Day: August 5, 2023

HOW TO MAKE HONEY BAKED HAM

Decades ago, a friend showed up at a holiday party with a standout Honey Baked Ham that got everyone’s attention. It was and continues to be the ONLY homemade honey baked ham recipe I’ve ever liked.

Not only is this honey baked ham unbelievably easy to make, it’s restaurant-quality ham for a fraction of the price. Perfect for Christmas, Easter, or anytime your family craves a simple yet amazing ham.

This Honey Baked Ham tastes like you’ve spent much more time on it than you really did; expect requests for the recipe. This is the easy honey ham recipe you’ll return to over an over again. We love it paired with this Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes or this Garlic-Butter Roasted Potatoes! ✨

HOMEMADE HONEY BAKED HAM INGREDIENTS

Just look at the golden brown goodness. You’ll need just 5 simple ingredients:

  • Brown Sugar provides a warm molasses sweetness to the sauce. Be sure to pack it down tight when measuring.
  • Whole Grain Mustard, sometimes known as country style mustard, is key to the delectable honey mustard sauce. It’s not your average yellow mustard.
  • Honey works together with the brown sugar to bring a tantalizing sweetness to the salty ham. This honey is my favorite, as it’s raw, unfiltered, organic, and affordable.
  • Apple Cider or Juice brings a sweet acidity to the basting sauce. Be sure you’re getting juice and not vinegar.
  • Spiral-Sliced Ham
  • Here’s a tidbit about coarse ground or country style mustard, with visible mustard seeds within. It makes a notable difference in flavor. We use it for this Honey Mustard Chicken with Curry, which tastes amazing.

HOW TO MAKE HONEY BAKED HAM: KEY TIPS

  • Be sure to get the spiral sliced ham if you want ease of slicing; plus, the juices really sink in with the pre-sliced ham cooking in the oven.
  • Basting sauce can be made several days ahead of time and reheated when ready to use.
  • Don’t skimp on the basting sessions – baste ham every 15 minutes during baking, for juicy results.
  • If you’d like to serve the ham with slices arranged in a dish for easy serving, simply arrange the slices in your choice of serving dish and brush the sauce in between slices and on top. This ensures that every slice will be juicy and flavorful.

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 lbs hamspiral-sliced, fully cooked
  • 1 cup apple ciderjuice (not vinegar)
  • ¼ cup brown sugarfirmly packed
  • ¼ cup whole grain mustardprepared mustard jar with whole mustard seeds
  • ¼ cup honey

Instructions:

  • Preheat: Heat oven to 350F with rack on lower position.
  • Make Sauce: Mix together apple cider, brown sugar, mustard, and honey in a bowl. Mix well to fully incorporate basting sauce.
  • Bake: Place ham in a 13×9 baking dish. Coat ham with a generous amount of sauce. Bake for 60-70 minutes, basting thoroughly every 15 minutes.
  • Serve: To serve pre-cut slices of ham, arrange slices neatly on a serving dish and brush more sauce all over ham slices. Serve with leftover sauce.

    If serving ham whole, be sure to have sauce available for drizzling. The sauce is what makes this ham so great!

Equipment

  • Basting Brush
  • Baking Dish, Oven Proof

Notes

  • Honey mustard sauce is more of a saucy au jus consistency, rather than a thicker gravy texture.
  • If you prefer your sauce thicker: place sauce in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. In a small bowl, stir and dissolve 1 TB cornstarch in 2 TB cool water to make a cornstarch slurry. Stir in slurry a little at a time to the boiling sauce, adding only as much as needed until sauce is thickened to your liking.
  • This ham is amazing with Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes or Garlic-Butter Potatoes!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡

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Million dollar spaghetti

This million dollar spaghetti is like the perfect mash up of spaghetti and lasagna. It’s layers of spaghetti noodles, yummy marinara sauce, a cheese blend (that of course includes cream cheese!) and, oh yeah, more cheese! I really can’t even express in words how dreamy this dish is! Just think of your favorite pasta dish (mine is Bacon Carbonara), and times that by 10. Ok maybe that’s a little overkill, but seriously, this casserole is a must try.

