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Thursday, March 17, 2011

RECIPE OF THE WEEK THURSDAY-The american frugal housewife

I am going to post a recipe this week but I wanted to sneak in a book I found on Amazon.com. I found this book called The American frugal housewife. It says 1802-1880. I just found myself completely enthralled in this book last night. It reads like a how to for housewives in this era and is absolutely amazing. The knowledge that these women needed about all facets of their jobs was fascinating. I urge you to just take a look at it and read a few pages. You can download a kindle for pc for free from Amazon.com and I just keep searching the free books everyday. I have so far The American frugal housewife, lose weight without dieting, Living rich by spending smart 3 gooseberry cookbooks ( choc chip cookies, meatloaves, mac and cheese) little elf big trouble for the kids. The secret, Mom's ultimate guide to the tween girl world. And that was just 2 days of searching. Anyway take a peek at that book and let me know what you think I am hoping you are as blown away as I was!!!!

Now to the recipe.......
I loveeeee ham loveeeeeeeee ham. So I thought I would show how a ham is dissected in our house. I definitely get my moneys worth I think out of my hams. First thing I do is wait until they are around $1.00 a lb. The last ones I got in January were $1.09lb. I bought 3 which will last until Easter when they go on sale again. ( At Easter I can usually get a ham for around $.89lb).
First I cook the ham in the oven. I go back and forth how I season them. One time I will smother with pineapple jelly or orange marmalade then the next with homemade pancake syrup. I cook it for about 2 hours. (They are precooked I just like to cook it anyway).
So the first night we will usually have ham slices with some rice and a veggie.
That night I will dissect my ham. I cut some really thin slices for ham sandwiches. I will cut enough to get sandwiches for 2 days this week. So for us that would be 12 sandwiches for 2 days. Then I will cut off about 3 thicker slices and chop these up really tiny to make ham and cheese omelets ( my boys loooovvveee these) I will cut enough for (6) 3 egg omelets. This will feed all of us for 2 breakfasts. Next I cut off 4 thicker slices and cube these for ham tetrazini and ham and potato soup. Those go into baggies and are frozen for when I need them. That will make a huge extra large pan of tetrazini and a large stockpot of potato and ham soup. By this time I am way down to the darker meat. this I cut off and dig out around the bones and I will make the next morning ham and beans. The last step I do is take the ham bone out to our dog. This is her big treat of the month. So not one part of my ham goes to waste. I feel quite content with how much I stretch a ham for around $10 but would love to have a few more ways to mix it up every now and then. Do you have any other ways you use up a half ham??? I would love to have some different things to do with it. Thanks a bunch Michelle

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