My dad, one of 17 in his family, grew up on a farm.
And they would butcher pigs. Dad used to tell me that everything except the pig's squeal was used in the butchering processs. He wasn't the first to share that saying, but its meaning certainly holds true: Nothing goes to waste.
Thankfully, I've taken that "nothing goes to waste" philosophy to my cooking. And it saved me in both time and money this week.
Here's some background. I love ham and I always stock up on it when it's on sale at Giant -- the big ham. I can usually pick one up for under $10. I usually cook it first in the crockpot with cloves, a brown-sugar/mustard/lemon sauce and pineapple chunks. Let it cook all day and it's beyond delicious.
But it's so much ham for our family of three that there is usually tons left over. So after the first meal, I chop it up and place it one quart containers in the freezer. I also save the crockpot juices from the ham and freeze that too.
On Tuesday, we were rushing around in the morning (like always) and I was thinking about what to make for dinner because we had scouts that night. I thought of the frozen ham.
I got the ham, the juice and put it in the crockpot -- still frozen. I mixed two cans of cream of celery soup with about two cups milk and I poured it over the ham. I put in about two cups of lima beans and a cup of carrots.
Turned on the crockpot and left for school and work. Later that night we had some homemade ham and bean soup. Even my son loved it. And that's saying a lot because he is a picky eater.
All in all, I bet the entire meal costs under $5.
What? No ham salad?
Jo, I need a good ham salad recipe.
You have one to share?