This recipe takes about as long as a lasagna recipe, so make sure you plan ahead. The hardest part is smelling it and knowing that it needs a while to cool off before you can cut into it. But while this delicious dish is in the oven, you can be making your wedge salad to go along with it! Let’s get on to the good stuff and make this yummy recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of ground beef
  • 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
  • 8 oz of cream cheese
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • ½ lb cottage cheese (equals 1 cup)
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick)
  • 1 pkg spaghetti 16 oz
  • Grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Boil your spaghetti noodles until al dente (firm). Drain and set aside until
ready to assemble.
Combine the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese until well blended.
Brown your hamburger and when done, drain well. Combine the hamburger with your spaghetti sauce.
Put a few slices of butter into a 9×13 pan then pour half of your spaghetti noodles on top.
Take your cream cheese mixture and pour on top of the noodles. Spread well over noodles.
Pour the rest of the noodles on top of the cream cheese mixture. Put a few more slices of butter on top of
the noodles.
Pour your spaghetti and meat sauce on top of your noodles.
Now it is ready to put into the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the desired amount of grated
cheese on top and return to the oven for 15 minutes to allow cheese to mel

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Creamy potato soup with ham

Ham soup filled to the brim with soft, tender potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic and the option of making your own ham broth from a leftover ham bone! Even picky eaters fall in love with this ham and potato soup recipe!

There’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of hearty, creamy ham and potato soup. All up it takes under 45 minutes (including prep time) to have a pot of full flavoured soup ready and on the table. Perfect for busy weeknights or for when you’re craving a hearty meal!

We use leftover glazed ham for our ham soup recipe with a chicken stock base. Flour and milk give us that mouth watering roux and deliciously thick and creamy consistency.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter (2 oz | 60 g)
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup large carrot peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 3 cups peeled and diced potatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic minced or finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked ham, diced (add more if desired)
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken stock (or broth)
  • 2 teaspoons chicken Bouillon
  • 3 cups milk (whole milk or 2%)
  • 1 pinch of salt, if needed (adjust to you taste)
  • fresh cracked black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

    • Heat the butter in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, carrots, celery until beginning to soften (about 4 minutes).
  • Add the ham and potatoes, cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
  • Mix the flour through and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Stir in stock and bouillon, mixing all ingredients together. Increase heat and bring to a boil until potatoes are ‘just’ fork tender, about 10-12 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low, add the milk and stir over the heat until thickened (about 5 minutes).
  • Taste test and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
  • Serve warm.

NOTES

HAM BROTH

You can make your own ham broth for ham soup using leftover ham bone:

  • Simmer the ham bone in a stock pot filled with enough water to cover the bone halfway (about 2 quarts/litres, depending on size of bone).
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with a lid and let simmer until very fragrant (about 1 hour).
  • Discard hambone
  • Replace the chicken stock with your ham broth.

TIPS

If your soup is too thick once it’s finished, simply add more milk in 1/4 cup increments until reaching your desired consistency.

Alternatively, if your soup is not thick enough to your liking, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch together with 2 tablespoons of extra milk.

Pour the mixture into the soup and allow to boil for a few minutes to thicken, while stirring. Repeat for an even thicker soup!

NUTRITION

Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 604mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3085IU | Vitamin C: 12.4mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 3.1mg

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Chili Cheese Dog Bake

I made twice as much because my family usually eats twice as much as we should, but I had to bake it much longer than expected because the pizza dough was still doughy. But when it was baked, it tasted delicious! I love this dish.

