Ham and White Bean Soup

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope your holidays were happy and healthy ones. I'm looking ahead to 2017 and making some changes.  First and foremost, We're making over our eating.  I've been working with a health coach all fall and she's given me some great advice on incorporating healthy grains, and reminded me of the importance of fruits and vegetables at every meal.  My daughter has had a conversation with her doctor about the importance of healthy eating, and we are fired up!

In other food news, we're getting half a pig any day now (I buy half a pig, several chickens, and, for the first time this year, a heritage turkey from my sister-in-law's every year - her family raises them on their farm), so in preparation for that I cleaned out the freezer during my Christmas break.  I discovered that we managed to eat most of last year's pig - I only found one slice of ham, a pack of cottage bacon (yay - love that stuff!), and a couple of packages of ham hocks.  The only thing I know to do with ham hocks is make white beans, so that was our New Year's Day dinner (always refreshing after a week of eating holiday leftovers and not-so-healthy New Year's Eve food!).  As always, I started with a basic recipe and made it my own...here's what I came up with.

Ham Hock and White Bean Soup
Serves 6

1 pound ham hocks
2 c. dry small white beans, sorted, rinsed, soaked and drained (I used a quick soak method)
2 T. olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
3 ribs and all the leaves from one head of celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp. dried summer savory
2 tsp. dried thyme
3 dried bay leaves
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups low-salt or salt-free chicken stock (I use homemade)
salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a 4 quart stock pot or dutch oven.  Add carrots, celery, and onion, and saute until just beginning to brown.  Add ham hocks, beans, garlic, spices, and chicken stock.  Add enough water to cover the beans by 1 1/2 inches.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are nearly tender, around 90 minutes.  Return to a boil, uncover, and cook until beans are cooked to desired tenderness (we like them a little thick, not too soupy).  Remove ham hocks from the soup, remove meat from bones, and return meat to the soup, stirring to combine.  Serve hot with crusty rolls.

It was delicious and I can't wait to eat the leftovers in my lunch today!

Happy 2017, all - hope it's a great one for you. 

Ham and Potato Soup

Made this up for dinner tonight.  It was so delicious I thought I'd better write down the recipe before I forget what I put in it!

Ham and Potato Soup
Serves 4 - 6

2 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 c. chicken broth
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato (or equivalent - I used six baby potatoes), diced
2 c. diced ham
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
2 T. cornstarch, mixed with 2 T. cold water until smooth
1/2 cup half and half

In a three-quart pot, saute the onions in the butter and olive oil until they just start to brown.  Add chicken broth, potato, ham and seasonings.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.  Stir in cornstarch mixture; turn temperature back up to medium-high.  Cook and stir until thickened.  Add half and half.  Reduce heat to low and cook five minutes more.

Pizza Noodles

I'm trying to figure out how it is that I've never posted this recipe.  Well, maybe I did but Google couldn't find it, who knows.  Anyway, this is a quick and easy, tasty and filling recipe.  You can switch up the meat and veggies to include anything you like that you would normally put on pizza.  The sauce mixture can be prepared in the time it takes to cook the noodles.

Pizza Noodles
4 servings

6 oz. dry spaghetti noodles
2 T. olive oil
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. "pizza meat", cut into bite sized pieces (Canadian bacon, ham, pepperoni, sausage, etc. - whatever you like)
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
Optional:  Fresh oregano, basil, and parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese

Cook the noodles according to the package directions.  When finished, drain.

While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms; cook until onions are soft, about five minutes.  Add seasonings, meat and tomatoes, cook five to 10 minutes more, until everything is nice and hot.  Stir in cooked noodles and fresh herbs.  Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

three cheese scalloped potatoes and ham

I finally made scalloped potatoes and ham that wasn't runny! Yay! This made enough for hubby and me, with a tiny bit leftover.

1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
1 oz. swiss cheese, sliced
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped ham
2 medium potatoes (peeled if desired), thinly sliced

In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions and garlic and saute until onions are translucent. Stir in the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and dry mustard, then add the cheese and stir until melted.

Put a little bit of the sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish, and then add a layer of sliced potatoes. Sprinkle a layer of ham on top of the potatoes, then add another layer of sauce. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ending with sauce on top.

Cover and bake at 350 for one hour. Remove cover and bake for an additional 20 - 30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.

Ham and Broccoli Calzones

Here you go Kimmer!

Just like the BBQ chicken pizza, it's not really a recipe, just an ingredient list:

Take your favorite pizza crust recipe and divide it into the number of calzones you want to make (I use the recipe out of The Tightwad Gazette - I can post it if anyone wants it - and make two big calzones). Roll it out fairly thin, but thick enough so it doesn't break when you fold it over.

First, spread alfredo sauce on half of the crust.

Next, sprinkle the following over the alfredo, as much as you'd like (keeping in mind the other half of the crust has to fit over it):

- Diced cooked ham
- chopped cooked broccoli (I like to buy the frozen stuff, heat it in the microwave for a few minutes, and then drain it and put it on)
- chopped onion
- sliced mushrooms
- garlic powder
- a mix of your favorite cheeses (I used cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan)

Fold the top half over the bottom half and roll and press the edges together to seal.

Bake at 425 for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown. I bake this on my pizza stone.

Sunday dinner

The rain arrived today and sudddenly I'm in the mood to cook again. It's been a while. I'm also craving potatoes - wonder what the heck that means? I had potatoes for breakfast yesterday, again for breakfast this morning, and tonight we're having Ham and Hash Brown Casserole. Apparently some variation of this is known in the Mormon community as Funeral Potatoes, because someone always brings it to the funeral potlucks. That seems a little depressing to me, so I renamed it and put my own spin on it! It's the ultimate in plastic convenience food comfort casseroles!

Ham and Hash Brown Casserole

1 bag (2 pounds) frozen hash browns (the chunks, not the shreds), thawed
3 cups diced ham
2 cans cream of something soup (I used cream of chicken and cream of mushroom)
1 can sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sour cream
1 jalapeno, finely chopped, as much of the seeds and veins removed as you like
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces velveeta, diced

1/4 cup butter
bread crumbs
onion salt
garlic powder

In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, soup, sour cream, mushrooms, jalapeno, onion, and velveeta till well blended. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. In a frying pan, melt butter, and mix in breadcrumbs seasoned to taste with onion salt and garlic powder. Cook over medium heat until brown.

Sprinkle toasted bread crumbs over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

We're having that with a side baked winter squash with butter and brown sugar. Can't wait till the timer goes off!