Pineapple Lime Glazed Ham

Holidays are a bit unconventional in our family because my little brother is a VERY VERY VERY good chess player and he travels a lot to different tournaments with my mom. Since they were in Philadelphia over Easter we had to delay our Easter dinner. Trust me, this ham was well worth waiting for. It is so much better than a Honey Baked/Glazed ham, I don't think we will be able to go back. The entire family loved it and we all agreed that we would rather eat that any day.

We BARELY adapted the recipe at all from Real Mom Kitchen. She used 1/4 cup honey dijon mustard, and we used 2 Tbsp normal dijon mustard. We definitely felt like it was the perfect amount. The taste of the mustard was not prevalent but just enough and we felt that the honey dijon would have made the glaze unnecessarily sweet.

This wonderful recipe and picture are courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen and can be found at this site here: http://realmomkitchen.com/10777/pineapple-lime-glazed-ham/

Pineapple Lime Glazed Ham Adapted from Real Mom Kithcen

Servings 12

Nutritional Information OF GLAZE! per serving (calculated on MyFitnessPal.com): Calories 83, Carbs 20, Fat grams 0, Protein 0 (Full nutritional count will depend on what kind of ham you use) 

o    1 (9-10 pd) fully cooked bone in ham, butt or shank portion 

o    2 limes

o    8 thin slices of fresh ginger

o    2 cups pineapple juice

o    1 cup apricot preserves

o    2 Tbsp dijon mustard

1.      Bring your ham out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you are going to cook it.

2.      Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Oven the ham with the flat side down. Now using a paring knife, score a crosshatch pattern around the ham. Try to just pierce through the top layer. The cuts will expand with the cooking process.

3.      Line your roasting pan completely with foil. You will thank me later for this one. Place your roasting rack in your roasting pan. Place the ham on the roasting pan flat side down. Then pour some water into the bottom of the roasting pan, you want it about 1/4 inch deep.

4.      Place ham in the oven and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes per pound.

5.      While the ham bakes, prepare the glaze.

6.      Zest the limes and set zest aside.

7.      In a sauce pan, add the juice of the limes you just zested, along with the ginger slices and pineapple juice.

8.      Bring to a boil and boil for about 8-10 minutes until reduce to about 1-1/2 cups.

9.      Remove from the heat and remove the ginger slices. Then mix in the apricot preserves, dijon mustard, and reserved lime zest until well blended.

10.  Remove the ham from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. If there is no water in the bottom of the pan, add more. Brush the entire ham with a coat of the glaze. Once the oven has reached the 425 degrees, return the ham to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

11.  Remove the ham from the oven and baste with glaze again cook for 15 minutes. Baste the ham with the glaze 1 more time and cook for 15 more minutes. Slice ham and serve. if any glaze remains, you can microwave it until bubbly, about 30 seconds, and drizzle over the ham sliced if desired. (I highly recommend it) A 9-10 pound ham should serve 12.

Eggs and Canadian Bacon in Pita Pockets

As I was reading through this recipe when I was about to go and make it I thought... wow... I bet this is going to taste pretty bland. I wasn't okay with that and wanted something with a WOW factor. So... I changed it. Quite a bit. The recipe below is my adapted recipe (which we loved as did my mom and family when she made it with my changes the next day).

The great thing about this recipe is that it is really versatile. You could add whatever you wanted to the recipe: green peppers, red peppers, fresh red or yellow onion, etc. Tailor it to fit your own preference. The following recipe fit ours. :-)

The original recipe and picture are courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens and can be found at this site here: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pork/eggs-and-canadian-bacon-in-pita-pockets/

Eggs and Canadian Bacon in Pita Pockets

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Servings 4

Nutritional Information per serving (calculated on MyFitnessPal.com): Calories 259, Carbs 21, Fat grams 10, Protein 22 (Based on using 1/2 cup cheddar cheese) 

·         2 eggs

·         4 egg whites

·         2 cups baby spinach leaves

·         3 garlic cloves, minced

·         3 ounces Canadian-style bacon, finely chopped

·         4 ½ teaspoons water (or milk)

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (or sundried tomatoes or roasted red peppers…)

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

·         Crushed red pepper (optional)

·         Nonstick cooking spray

·         2 large pita bread round

·         ¼ - 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat a nonstick skillet lightly sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat. Add spinach, garlic, chives and Canadian bacon. Cook until spinach is wilted.

2. In a small bowl beat together egg, egg whites, water, salt & pepper and crushed red pepper (if desired).

2. Add egg mixture to skillet. Cook, without stirring, until mixture begins to set on the bottom and around edge. Using a spatula or a large spoon, lift and fold the partially cooked eggs so the uncooked portion flows underneath. Continue cooking about 2 minutes or until eggs are cooked through but are still glossy and moist. Remove from heat.