Ingredients

1 can (14 to 15 oz.) chili, heated

1 can Pillsbury™ refrigerated classic pizza crust

4 sticks of cheddar cheese

4 all-beef hot dogs

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

Instructions

Heat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-square-inch or 11×7-inch (2 quarts) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pour hot pepper into dish; spread evenly.
Roll out dough; cut into 4 strips. Cut 1 cheese stick in half lengthwise; place 1 half on each side of a hot dog. Wrap pizza dough strip around cheese and hot dog, overlapping slightly in center. Repeat with remaining dough strips, cheese sticks, and hot dogs. Place wrapped hot dogs on top of chili. (The chili should be hot.)
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, in a small microwave-safe cup, melt butter on high power. Stir in the garlic powder and parsley.
Remove the baking dish from the oven. Brush the top of each cheese sausage with the butter mixture. Serve immediately.

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Crockpot Beef Tips & Gravy

Sure, I like my recipes to be elegant, but when you’re a busy mom, fast and easy is even more important.

Fortunately, in this case, you get all three. Because thisEasy Crockpot Beef Tips With Gravy recipe is a super easy, hearty meal that practically makes itself—but also comes out impressive enough to serve to company. And all you need are a handful of ingredients to make it!

It takes about ten minutes to toss everything into the crock at the start of the day (except the cornstarch). If you’ve got the beef and onion already cut up, then it only takes three minutes. Then it just cooks all by itself for seven hours, and at dinnertime, all you have to do is stir in your cornstarch with a bit of water to thicken up the gravy.

Serve this hot over egg noodles or mashed potatoes, and you’ll have a meal your family and friends will be gushing over!

Yield :
5 servings | Serving Size: 1 cup beef tips and broth and ¾ cup brown rice
SLOW COOKER BEEF TIPS RECIPE

Ingredients :

  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 8 oz baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb sirloin steak, cut in strips, excess fat trimmed
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ cup dry red wine + splash for deglazing
  • 2-½ cups fat free beef broth
  • 2 tbsp corn starch + ¼ cup cold water, whisked together

Preparation :

Place the onions and mushrooms into the bottom of a 4.5 quart slow cooker.
Then, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Generously season the steak strips with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet, and sear the meat on all sides, about 3 minutes; do not cook through.
Place the meat into the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.
Splash a couple tablespoons of red wine into the hot skillet and scrape the bottom to remove any browned meat bits. Add these to the crock pot.
Season the beef with pepper a second time and add the Worcestershire sauce, red wine, and beef broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Uncover and slowly whisk in the cornstarch and water mixture. Cover and cook on high for another 45 minutes or until the gravy has thickened.
Serve the beef tips over brown rice (shown), buttered egg noodles, or mashed potatoes.
Nutritional Info :
Calories: 370| Previous Points: 7 | Points Plus: 9 | Total Fat: 8 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 54 mg | Sodium: 430 mg | Carbohydrates: 44 g | Dietary Fiber: 3 g | Sugars: 2 g | Protein: 28 g

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AN ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS ITALIAN MEATLOAF

My family loves this delicious Italian meatloaf that is essentially one big giant meatball. It’s comforting and satisfying, and the smell of it baking in the oven always lures everyone to the kitchen. I serve it with a big Italian salad and Parmesan smashed potatoes, but it is also delicious with pasta.  If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, the meatloaf is even better the next day, sliced and topped with melted cheese in a warm sandwich. To make the recipe quick and easy, I use a food processor to chop the vegetables. I also cheat and use a good-quality store-bought marinara sauce; the recipe only calls for 3/4 cup, so there is no need to make it from scratch. It’s easy to make two meatloaves, so you might as well—one to freeze and the other to bake straight away.

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds ground beef

1 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs

1 cup marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a loaf pan and set it aside.

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, milk, chopped onion, minced garlic, fresh parsley, fresh basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, and black pepper. Mix well using your hands or a fork, ensuring all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Step 3: Add the eggs to the meat mixture and continue to mix until the eggs are fully combined. Be careful not to overmix, as it can make the meatloaf tough.

