4 Ways We Used Our Christmas Ham

Every year Ryan's office hands out hams for Christmas.  It is a generous gesture that we look forward to every year.  Since there are only 5 mouths in our family (if you count 1 year-old Ellen) and we don't usually host any large gathering around the holidays, most years we end up with a lot of ham on our hands.

I don't know of many recipes that are centered around ham, but after 8 years of Christmas hams I have gotten a little creative.

1. Ham Sandwiches.  The first week or so we usually enjoy ham sandwiches on kaiser rolls.  With horseradish of course.

 woebermustard.com

2.  Breakfast pizza.  This is easy and a good "breakfast for dinner" meal for us.  Simply unroll 1 can of crescent rolls in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Scramble 6 eggs and pour on top of crust.  Add shredded cheese and cubed ham.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Image - (Made with sausage)

3.  Ham and Cheese Croissant Roll-ups.  These were a big hit this year.  Clare categorized them as a "football game food" and they would probably be great for the Superbowl.  Take one crescent roll triangle and put a large piece of cubed ham and a large cube of cheese on the large part of the triangle.  Roll the crescent roll around the ham and cheese.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

(Similar to this, only with blocks of ham and cheese) - pillsbury.com

4. Ham and navy bean soup.  I modified a recipe I found to appeal to the tastes of our family.  (Original recipe call for carrots...but some people here...not Jude or I...don't care for the taste of cooked carrots.)

Ham and Navy Bean Soup

1 cup dry navy beans

2 cups cubed ham

1 Tbsp. butter/margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups sliced carrots - optional :)  

Rinse beans.  Combine beans and 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Let stand covered for 1 hour.  Drain and rinse beans, set aside. 

In a large pot melt 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine.  Cook onion and celery, add cubed ham.  Cook until softened.  Stir in beans, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and 5 cups of fresh water.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours (or until beans are tender.)  

Add carrots if desired.  Simmer, covered for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.    

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