One Ham, Many Meals

With hams on sale for the holidays, it's a great time to buy and cook one. This method for using large cuts of meat for many meals can be done with any type of meat. It also is great for use with a pot roast or whole chicken or turkey.

I was able to purchase a 10 lb ham for around $18 at the store. First, I glazed it (use your choice of recipes) and cooked it low and slow (250* for around 2 hours, while covered.) We had slices of ham along with baked potatoes and corn that night. The next day, we still had a lot of ham slices left, so we had ham with some cooked carrots. With a lot of extra, I set about to preserve the leftovers for later use.

For my first recipe, I used the bone and the small pieces of meat that remained attached to make a ham and bean soup. Many different types of beans or recipes can be used. I have used a 10 bean soup mix and some spicy herbs for a savory stew. This time, since the glaze was sweet (honey and pineapple) I used a bag of pinto beans.

Ham and Bean Stew

First, rinse beans and take out any rocks or other debris. Then you put the beans in a large pot, cover with water (2 inches or more above the top of the beans), and allow them to soak overnight. They will use all the water, so you may want to check them before bed and add more water as necessary. If you have less time, you can boil the beans in the water, then let them soak for a couple of hours with the lid on.

Once the beans are soaked, dump into a colander and rinse thoroughly. You can put them back into the large pot or into a slow cooker. I like to use the slow cooker because it requires less supervision throughout the day. I put the ham bone, juice from cooking, and bits of ham in the pot, then either a whole onion chopped up or several of the small soup-type onions. I add several cloves of minced garlic and leave it all to cook for 8 hours or more.

The remaining meat will come off the bone while it cooks. When you are ready to serve, simply discard the bone. With a whole 1 pound bag of beans, this will make many more meals. I serve some, then freeze the rest in freezer-safe containers or freezer bags.

Ham Leftover Meals

Depending on how much other meat you have remaining from the original ham, several freeze-ahead meals can be made. Ham slices can also be ground for ham salad or cut into chunks for later use in recipes.

Ham is often thought to be used well with breakfast-type foods. I love to use it for quiche or breakfast casseroles, but here are two additional recipes that I enjoy.

Ham Stuffed Manicotti from Recipezaar

1 hour | 20 min prep

SERVES 8 (I would put this into two 8x8 containers because we only have 4)

• 14 manicotti pasta shells
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cups cooked cubed ham
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 6 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook manicotti as directed.
2. Drain, rinse in cool water and set aside.
3. Cook onion, garlic, and green bell pepper in olive oil until tender.
4. Add ham and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Stir in 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
6. Now melt 6 tablespoons of butter.
7. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles.
8. Add milk and pepper.
9. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened.
10. Stir in swiss and remaining parmesan cheese.
11. Mix 1/4 of cheese sauce with ham mixture.
12. Fill manicotti shells with ham mixture.
13. Spread about 1/2 cup cheese sauce in greased 13x9" glass baking dish and arrange filled shells over sauce.
14. If there is any leftover stuffing, just sprinkle it over the filled shells.
15. Pour remaining cheese sauce over filled manicotti.
16. At this point the casserole can be cooled in the refrigerator, then wrapped and frozen up to 3 months.
17. To thaw and reheat:.
18. Thaw casserole overnight in refrigerator, then uncover, sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.
19. If not freezing casserole, sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Ham and Cheese Ziti

Ham & Cheese Ziti

2 16 oz. packages ziti noodles
1 cup butter/margarine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
8 cups milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
8 cups Colby cheese, shredded
16oz cooked ham (deli style), cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated

This recipe makes 2 13x9 casseroles. (Amy's addition: I would put this in three or four 8x8 oz. freezer containers.)

Cook and drain pasta according to instructions (you may need to do it in two batches if your larges pot isn't large enough.

In large saucepan or deep skillet, melt butter on low heat. Add garlic and saute for about 30-40 seconds, stirring the entire time. Next add flour and salt, using a whisk to ensure no lumps remain. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring the entire time, until there are no lumps and the mixture begins to bubble.

Slowly add milk, stirring the whole time, while you bring it to a boil. Once boiling, allow to continue to boil for 1 minute, then add mustard and Colby cheese. Continue stirring until cheese is melted. Add ham and pasta, stirring well. Pour into 2 13x9 casserole dishes. Cool and freeze.

On cooking day:
Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350F. Place casserole dish (uncovered) into oven and bake 30-45 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Serve.

So, there you go! One $18 ham. We ate ham two nights in a row, then I made the soup for three more meals, four servings of ziti, two bags of ham in the freezer, and I've got some easy stuff in the freezer for the days that I don't want to cook. That's 11 meals with one large ham.