Step 4: Transfer the meat mixture to the greased loaf pan, shaping it into a loaf shape.

Step 5: Pour the marinara sauce over the top of the meatloaf, spreading it evenly. Reserve a small portion of the marinara sauce for later.

Step 6: Place the meatloaf in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Step 7: After 45 minutes, remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Return it to the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Step 8: Once cooked, remove the Italian Meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.

Step 9: Serve slices of this delectable Italian Meatloaf with the reserved marinara sauce, and pair it with your favorite sides such as roasted vegetables or creamy mashed potatoes.

Note: Feel free to add a personal touch by incorporating other Italian ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes or chopped olives into the meat mixture for added flavor and texture.

Get ready to savor the taste of Italy with every bite of this absolutely delicious Italian Meatloaf. It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that will leave your loved ones asking for seconds. Buon appetito!

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How To Make Walking Taco Casserole

These walking taco casseroles are absolutely delicious. Forget the casserole dish and put all of the ingredients into individual fritos bags for a fun dinner on a camping trip!

This walking taco casserole combines your favorite ingredients from a walking taco into a delicious casserole. Taco meat is layered in a baking dish with Frito chips, cheddar cheese soup and shredded Mexican cheese blend. Once the casserole has finished baking, it is topped off with lettuce and tomato. If you want to add some beans to this dish, you can mix refried beans or black beans right in with the ground beef mixture. You can serve this recipe with sour cream and salsa if you would like. Enjoy.
Check out this super tasty Walking Taco Casserole Recipe. Succulent ground beef is the key ingredient in this Walking Taco Casserole Recipe.
The only changes I’ve made to this dish over the years is adding onion to the ground beef, a layer of taco sauce or salsa to juice it up a bit, and a smidge more sour cream and cottage cheese.

Ingredients :

  • 1 lb Ground chicken, beef or turkey
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • 1/2 Can of Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chillies)
  • 1 Packet of Taco seasoning
  • 1 Bag of Frito Corn Chips
  • 1 Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 Can Enchilada Sauce (10 oz)
  • 2 oz. Cream Cheese
  • 2 C. Shredded Cheese

Directions :

In a skillet brown the meat and onion. Add the Rotel and taco seasoning. Simmer until any liquid is evaporated. Add black beans and cream cheese. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese until melted and combined. Stir in the enchilada sauce.
Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Dump 1/2 of the bag of Fritos into the bottom of the pan. Top with 1/2 of the meat mixture and 1/2 of the shredded cheese. Repeat the layer Chips, meat, cheese.
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through

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Best Ever Chicken Salad

4 boneless chicken breast, cooked and chopped/shredded
1/2 C. onion, chopped
1/2 C. celery, chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 C. to 1 C. dried cranberries

Dressing:

1 C. mayonnaise
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. vinegar
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. salt to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Combine cooked chicken, onion and celery, salt and pepper. Mix all dressing ingredients together and pour over chicken. Add the dried cranberries (add right before serving or the chicken salad will turn pink). Serve with crackers or on lettuce.

Note: Add more dressing if chicken salad is too dry. White meat tends to “soak” up the dressing.

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THE BEST BREAD PUDDING

When it comes to easy recipes this Bread Pudding couldn’t get any simpler. Filled with cinnamon and nutmeg this makes the perfect breakfast or dessert recipe.

Bread pudding is something I absolutely love. You can see in my recipes for my banana bread pudding, Pina colada bread pudding and my gingerbread bread pudding. There just ain’t no stopping me when it comes to this stuff.

This is a classically simple dessert that we adore. It whips up in minutes and seres a crowd! We love making this bread pudding recipe for any holiday and brunches that we host.

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to perfect my bread pudding recipe and we finally have the best one around. Hence the title The Best Bread Pudding.

There is no weird ingredients, nothing that you cant find in your own pantry of fridge. It is literally just that simple that there is no reason why you wouldn’t want to whip it up.

