Tag: easy

Christmas Holiday Ham

I am a Ham Lover. We’ve had just about every type of ham you can get, and they always turn out well if they are cooked enough with a good glaze. When I was growing up, we always got a 5 lb canned ham. But over the years, even the price of canned ham has risen, which has led us to try spiral cut hams, pre-cooked & sliced hams without the bone, ham steaks, and we’ve even done a roast for Christmas! Ham is the tradition, and I personally never miss out on a holiday where I can have a nice ham.

I do like spiral cut hams, but it’s very important to cook them “low and slow” because you want the internal temp to come high enough to melt the internal fat. It is also important to remove it from the glaze once it’s finished cooking, because the fat will re-solidify and ruin your remaining ham if you don’t remove it from the fat and bone after you finish eating. Some people don’t like canned hams because they seem fake or overly processed, and though that is a good concern and it doesn’t look like real ham anymore, it also has less fat and tends to be an easier eat if you have bad teeth or want a meal that requires less chewing. Processed ham steaks are definitely less food than the other types. They also tend to be a mix in textures being mostly ham-like with it having pieces that seem less processed than canned hams. Each type of ham has a draw back to different people, however most of the problems arise in how the meat is prepped and cooked.

Though it seems old fashioned, I always go with the honey and brown sugar glaze even for my non-holiday hams. I find the sweetness to go so well with the savory aspect of the ham. But, for Christmas, we also top our ham with pineapple and cherries, so when we make up the glaze we also add a bit of acidity by adding some pineapple juice to the honey brown sugar. The acidity does really well to compliment the saltiness of ham. When we make our glaze, we usually do 1:2 Honey to brown sugar. When we make our Christmas ham, we usually go for 60% brown sugar, 30% honey, 2% cherry juice and 8% pineapple juice. You are looking for a consistency where the glaze is mostly solid and won’t run completely off the ham. If it is too liquidy, add more brown sugar and honey, and stir well.

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Easy Tuna Noodle

Tuna noodle casserole is a staple of depression era cooking. It’s a simple dish that requires very little to feed many people for the night. Though I’m sure there are fancier ways to make tuna noodle, this is the way I grew up with and the way my mom grew up with too. This recipe makes enough to serve 3 adults, but the recipe can easily be stretched by adding more noodles, or doubling/tripling the existing recipe. You can also then stick it in a casserole dish once mixed and add a crisp topping and bake, however I’ve always had it without, and I tend to prefer it quick and easy. Since I don’t do the casserole step, I tend to just call it tuna noodle, since I don’t make it into a casserole.

  • Bring a pot of water to a boil
  • Add 1/2 a bag (8oz) of egg noodles and cook to al dente, and strain.
  • In a dutch oven add one strained can of tuna, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one can of Milk. Bring to a boil and stir till smooth.
  • Once smooth, add the noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes, and serve. Sauce thickens upon standing. Best serves with buttered bread and sweet peas.

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Stroganoff without Sour Cream

Beef stroganoff is one of my favorite dishes. It’s creamy, savory, and makes a meal that will keep you feeling full for hours. I like making stroganoff, but I almost never have sour cream in the house. If we do have sour cream, it’s a small container and is eaten within a few days, usually with baked potatoes.
For this recipe, like other recent recipes, I used sliced venison. I should have made my pieces a bit smaller, because they were definitely larger than bite sized. But, you can also use leftover steak to make this meal and it works really well!

  1. Cube your meat (1/2 lb.) into bite sized pieces/strips and start heating a pot of water for your egg noodles.
  2. Add 1 Tbsp of oil to a dutch oven, place over medium heat, then add and cook your beef/venison.
  3. Chop one small onion (approx. 1/2 cup). Slice 3 large mushrooms/open 1 small can of sliced mushrooms and strain. Add onions and mushrooms to meat.
  4. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked. At this point, start to make beef broth and add half a bag of egg noodles (8 oz) to boiling water.
  5. Add 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and heat. Add 4 cups of beef broth, then bring to a simmer
  6. Strain your noodles, then add them to your broth.
  7. Add 1 cup of milk to your broth, and begin adding flour until it begins to thicken (5-7 Tbsp).
  8. Slowly heat and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add more Worcestershire sauce to taste (3-4 Tbsp).
  9. Remove from heat and serve. Makes 3 adult servings.
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Thanksgiving: Leftovers – Turkey Stirfry

After several days of thanksgiving dinners, we needed a break from the standard thanksgiving flavor, so I decided I would take my usual Chicken stir fry recipe and just substitute in some cooked turkey. If you don’t have Worcestershire sauce, you can use soy sauce and add garlic and onion (powder or minced). Sorry no photos this time! I’m still trying to remember to take some whenever I cook.

  • 1 1/2 cup of cubed turkey
  • some oil
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Ground ginger
  • Frozen stir fry veggies
  • Cooked rice (for serving)
  1. Start by placing 2 Tbsp of oil into a wok or dutch oven and heat to medium-high.
  2. Carefully add the Turkey and cook till you begin to see color
  3. Add the frozen veggies and any ice in the bag. Add 4 Tbsps of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 Tsp of ground ginger. Coat everything in the sauce and cook until veggies are hot.
  4. Serve over rice!

To see the other recipes I cooked this year, head back to my Thanksgiving: Overview post!

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Thanksgiving: Leftovers – Turkey Sandwich/Wrap

Turkey Sandwiches are a staple of thanksgiving leftovers. This was the wrap I made my husband for lunch today, using up the last of the leftovers I had in the fridge. Though everyone makes their sandwiches different, this is the way that I learned. You can make this recipe by heating things up as I do to eat it now, or you can make it cold and reheat it, or you can just eat it cold. I put below the recipe for a sandwich, but you can do the same process (minus mayo) for a wrap. As you can see from my photo, I layered stuffing, turkey, then cranberry sauce.

  1. Toast your bread.
  2. Microwave 1 cup of stuffing, and about 1/2 cup of turkey till warm, about 1 minute.
  3. Mayo both inside faces of your bread if you desire.
  4. Layer turkey on one face and pack stuffing onto other mayo face.
  5. Cut a thin slice of cranberry sauce and place on top of stuffing.
  6. Invert turkey bread onto stuffing mountain, consume.

To see the other recipes I cooked this year, head back to my Thanksgiving: Overview post!

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