Stockpiling and Preserving Foods

Stockpiling is a concept not many people get quite right. Often, people will buy something up just because it's on sale, and then it goes bad or unused. When done right, however, stockpiling can save your family a lot of money AND help you get through a lean time.

Think about your grocery list. What's always on it? Some people use a lot of cooking soups like Cream of Chicken or Mushroom. These cans cost more than $1 each, which is still economical for a quick casserole. However, if you had taken advantage of the Campbell's soup deal that I posted last week, you could have gotten 4 cans for that $1. Canned goods last for a year or more, so they would most likely get used before the expiration. Once you have that stockpile, you can replenish when the sales come and make sure that you never run out.

Some items work better for stockpiling than others. You'll have to be sure to check expiration dates and rotate items through, using the ones that expire first and replacing your stockpile with the new items. Obviously, canned items are preserved well and will last several months or even years in your pantry.

Everything can be stockpiled, however. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be canned or frozen or cooked into recipes. Even dairy products can be frozen to be used later.

The USDA has recommendations on freezing meats and eggs. You can click HERE to read the pdf file that they created on the topic.

This page contains many links on preserving specific food items.

I will do an overview of information I've gleaned through my reading on the topic:

• Fruits do not generally freeze well to be eaten later unless they are in a syrup or some sort of juice. It's not recommended to freeze fruits to be eaten later unless you are cooking them in a recipe. The texture will be mushy when they thaw. Grapes are good to eat frozen, and brown bananas can be frozen for later use in smoothies or breads.
  
• Vegetables should be blanched by dunking in boiling water for a period of 1-4 minutes, depending on the vegetable you are using. You can then spread them on a cookie sheet and freeze in a single layer. Once they are frozen, package them in freezer bags, and the pieces will be separated like frozen vegetables that you buy in the store.
• Some dairy products that freeze well include butter (in the package is fine) and cheese (though due to the texture once it's thawed I usually only freeze shredded cheese for later use in recipes). Milk can be frozen in the plastic milk jug, though you should first pour out 1 cup to make room for expansion.
• Eggs can be frozen, but not in the shell. You can break the egg, then drop raw eggs into a bag (break yolk first) for later use.
  
• Meats should be wrapped well to avoid freezer burn.
• Precooked or even uncooked prepared meals freeze well, again as long as they are wrapped securely or in a freezable container. If you are pre-cooking the meal, don't cook it quite as long as you would normally. Since it will be reheated in the oven, it will finish cooking then.

Here is a great chart I found that lists freezing times of common items. The link to the chart is HERE if you would like it for printing to use later.

Table 3. Storage Times for Home-Frozen Foods

Products	Storage Period
Bacon	1 month
Butter or Margarine	9 months
Cheese, Dry-cured Cottage Cheese or Ricotta	2 weeks
Cheese, Natural process	3 months
Cream (all kinds)	2 months
Cream, Whipped	1 month
Egg Whites or Yolks	12 months
Frankfurters	2 months
Fish, "Fatty"	3 months
Fish, "Lean"	6 months
Fish, Shellfish	3 months
Fruits (except Citrus)	8-12 months
Fruits, Citrus Fruits & Juices	4-6 months
Ham	2 months
Ice Cream or Sherbet	1 month
Meat, Ground or Stew	3 months
Meat, Cooked or Leftover	2-3 months
Milk, Fresh Fluid	1-3 months
Poultry, Cooked with gravy	6 months
Poultry, Cooked without gravy	1 month
Poultry, Duck or Goose	6 months
Poultry, Uncooked (whole) Chicken or Turkey	1 year
Poultry, Uncooked Chicken parts	9 months
Poultry, Uncooked Turkey parts	6 months
Roasts, Fresh Beef or Lamb	12 months
Roasts, Fresh Pork or Veal	8 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Beef	12 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Lamb or Veal	9 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Pork	4 months
Variety Meats, Fresh	4 months
Vegetables	8-12 months
Yogurt (regular), Plain	1 month
Yogurt (regular), Flavored	5 months

I will continue this series with non food items in a later post.

What Do You Want to See?

I am putting out my "teaching" posts a few at a time, while still posting some deals. I have several topics I will soon post, and am wondering what kinds of deals people would like to see, or what types of saving posts people would like me to post.

Upcoming ideas:

• Legitimate ways to earn money from home, including surveys, GPTs, and Mystery Shopping.
• Stockpiling without being featured on "Hoarders." :)
• Once a month cooking.

I'm also up for suggestions, so let me know what you want first.

