Monday, April 25, 2011

Leftover Ham? No Problem!


Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Easter Sunday.  We had a great day here.  Lots of good food, fun with family and even some decent weather for a change!  (those of you who live in warm climates may debate that last one since it was only in the 50s and partly sunny, but we've had a brutal Spring so far, so I'll take it)

I thought I'd share an easy way to use leftover ham.  This year, we had pork for Easter dinner, but I had bought a ham last week and made this dish with the leftovers.  My boys loved it, which is always a bonus.  They are normally good eaters, but need to be reminded constantly during dinner to eat, so when I find a meal that they eat without any prodding, its a keeper!



Its inspired from this recipe, but I modified it to get this:

Ham and Potatoes Au Gratin 

Ingredients

  • 4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 3 cups diced cooked ham
  • 15 oz can corn or frozen corn
  • 3 tablespoons minced onion
  • 2/3 cup butter or margarine
  • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 TBS dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • small pinch cayenne
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • generous dash  pepper
  • Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

  1. Combine potatoes, ham, corn and onion in a greased 9 x 13 casserole; set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk; stirring constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles. Add cheese, parsley, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper; stir until the cheese melts. Pour over potato mixture and stir gently to mix. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.

 Like I said, these guys loved it:



Plus it was easy.  It doesn't get much better than that!

On the remodeling front, I have to admit that my little mishap with the hutch sucked up a lot of my energy and enthusiasm last week.  I am happy to say that the doors no longer look like this:




and now look like this:




(Ignore the orange oak cabinets...their day is coming)



It really wasn't that difficult to fix after all.  It just took a lot of detailed sanding, but the repainting was a breeze.  I am planning on finishing it this week with a little light distressing and then some finishing wax.

Thanks for your patience as I crawl along!  Have a wonderful week! 



2 comments:

  1. That looks good. I love the picture of the boys. I am still in love with M's curls!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your boys are adorable! Great job on the painting. I'm sure you're so happy to have that fixed!

    Have a great week!
    Pam

    ReplyDelete