Have you noticed that recipes in the media have grown more complicated during this pandemic? I guess they’re thinking that people have more time to fiddle around with unusual ingredients and longer prep time. But now, you want nostalgic dishes that remind you of happier times. Pandemic stress calls for comfort food , made without canned soup.

High on the list of comfort foods in the USA are soups and casseroles. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, if you make them with natural ingredients But here’s a list of additives you get in canned soups that really don’t give you that taste of home: Sodium phosphate, whey, soy protein concentrate, yeast extract, potassium chloride, lactic acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate and beta carotene. That’s just a few of the ingredients listed on the label of one can of store-bought Cream of Chicken soup.

Ham Potato Casserole is the Perfect Comfot food — The Pandemic Calls For Comfort Food. This easy Ham Potato Casserole is made with all natural ingredients.

One of my favorite comfort foods is Ham Potato Casserole. Remember when they served it at your school cafeteria? I can’t think of many restaurants that have it on their menu. Your mom may not have made it, but I’ll bet your granny did. At one time, it was a way of using up the left overs from a baked ham. That was when frugal people didn’t waste a smidgen of meat left on a bone. Not many of us bake a whole ham nowadays. But you can buy packaged, diced ham, which greatly simplifies things.

When you go on the net looking for Ham Potato Casserole recipes, you’ll find that many of them call for canned soup. But it’s so much easier to make it the old fashioned way, starting with a simple white sauce. You don’t really have to follow a recipe after that. Just throw in some cubed, cooked potatoes, cheese, diced ham, and green beans. Mix it altogether in a casserole dish, and bake, covered for 30 minutes. Your family will want seconds, I promise. So make plenty.

If you feel more comfortable following a recipe, here’s one that serves 4:

Milk: 1 1/2 cups

Butter: 3 Tablespoons

Flour: 3 tablespoons

Onion finely chopped: 2 tablespoons

Idaho potatoes, boiled for half an hour, then peeled & cubed: 2

Fresh green beans, trimmed and cooked while boiling the potatoes: 1 cup

Packaged diced ham: 1 cup

Shredded Cheddar cheese: 1 cup

Directions:

In saucepan, saute onion in butter. Stir in the flour, until blended. . Gradually whisk in milk until mixture has thickened. Turn off heat. Add cheese. Arrange potatoes, ham, and green beans in a baking dish and cover with the white sauce/cheese mixture. . Cover with foil. Heat in 350 oven for half an hour, or until bubbly..

Notice, I don’t add seasoning to the white sauce.. The cheese and ham are plenty salty and some people are allergic to pepper. Provide salt and pepper shakers for those who want it. . You can leave out the green beans, or serve another vegetable as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Most every holiday buffet includes a beautiful baked ham. While a boneless ham seems easier to carve, the shape and flavor of a bone-in ham is far more appealing. But let’s face it, you’re probably going to end up with some leftovers. After you’ve cleaned the ham from the bone to make sandwiches, you might start to throw it in the trash. Stop! Save that ham bone. There are so many ways to use it for economical, heart healthy meals.

Did you know that bone broth is one of the most nutritious foods? In addition to providing collagen, it is a great source of magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus. Full of amino acids , it heals the gut, promotes healthier joints, and boosts the immune system. Simmer a ham bone with peas, beans or legumes, and you have a nutritional powerhouse that’s insanely easy to prepare. Beans and legumes are low in calories and fat, and a rich source of protein, fiber and B vitamins.

And if you’re a frugal cook, Split Pea Soup is one of the cheapest dishes you can serve.

Stop! Save That Ham Bone. — Trim all the fat from the ham bone before making Split Pea Soup

Before I start making this soup, I carefully scrape the ham bone, removing any visible fat. This reduces the calories and makes the soup easier to digest for those who can’t handle much animal fat. Then, I place the ham bone in a 4 quart saucepan.

Next, I I open a bag of split peas, chop up some onion, throw in a couple cloves of garlic. Now, I fill the pan almost to the brim with water, and add a bay leaf, carrots and celery. The recipe may call for salt, but I don’t add any because the ham is salty enough to suit my taste. After simmering for a couple hours, tender bits of ham can be pulled from the bone joint with a fork and mixed in with the soup. I’ve made this soup so often that I don’t need a recipe, but here’s one if this is your first time making split pea soup.

Split Pea Soup With Ham Bone

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) dried green split peas

1 meaty ham bone

½ large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped.

1 bay leaf

2 carrots, scraped and chopped

1 stalk celery , chopped.

Directions:

Stop@ Save That Ham Bone. Use it for Old Fashioned Split Pea Soup — Old Fashioned Split Pea Soup made with a ham bone is delicious and nutritious

Combine all ingredients in 4 quart stock pot and cover with water up to within an inch of the brim. Simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours or until soup reaches desired thickness. When cool enough to handle, remove ham bone and remove meat from bone. Discard bone, dice meat. Return meat to soup. Discard bay leaf. Reheat and serve.

1 cup: 202 calories. Makes about 10 servings.

For an extra treat, buy a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and make some muffins to serve with the soup.

Never underestimate the value of a ham bone!

Tag: frugal cook

STRESS CALLS FOR COMFORT FOOD

STOP! SAVE THAT HAM BONE

And if you’re a frugal cook, Split Pea Soup is one of the cheapest dishes you can serve.