Making Money at Home-Surveys

There are so many sites out there that it's hard to know what's legitimate. I can say after looking around that there is no magic site that will allow you to make thousands of dollars a day with no work. I have found a few good sites that will pay you a small amount of money for doing a small amount of work. I will only list sites that I have used and where I have received a payment.

There are different ways to earn money from home. You can do surveys, mystery shopping, and GPTs (or Get paid to...). This is not a complete list, rather the ones that I have personal experience with.

I will focus just on surveys for this post, then follow up with more posts on other types of money-making opportunities.

Survey Companies

Starting with surveys. I have several survey companies that I work with, and will often get 5-10 surveys per day. The value of the pay varies based on the company, but most offer anywhere from 50 cents-$5 per survey. Obviously, you are not going to get rich doing these, but they also don't take long.

One additional benefit of the survey companies is that they will send out items for your family to test out, usually items that you would use every day. I've done product studies on diapers (a whole month's worth of different types of diapers to compare and answer questions about), toilet paper, feminine protection products, food, drinks, shampoo and conditioner, body washes, you name it, we've tried it.

I've also gotten referred from the survey company to do other types of research, and those are sometimes very lucrative. I did a survey that lasted for about 9 months and required a couple of minutes a month to keep it current, and ended up making $300. Another recent one paid me $10 to play a game with my family.

Next I'll review a few of the companies I work with.

Everyone loves Pinecone Research. They pay for every survey right when you complete it, right to your Paypal account. Most of the time, it is $3 per survey. The only problem? They have plenty of people doing surveys, so only occasionally look for new people to participate. You may run across a banner ad, and occasionally they will send out emails to their current participants asking them to refer.

One of my favorites, just for coolness of survey topics, is HCDSurveys. They send out a lot of political polls and also interesting ones about current news, movies, and TV. They usually pay 50 cents-$3 per survey, and you get paid by check once you reach $10 earned. Click HERE to sign up.

Another great survey company is MySurvey. They send several surveys, and pay with a check in increments of $5. Just as an example of my earnings, 1000 pts would be a $10 check, and I earned 270 for the month of October. Earnings vary from month to month, and it also depends if your family fits the profile they are looking for on each survey. Click below to join.



I started with Ipsos I-Say a long time ago, and did their surveys only sporadically because they were fun but only paid in chances to win prizes. I did win a couple of times, but the prizes weren't necessarily things I wanted/needed. I'm glad I stayed with them, because one day I found that they are now paying cash. They still have chances to win prizes, and the prizes are huge, but I no longer win. I do get a check every once in a while, so that's ok.

Sunday Deals

Freebies:

• FREE BOOKS! Richard Paul Evans is offering a free box of 20 copies of "The Christmas Box." You pay $15 for shipping, so under $1 per book.
  
• Free pound of Shrimp from Earth Fare. We don't have one, bummer.
• Free Kids Hemophilia Calendar with kids' art.
• Free sample of Kotex.
• Free bumper sticker from PETA.
• Free booklet about nutrition for children.
• Free sample Millstone Coffee.
• Free meal planning guide and coupons (east coast only.)
• Free Kashi granola bar.
• Free earrings (don't submit till 11/24, and the code for the top line is EARRINGS). You also have to be female. :)
• Free DD coffee at the mall, November 27 and 28, if you have a Dunkin Donuts in your mall, of course. We don't.

Discounts:

• 50% off photobooks at Snapfish. Use code HOLIDAYBOOKS.
  
• 50% off and free shipping with code 2day at Fujifilm.
  
• 25% off at One Step Ahead, free shipping if you spend over $85 with FREE85.
• 30% off and Free Shipping from Shutterfly (photo gifts) SHIP30 through 11/24.
• $3 shipping on any size order and buy 3 get 3 free from Bath and Body Works (today only) 3DOLLARSHIP. You can use only one code, but if you go in store, you can use two printable coupons to save $10 off $30 and get a free sample sized product.
• Target has some great savings in their weekly ad on toys, many of which have coupons to go with them. (will do another post later with all the deals, but look for yourself and match with the Target toy coupons.)
• Last day for 30% off and free shipping at Ann Taylor LOFT with code FRIEND.
• GR8VALUE get you $10 off $10 at JCPenney. They have some really good markdowns on sweaters and outerwear right now.
• $15 for all Nine West shoes and accessories. Free shipping with code GIFT or automatically with $100 in purchases.
• 70% off (you read that right!) all New Balance shoes with code GIVE. Womens shoes, Mens shoes, Kids shoes. It looks like the 70% is automatic at these links already.
• 6pm also has PS2 and PS3 games for $10.95 and $19.95.

That should be enough deals for now. I'll be back with the Target toys matchup.