A couple weeks ago, Josh and I went grocery shopping. I always have a list and a general idea of what items we have. We tend to bulk shop, so we only have to go shopping 1-2 times a month. I always tell Josh to get whatever he wants and he’s never been too extravagant. Well, when we returned home from the store, I was putting everything away when I came across 6 new boxes of Jello! Josh must really be wanting some Jello! So last night, I finally got around to making the poor man some Jello. I followed the directions on the box and just added the strained oranges before refrigeration. It was quite refreshing, and Josh as also very happy.
Heat 1 cup of water for 1-2 minutes in the microwave till very hot. Dissolve orange jello mix completely into the water, the instructions say about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of cold water, and stir.
Open a can of mandarin oranges. Strain out the juice into a side bowl. Add 1/2 the can of mandarin oranges to the jello and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving. You can eat or preserve the remaining oranges for garnish.
Oatmeal is a nutritious and filling meal. I used to eat oatmeal regularly when I was in college. I would make 2 packets of apple cinnamon oatmeal in a huge mug, add dried cranberries, and microwave till hot. It was so quick and easy, it was a great breakfast or late night snack. This recipe is the adult version of that quick meal. You’ll have to add your own apples and cinnamon compared to the packaged stuff, but it’s much easier to control how sweet you want it, and how much of each ingredient you want. This bowl is made with one serving of oatmeal, but I can’t finish that much myself. Josh can finish that much, but it all depends on the person. Enjoy!
Place 1/2 cup of quick oats in your choice bowl. Add 1 cup of water, and microwave for 2 minutes.
Dice up 1/2 of an apple and add to hot oatmeal. Add about 1/4 cup of dried cranberries and add 1/2 Tbsp of ground cinnamon. Stir. Add 1 Tbsp of syrup to taste, stir and serve.
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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