3.Cut pita bread in half crosswise. Fill pita halves with egg mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Vegetable & Ham Pizza Roll

OH.MY.YUMMMM!!!!!!! I love love love love love this meal. We have already had this meal again since I originally made it even though it is definitely more labor intensive. But it is divine and well worth every effort. Roasted broccoli is one of my favorite things in the world and pairing it with roasted red peppers is inspirational. I wish I had step-by-step pictures for you of this one because the description can be a bit confusing but bear with me, I will explain as best as I can and if you have questions you can feel free to ask!

Oh, and don't think you have to do broccoli and red peppers. You can do whatever veggies you want on the inside of this thing. And if you want to make it meatless just add an additonal veggie and get rid of the ham.

The original inspiration for this recipe came from Mindika Moments but it has been largely adapted. If you would like to see the original post you can find it at this site here: http://www.mindikamoments.com/2009/10/ive-been-experimenting.html

Roasted vegetable & Ham pizza ROLL

Largely Adapted from Mindika Moments Veggie Bread Roll

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1 recipe for pizza dough (Jay's Signature Pizza Crust is the best)
4 oz. cream cheese (I used fat free), at room temperature
¼ C. sour cream (I used fat free)
1 t. dry ranch dressing mix powder
1 head of broccoli, trimmed to small pieces with stems mostly cut off

1 red pepper, cut into small slices
1 lb. deli honey ham slices
¼ - ½ C. grated Parmesan
 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
¼ tsp. EACH salt & pepper
1 egg white
Sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Make up pizza dough to the first rising. Towards the end of your dough rising, prepare your veggies and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes. You want them to start turning dark but not to burn.
3. When pizza dough is finished rising, roll out according to recipe directions. (Mine says to deflate, roll into a tight ball, let it sit for a minute and THEN roll it out.) Spray counter with nonstick cooking spray and roll dough out to approximately 16” wide by 17” long. (This will make it the same size as a cookie sheet length wise but make it longer than the cookie sheet on the top and bottom.) Transfer to a baking sheet. The dough SHOULD hang over the sides a bit on the top and bottom. (You may need someone to help you with the transfer.)
4. Cover the dough lightly with a large cloth and let it rise for 15-20 minutes.
5. Turn up the oven to 425 degrees. (Or whatever temperature your pizza dough is supposed to bake at.)
5. While dough is rising, mix together cream cheese, sour cream and dry ranch mix in a small bowl. When the dough has finished rising, spread cream cheese mixture evenly through the middle leaving about 3 – 4 inches on each side. Top with ham slices and the roasted veggies.
6. Make small cuts in each side of the dough about 1 ½ - 2 inches wide all along the width of the pan. (This is really easy to do with normal scissors, just make sure they are clean.) Criss-cross the strips of dough over the ham and veggies, being careful not to tear your strips. It is almost like you are "braiding" the dough over the inside ingredients.
7. Beat 1 egg white in a small bowl just slightly. Brush egg white over the top of your braided pizza roll. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and parmesan cheese.

8. Bake roll in oven for 15 – 20 minutes until the crust and parmesan cheese are golden brown.

9. Serve dipped in additional ranch dressing, if you desire. (I didn’t, my husband did. J)

Homemade Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese

How many grown-ups actually like and desire macaroni and cheese from the box? Anyone? Anyone? Maybe for lunch, once in a blue moon, but for dinner? Nah. But the concept of macaroni and cheese is a great one. And this macaroni and cheese is easily my favorite one that you home make. And it was super easy.

Funny story. The lovely friend that I got this recipe friend accidentally put in the recipe to use 4 - 5 Tbsp. of Frank's Hot Buffalo Sauce. For those of you who are familiar with the sauce you are laughing at me right now. But I was not familiar with the sauce before. I very skeptically put in 1 Tbsp of the stuff before tasting it and it was already bordering too hot. Make sure that when you make this you use REGULAR Buffalo Sauce and NOT the extra hot stuff. They are actually labeled in the store differently. Let me show you:

Buy THIS:

Do NOT buy this (unless you have a death wish):

Okay, now that we have that out of the way... this really was a delightful dish and my hubby liked it so much that he immediately requested it again (just with less heat.) The original recipe says to steam the broccoli but I roasted it in the oven instead and boy was it delicious! Next time I think I will double the recipe so that we have more for the next day.

