)
* 2 large onions
* 1 cup mountain dew (or ginger ail/sprite)
* 1 (18 ounce) bottle favorite barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)
* barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Slice one onion and place in crock pot.
2. Put in the roast and cover with the other onion, sliced. Pour over the dew. Cover and cook on LOW for about 8-12 hours.
3 Remove the meat, strain and save the onions, discard all liquid. With two forks, shred the meat, discarding any remaining fat, bones or skin. Most of the fat will have melted away.
4.Return the shredded meat and the onions to the crock pot, stir in the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook for another 2 to 3 hours on LOW.
5.Serve with hamburger buns or rolls and additional barbecue sauce. Any leftovers freeze very well.
6. TIP: freeze ready-made sandwiches - a scoop of meat on a bun, well-wrapped. These make a great quick meal or snack. To reheat, remove wrapping, wrap in a paper towel, and zap 1-2 minute in the microwave.
7.Note: Shoulder or butt are recommended because the meat shreds very well. Other cuts do not shred as readily. It is a fattier cut, but the fat melts away in the cooking and is poured away when you discard the liquid.

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Pork Chops

So on the subject of sauces... I had some pork chops to use and decided to grill. I looked through the sauces below and came up with this recipe - a modified version of a few of them.

1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
*1 teaspoon adobo sauce - more if you like it spicy
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 to 3 pork chops


Mix all ingredients above salt in a bowl, heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave and combine.

Place pork chops on grill over medium high heat, season with salt and pepper and top with sauce. Grill about 5 minutes on each side, re-basting often with sauce.

*For a kid friendly sauce omit the adobo sauce, I set a small bowl aside for my son without the adobo sauce and make sauce with the added kick for my husband and I.

I served this with mixed veggies and brown rice

Copy Cat Honey Baked Ham

Ingredients

7 pound spiral cut smoked ham
1/2 cup pear nectar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.
Place ham cut end down in a large baking pan.
Mix together nectar and orange juice.
Bake ham in a preheated oven for 15 minutes basting twice with juice mixture.
Mix together brown sugar and honey in a small bowl.
Brush mixture over ham and bake one more hour.
Serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Pineapple Pork Chops

This is a very good weeknight meal. Thank you Holly, and Kraft Foods, for a great recipe! I did make one small variation to the original and that was to saute the red and green peppers separate and stir them in just before serving. Otherwise, they get lost in the dish and loose their bite. But, for the sake of time, you can throw them in at the beginning of the cooking process. I also cut the recipe down quite a bit to suit 2 people. My variations are noted in bold - we still had enough for 2 more servings.

2 lb. boneless pork loin, cut into bite-sized pieces ( I used 3 lean pork chops) (1lb)
1/2 cup KRAFT Honey Barbecue Sauce
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 large green peppers, coarsely chopped (1 green pepper)
2 large red peppers, coarsely chopped (1 green pepper)
6 cups hot cooked rice (2 cups)
1/4 cup PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, chopped ( I did not use these)

PLACE pork in slow cooker. Add barbecue sauce; mix well.
DRAIN pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Add reserved juice to cornstarch; stir until well blended. Add to pork mixture; stir until well blended. Top with the pineapple chunks and peppers; cover with lid.
COOK on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours). Serve over hot rice. Sprinkle with the peanuts.

Pineapple Ham

I make this up every time I cook it so bear with me...

I mix: Worcestershire sauce (1/3 cup maybe?), brown sugar (about a tablespoon) and pineapple juice from a can of pineapple rings (1/2 of it sounds right). Sometimes I put a splash of soy sauce in too. I don't know why - just feel adventurous sometimes. Then, I marinate a ham steak in it for a few hours, or overnight - whatever suits you. Then, I throw it in a pan, put the pineapple on top, and bake it at 350 until it's done (hot, looks done, whatever). I broil it for a few minutes at the end because I like how it caramelizes the sugar. That's it! I serve with a veggie and call it a meal!

YUM!

Peppercorn Pork Loin

This one is so easy ;) We were introduced to these when we went white water rafting a few years ago. The trip included a nice dinner - they did these on the grill wrapped in foil and they were soooo yummy. When it's warm out we'll do the same. They are also good in the oven but the crock pot works great on a weekday too.

Instructions:

1. Go to supermarket

2. Buy pre-marinated peppercorn porkloin (We buy the Kroger brand from King Soopers, Hormel is nasty IMHO. Teriyaki is also good.

3. Put in crockpot, cook on low all day.

4. Come home and eat.

:)

Jimmy Dean Sausage Breakfast Pizza

My mother-in-law made this a few times and it was so good it was one of the things I made for brunch on the day of Dillon's baptism. You have to really spread the crescent rolls out to get them into a circle and then press them together. Make sure you have a nice "crust" to contain the egg. I also line my oven with foil before making this so I don't have a mess to clean up if the egg does run over.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (16 ounce) packages Regular Flavor Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage, cooked, crumbled and drained
• 2 (8.5 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 cups frozen hash brown potato cubes, thawed
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup diced green bell pepper (optional)
• 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper (optional)
• 1/3 cup diced yellow bell pepper (optional)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Separate crescent rolls into sixteen triangles. Place in two ungreased 12 inch rimmed pizza pans with points toward the center. In each pan, press rolls together, seal perforations and form a circle 1 inch larger in diameter than bottom of pan. Turn edges under to make a slight rim.
2. Sprinkle cooked sausage evenly over each crust. Top with potatoes; add peppers and/or green onions, if desired. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper in small bowl: stir well. Pour half of the egg mixture evenly over each pizza. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until eggs are set and crusts are golden.