Bang for your Buck / Ham

All around the country, families are getting ready to celebrate Easter.....Here in San Antonio, alot of families go to a local park to camp out and barbecue.    Back in Central Pennsylvania, everyone will have their Pickled Eggs in the fridge and a Ham ready to be cooked.

Living away from home,,,and having a small family,,,,, I would stand looking at a big Ham at the store, seeing the price and debate on whether to spend the money on it or not.....  But it's a tradition,,,childhood memories...how could I not....That's when I decided to figure out how to make buying that Ham worth the money...

So.....If you have a small family like I do.....Go ahead and buy that Ham....We are going to cut it up, freeze some for later dates and still have enough to cook for our Easter meal...
This one I bought is called the 'butt portion'.  I always try to buy this....mainly because it fits in my Electric Roaster better and it is easier to cut around the bone.

First....We are going to cut off that nice big piece (top right) and then cut it up into slices.... These slices can be used for breakfast, scalloped potatoes or just some plain old ham fried with some potatoes...add a can of creamstyle corn and you have a nice supper.

Next....That little piece (bottom right in the picture).... Cut that off too.
You will probably have to cut around some of the bone.
This piece is going to get cut up into small cubes. I will be showing what we can make with these small cubes of Ham in the near future.

Now we have 3 nice pieces of Ham. The big piece with the bone in, should be plenty for a family of 4.  If you think you will need more,,,,leave on one of the other pieces that we cut off.







Once you get everything
cut and sliced up,,,,divide
the cubes and slices into half and freeze, in individual packs, for a later date.






In the near future, we will be sharing some of our recipes we make from this Ham...
Ham Potpie with Scott's Homemade Noodles, 
Our Mom's Scalloped Potatoes, 
Ham with Greenbeans, and Potatoes 
and Ham Salad.

I hope this was helpful to some of you,,,
Happy Easter
~Lorri~

Electric Roaster

                     

      A very special person in my life.....Diana..... introduced me to this wonderful little product many years ago. As you can tell by the picture, mine has been well used. I use this little wonder as much, if not more, than my crockpot. Many recipes can be made using an electric roaster and the great thing is......it doesn't heat up your house quite as much as a regular oven does. This is especially great for those of you who, like Sue and I, live in a place where the summers are beyond Hot.

      They do come in larger sizes, but for someone with a small family or someone who lives in a small apartment, this size works great and doesn't take up to much cabinet space.

      In future posts, I will be sharing some recipes that I make using my electric roaster. Sue also has one, so maybe we can talk her into sharing some of her ideas.

    The first recipe I will be sharing is a turkey breast or a small turkey.

A 6.5 Quart Oval Roaster Oven can fit a 10-11 lb. turkey. 

Perfect for a small family, plus enough for leftovers.