The original recipe and picture are courtesy of Mer's Kitchen Creations and can be found at this site here: http://merskitchencreations.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-buffalo-macaroni-and-cheese.html

 

HOMEMADE BUFFALO MACARONI AND CHEESE

Adapted from Mer’s Kitchen Creations

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·         8 oz. shell pasta, uncooked
·         2 cloves garlic, finely minced
·         3 Tbsp. butter
·         3 Tbsp. flour
·         1 cup milk
·         1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
·         1/8 tsp. pepper
·         1/8 tsp. nutmeg
·         1/2 tsp. garlic salt
·         1 tsp. cajun seasoning
·         1/2 cup half-and-half
·         1 “head” broccoli, cut with stems shortened (about 1 lb)
·         2 Tbsp. olive oil
·         ¼ tsp salt
·         ¼ tsp pepper
·         1 cup diced ham
·         4-5 Tbsp. Frank's Buffalo sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. While the pasta is cooking, toss the broccoli in 2 tablespoon oil and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper and roast for about 15 minutes. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and saute the garlic over medium heat until light brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the flour and stir until a thick roux (dough-like texture) forms. Slowly add in the milk and stir over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until it thickens and begins to bubble, and the roux is dissolved. Add in the cheese and stir until melted and thoroughly combined. Stir in the pepper, nutmeg, garlic salt and cajun seasoning. Turn heat to low and add in the cooked pasta, broccoli, ham and half-and-half. Mix together until all ingredients are coated in the cheese sauce. Stir in the hot sauce, one tablespoon at a time, until completely incorporated. Serve warm with extra cheese sprinkled on top.

Ham N Egg (Potato) Skillet

Sorry I have been MIA for a while! I had kidney stones last week and definitely was not up to cooking. I return with a wonderful new recipe that we had for dinner all by itself without any other side dishes. I loved how predominate the potato was in this recipe and I definitely think that it should be called Ham N Potato Skillet. The egg is not a predominate part of this meal. Lots of users on Allrecipes.com (where I got this recipe) said that they increased the amount of egg and decreased the amount of potatoes. I did not do this and it suited my taste buds perfectly - but do what you wish! Also, I doubled the recipe all around except for the cheese. I thought 2 cups of grated cheese would be overkill and so I only put in 1 cup. If you want the dish to be especially cheesy, go ahead and use the amount called for. The recipe and picture are courtesy of Allrecipes.com and can be found here.

HAM N EGG (Potato) SKILLET

From Allrecipes.com

• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I used half this amount)
• salt (I used seasoning salt) and pepper to taste

1. In a skillet, saute potatoes in butter until tender and golden brown. Add the onion and green pepper; saute until crisp-tender. Add ham, eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Cook until eggs are completely set, stirring occasionally.

Classic Repeat: Ham & Noodle Casserole - Now Even Easier!

So... there is nothing worse than getting to dinner time and gathering your ingredients together only to realize you are missing something that you thought you had... right? Well I went to make this classic recipe the other night only to find that I only had 6 lasagna noodles - not enough! So we decided to do Ham & Spaghetti pasta instead. It was just as delicious and a whole lot easier. Less hassle, less cooking time - I may have a very hard time going back to the original recipe! If you want to take a look at the original go here. The picture isn't the exact recipe but it looks the same. The photo is courtesy of Shutterstock and can be found here.

HAM & NOODLE CASSEROLE


1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 c. sour cream
1 16 oz. pkg of spaghetti noodles
2 c. cheese (shredded)
2 c. cubed ham (16 oz.) (Deli ham works perfectly fine as well)
½ c. milk

Mix soup, sour cream, and milk. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add soup mixture, ham, and cheese to noodles. Mix thoroughly and heat gently just until the cheese has melted.

*I like to add some onion powder, salt, and pepper to my mix to give it more flavor.

Ham and Cheese Melts

These were delicious! So easy to put together and much tastier than I was expecting. I liked the flavor so much that I didn't dip mine in any kind of sauce. I even used a generic (cheap) brand of biscuit and they were great! I didn't use cheese slices either. I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar shredded cheese. And although I doubled the recipe I could only manage to eat one and my hubby could only manage 2! This recipe will DEFINITELY be a repeat in our house! Thanks to Pillsbury.com for the recipe and picture which can be found here.

HAM AND CHEESE MELTS
From Pillsbury.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (16.3 oz) refrigerated biscuits (any variety)
8 slices American cheese
8 oz thinly sliced deli ham
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Press 4 biscuits into 5-inch rounds on ungreased large cookie sheet. Top each with 2 slices cheese and 2 ounces ham.
• Press remaining 4 biscuits into 6-inch rounds; place over ham. Press edges with fork to seal. Beat egg and water with fork; brush over biscuits.
• Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cut each in half. Serve warm.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Potato Pancakes

The Monte Cristo Sandwiches are a classic repeat for this house! Sweet but with a wonderful complement of meats and cheeses, they are DELICIOUS! The Potato Pancakes were a new recipe I found on "Recipes of a Cheapskate." We have TONS of leftover mashed potatoes from our good old chicken fried chicken with gravy, corn and mashed potatoes dinner yesterday... so I decided to use some of them up. Yes, I said mashed potatoes. I was skeptical too but they turned out DELICIOUS! Put a little bit of salsa on top and I liked them even better than the Monte Cristos! SUPER easy to make too! The pictures are not mine. I give full credit to "Recipes of a Cheapskate!"

MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES

2 eggs
1/4 c. maple syrup
4 slices of bread
cream cheese
2-3 slices deli black forest ham
2-3 slices deli turkey
2 slices Swiss cheese
powdered sugar
Raspberry Jam (or any jam you like)

Mix eggs and maple syrup together with a fork and pour in a shallow dish. Dip the bread in the egg (make sure the bread is well-covered with the egg mixture) and cook on a griddle or in a frying pan (as if you were making French toast). Spread a good amount of cream cheese on half of the toasts. On the same toasts, add half of the ham and turkey and a slice of Swiss cheese. Top each sandwich with the remaining toasts. Turn the griddle to a low heat and add the sandwiches. Warm each sandwich until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar. Cut into halves or fourths and serve with raspberry jam.

POTATO PANCAKES
From Recipes of a Cheapskate

• 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• chopped, cooked bacon
• seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic, etc.)
• onion (optional, I use onion powder)

Mix together the eggs, flour, seasonings, and bacon. Add the potatoes and mix well. Make your patties and cook in a little bit of the bacon grease, or oil, until crisp on each side. Drain on a paper towel.

Classic Repeat - Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta!

It is fun to try out new recipes, but sometimes I just want a quick, tried and true recipe to throw together for dinner. And this one happens to be one of my personal favorites. A couple of things about this dish: I said before to not use spaghetti noodles, but it turns out that you can! It is a fun new way to have the noodles instead of in the classic marinara sauce. Also, I am pretty sure it is important to NOT use sour cream substitutes (IMO). It made our pasta REALLY thick this time. And lastly, if you want to splash just a bit of lemon juice in there it adds a nice flavor! :-)

http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-cordon-bleu-pasta.html

Repeats!

It is always fun to do some classic repeats for dinners! There is no use having favorites if you only get to have them once! Here are the dinners we have repeated this month that are already located on this blog. You can find them at the following addresses:

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/enchilada-casserole.html

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU PASTA: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-cordon-bleu-pasta.html

PINEAPPLE MEATBALLS: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/pineapple-meatballs.html

SKILLET ENCHILADAS: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/skillet-enchiladas.html

Happy eating!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I stumbled across this recipe on a blog and now I can't find it again except in my recipe compilation! But this was FANTASTIC! I have never had a Monte Cristo Sandwich before (nor had Jake) and we LOVED this. After using whole wheat bread I could only get down one sandwich before being super full and Jake only got down 2! He spent the whole evening talking about how amazing these sandwiches were! Try them! They are fabulous!

MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES

2 eggs
1/4 c. maple syrup
4 slices of bread
cream cheese
2-3 slices deli black forest ham
2-3 slices deli turkey
2 slices Swiss cheese'
powdered sugar
Raspberry Jam (or any jam you like)

Mix eggs and maple syrup together with a fork and pour in a shallow dish. Dip the bread in the egg (make sure the bread is well-covered with the egg mixture) and cook on a griddle or in a frying pan (as if you were making French toast). Spread a good amount of cream cheese on half of the toasts. On the same toasts, add half of the ham and turkey and a slice of Swiss cheese. Top each sandwich with the remaining toasts. Turn the griddle to a low heat and add the sandwiches. Warm each sandwich until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar. Cut into halves or fourths and serve with raspberry jam. Yield = 2 sandwiches.

*I didn't want to spend a lot of money on meat so we just got the Land of Frost meats and they were still great! Also, if you warm up your jam a little bit it is really tasty!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Wow! I LOVE Chicken Cordon Bleu and I was so excited to try this recipe - and WOW it didn't disappoint! I LOVED it so much and Jake had three helpings! This will DEFINITELY be a constant in our household. We put together the entire dinner and ate in one hour's time. Try it! You will love the flavor! I got this recipe here.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU PASTA
From Blogging… It’s What’s for Dinner!

2 cups cooked, diced chicken
6 oz deli ham, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream ( I used fat free)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
cooked pasta

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan until cheese is melted, smooth, and creamy. Serve over whatever pasta you like.

*NOTE: I used large shell pasta and it was PERFECT! I definitely wouldn't use regular spaghetti noodles. It seems like small noodles are best: bowties, elbows, etc.