What to do with leftover holiday ham...

Ham & Potato Soup!

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Scalloped potatoes

Ingredients

• 5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Paprika

Directions

1. In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer potatoes and onion.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika.
3. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours or until tender.

Baked Fried Chicken

  Start by letting the chicken wings/strips/whatever marinade in milk for 30min.

Mix in a Gallon Size Ziploc or Large Bowl:  

 1 tsp. Salt

1 T Season All

3/4 tsp Pepper

1 c. Flour

2 tsp. Paprika

Dash Cayenne

Dash Slap Yo Mama

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.

Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.

Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.

Place each piece of chicken in the pan.

Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.

ENJOY!

Mashed potatoes

• 6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• Some garlic
• Dash parsley

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil; cook for additional 20-25 minutes or until very tender. Drain well. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper, garlic, parsley; mash until light and fluffy.

Easy breezy pizza dough recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2.25 teaspoon)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I'd sub with olive oil)
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water (10 min) in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in salt, oil and HALF of the flour. Mix.
3. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.
4. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour.
5. Bake at 400 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes. 
6. Top as desired and bake for another 10-15. 
   

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Will have to try this!

Ingredients - Makes 2 dozen

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.5cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoons hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Gonna try making this ridiculous recipe this weekend!

Ingredients

* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
* 3/4 pound lean ground beef
* 1/2 cup minced onion
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
* 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons white sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 12 lasagna noodles
* 16 ounces ricotta cheese
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

For Carbo Loading: Pomodoro Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 16-ounce cans of peeled, whole Italian plum tomatoes, such as San Marzano
1 teaspoon Sicilian oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium. Add garlic and saute until golden brown, about three minutes. While garlic browns, pour tomatoes into a bowl. Squeeze with your hands to break them up. Add tomatoes and their juice to the saucepan. Add oregano (if using), salt, and pepper. Simmer on low for 45 minutes. Add a little water if needed to keep sauce from becoming too thick (it should be bright red; if it turns brick red, it's too thick). To make oreganata, simmer sauce with sprigs of fresh oregano. Make arrabiata by adding red pepper flakes to taste.

That's just for the sauce. Now, to actually make pasta pomodoro:

Simmer pomodoro on low. Add one pound of pasta to a pot of boiling, salted water. Two minutes before it's cooked, remove pasta from water and add to sauce. Cook until tender, allowing pasta to absorb sauce. Add a little pasta water if needed to keep sauce liquid. If you want to add anything such as eggplant, prosciutto, olives, mushrooms, mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc., saute them first with a little olive oil and then add them to pomodoro sauce along with pasta noodles.

Voila! Perfect carbo load!

French Toast: must try these soon!

Restaurant Style French Toast:

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup milk
* 1 pinch salt
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon white (or brown) sugar
* 12 thick slices bread

Directions

1. Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
3. Soak bread slices in mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown. Serve hot.

Sweet yams

Or as I like to call them: crack yams! Shout out to MA for the recipe!

-2 medium yams, diced
-1/2 stick of butter, sliced
-drizzle olive oil on top (probably about 2 tbsp)

Mix this together and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes. And if it looks like the yams aren't cooking fast enough add a little more butter.

Sprinkle/mix in 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bake for an additional 15 minutes (until yams are nice and soft).

Thank me later.

Quiche Recipe!

About 4 months ago, I discovered a love for quiche. So, I found a delicious brand at Costco and have been addicted. Last weekend, I noticed they switched brands and the new flavors are just wrong. As luck would have it, an Admin had some here on Monday so I asked her where she got it and she was like "Honey, i made it. It's super easy!" She brought me a fresh piece to try the next day, which was DELICIOUS, and now I have the recipe! I am one happy fat kid!

o Place pie crust in a pie plate
o In a separate bowl beat 4 eggs with 1 cup of milk, add your preference of cheese & seasoning, I used a pinch of salt, Johnny's seasoning salt, cayenne & black pepper, italian seasoning, and other things I find in the cabinet!
o Chop your preference of veggies, meat & I prefer green onions instead of white.
o Then add egg, veggie, meat & cheese mixture, top with grated cheese (at least 2 cups) and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes depending on your oven, you will know since it will become firm and brown on top.

*After trying it the first time, I made changes and updated the recipe! It is delicious!!