We like to use French bread in our recipe. A 1lb loaf really is the perfect amount. It produces the best custard to bread ration that you really look for in bread pudding recipes!

But sometimes people don’t always have that on hand. I prefer it over regular white bread because we can pick up a loaf at our local Walmart for $1, I mean how can you beat that price. Plus its so versatile.

If you don’t have French bread on had and you want to whip this up anyways, here are some alternative breads you can use!

Ingredients

  • 1 16 oz loaf French bread
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Sauce:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbs flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 Tbs butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a 9″x13″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Cut bread into 1″-2″ squares and add to large bowl.
In another bowl whisk together your milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.
Pour over bread and stir gently to coat, let soak for about 20 minutes.
Spread into baking dish and bake in oven for about 50-60 minutes until center is set.
In saucepan whisk together sugar, flour and heavy cream until combined.
Add in your butter and heat on medium until butter melts and liquid starts to boil.
Whisk until thickened slightly then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

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How To Make Sweet Donut Cinnamon Bread

This Swirly Cinnamon Bread recipe is a cakey bread, baked until perfection and then dipped into butter and coated with cinnamon sugar! And if you’re looking for a mini version, look no further than my Cinnamon Muffins!

How To Make Sweet Donut Cinnamon Bread (YUM)

This is a pretty simple loaf to make, you just need to be prepared to get a little messy whilst dipping the whole loaf into melted butter…and then cinnamon and sugar. For full recipe details see the printable recipe card and video down below.

Prep

Preheat oven. Grease light colored loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Make the Batter

In large bowl, mix oil, butter and sugar until well combined. Stir in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gently stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk until uniform batter has formed. Scrape sides to ensure no lumps are present.

Reserve 1/2 Cup of Cinnamon Bread Batter

Reserve 1/2 cup prepared batter from bowl and place into a separate smaller bowl. To that small amount of batter, stir in cinnamon and molasses.

Pour into Pan, Swirl + Bake

Pour half of the prepared batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon half of the cinnamon batter in small dollops overtop the batter. Pour remaining plain batter over the topDot the top with remaining cinnamon batter. Using a butter knife, swirl two batters together.

Bake until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs…about 40-45 minutes.

Prep Coating

While loaf is baking, get coating ready. Pour melted butter into a large shallow dish. Stir sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a separate large shallow dish.

Coat Loaf in Butter + Cinnamon Sugar

Dip each side of loaf into melted butter until fully coated. Spoon remaining melted butter over the edges that tend to be more crispy. Transfer buttery loaf to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and press into the sides and top until fully coated. Slice into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

Storing Cinnamon Bread

Cinnamon Swirl bread can be stored in an airtight container or ziplock beg at room temperature. This bread will stay fresh for 4-5 days.

To Freeze: Let Cinnamon Bread cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap and placing in a freezer safe bag. Bread will stay fresh in the freezer for 3 months.

Ingredients

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon molasses

coating:

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
  • In large bowl, mix oil, butter and sugar until well combined. Stir in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gently stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk until uniform batter has formed. Scrape sides to ensure no lumps are present. Remove 1/2 cup prepared batter from bowl and place into a separate smaller bowl. To that small amount of batter, stir in cinnamon and molasses.
  • Pour half of the prepared batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon half of the cinnamon batter in small dollops overtop the batter. Pour remaining plain batter over the top. Dot the top with remaining cinnamon batter. Using a butter knife, swirl two batters together. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
  • While loaf is baking, get coating ready. Pour melted butter into a large shallow dish. Stir sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a separate large shallow dish.
  • Cool 10 minutes before loosening edges and removing loaf from pan. The loaf should be very warm, but cool enough to handle with your hands.
  • Dip each side of loaf into melted butter until fully coated. Spoon remaining melted butter over the edges that tend to be more crispy. Transfer buttery loaf to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and press into the sides and top until fully coated.
  • Slice into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

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