Baked Ham Mac'N'Cheese

Gooey flavor bursting Mac'N'Cheese
I made the other day

Baked Mac’N’Cheese is one of those dishes that seems to have two camps. Either you see it as a main dish or as a side. I personally could eat a large bowl of this and call it dinner, but my husband prefers it as a side… So on this, we are a house divided… meh whatev.

That said, this is a hearty, flavorful dish that puts leftover ham or canned ham (see my post on Why I Can Meat) to excellent use! I usually have a few jars of ham in the house. This is nice when I am getting close to needing to make a grocery run, I usually have these ingredients in the house and it makes a delicious meal and doesn’t require too much work.

Ingredients:

2 jars of canned Sunday ham ready to go

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon of ground mustard

½ teaspoon powdered onion

1 (10-oz.) block extra sharp Cheddar cheese (preferably white), shredded or grated.

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)

1/2 (16-oz.) package spiral macaroni, cooked

1 jar of your canned ham (or 1-2 cups left over ham)

Crumb Topping:

1 cup of plain or seasoned breadcrumbs

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon of parsley

½ cup bacon crumbles (or bacon bits if you prefer)

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Prepare pasta according to box directions, drain and set aside.

small bowl of flour
on hand

Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. (it will be thick or pasty)

Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened.

I shred my own cheese adding a dash of
flour to prevent it from sticking together

Whisk in salt, black pepper, red pepper, onion powder and ground mustard, ham and shredded cheese until smooth.

Fold in pasta.

Pour pasta mixture into a lightly greased 2-qt. baking dish.

Topping:

Mix shredded parmesan cheese, parsley, bread crumbs and bacon crumbles and sprinkle over top of pasta.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden and I sbubbly.

Variations I have tried:

Elbow macaroni works just as well.

Substitute ham for smoked sausage or bacon.

Green onions or chives mixed in the topping are delicious.

I have also meal prepped this for the freezer in the past with great success. You follow the directions just the same but use a foil casserole pan, don’t cook it, cover it in foil and place in the freezer. Then you can just pull it out in the morning and pop it into the oven to bake in the evening. Easy peezy. It make a great dish to give to a new mom who just had a baby too… because those first 4 weeks can be ROUGH.

Canning Strawberry Jam

 

Strawberry Jam is one of those things that most everyone loves to get. Kids eat it on PB&J, adults like it on toast, you can put it on shortbread thumbprint jam cookies and I even put it on ice cream.

What you will need:

2 quarts Strawberries

1 package of powdered pectin

¼ cup lemon juice (or 1 squeezed lemon)

7 cups of sugar

Large Stainless Steel Stock Pot

Water bath Canner

Canning jars (I use a variety of 4oz, 8oz and 12oz jars so I can give them as gifts)

This will make about 8 half-pints

Instructions:

Fresh strawberries are always best when in season.
These ones are SUPER ripe, sweet and juicy.

Wash your berries and drain. Remove stems.

Washed and tops sliced off.

Crush the strawberries one layer at a time. I use a potato masher, well rather I have the kids use the masher. There is something they seem to really enjoy about smashing up strawberries.

Kido is doing a great job mashing the strawberries up in the ice cream bucket.

Combine strawberries, pectin and lemon juice in your stock pot.

Strawberries, Lemon Juice and Pectin about to begin.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. 

THEN add sugar, stirring until dissolved.

Jam just starting to boil.

Return to a roiling boil and then boil HARD 1 minute, stirring constantly. (I find that I usually need to boil a bit longer than 1 minute – right around 2-5 minutes)

Strawberry Jam boiling hard now.

Remove pot from heat.

Skim foam if needed (I never do)

Ladle hot jam into hot sterile jars leaving ¼-inch headspace.

Wipe the rims to ensure they are clean.

Then add the lids and rims to finger tightness.

Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Jars immersed in the boiling water canner processing.

Remove from canner and set on a towel not touching each other to cool for 24 hrs. 

Jars starting to cool

Any items that do not seal should be placed into the refrigerator to be used. (OR you can reprocess them right away… but I have never had to do this)

21 Jars of Strawberry Jam all sealed!
There are 4oz, 8oz, 12oz and pint sized.

This is really an easy recipe to do and it makes great gifts around the holidays.

On Guard Essential Oil Blend

On-Guard is probably my MOST favorite oil blend there is. I use this one every day. It has so many great uses and it is very effective. Here are the ways that I use it.

IMMUNE BOOSTER - As one of dōTERRA's best-selling blends, the On-Guard blend is a highly effective immune support. dōTERRA On-Guard can be taken internally on a daily basis to maintain healthy immune function and support healthy cardiovascular function.   This is one that I NEVER leave home without. It is my GO-TO. Last year flu season hit HARD in the office I worked in and it didn't hit once, twice or even 3 times, it came in and took over in 4 waves for about 6 months. Meanwhile I was using On-Guard on the bottom of my feet daily and I never got sick, AT ALL and I was pregnant. I can't promise that you won't get sick, but I can tell you that my husband JUST had the flu and I still haven't been sick. dōTERRA On-Guard is an effective alternative to synthetic options for boosting the immune system and protection against environmental threats. That said, I still support getting a flu shot.

CLEANING - This is one that can be used on surfaces throughout the home as a non-toxic cleaner. To make your own household cleaner use a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar and water and add 20 drops of On-Guard in a glass spray bottle. We also have this as a foaming hand wash in our house. It smells amazing and I can actually get my teenage BOY to use it without being told... as much. I love that I know my family is getting an immunity boost and clean hands!

SANITIZER - To use this as a sanitizer place a drop on your hands and rub together as a hand sanitizer. I never leave home without this. I actually have this in a Sanitizer Spray Bottle (thank you dōTERRA) and I carry it in my purse. It definitely comes in handy when people want to hold the baby. I also brought this to the hospital for when people came to see baby and of course wanted to hold my baby - the "Hanitizer" (as my niece and nephew call it) was very helpful.

SKIN - Add to fractionated coconut oil to use directly on the bottom of your feet in the morning to boost your immunity all day. Confession, I put 2-3 drops in my teen's shoes… He has orthotics and frankly THEY STINK because they don't breathe much. I have found that I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, or at least take one down a notch. I know that he will absorb the oils into his feet throughout the day and thus get some immune boosting and the essential oils will also help to keep his feet from stinking so much. It's a win-win.

TRAVEL - If you travel often, you know that it is prime time to pick up a bug. I place one drop on my tongue before entering the plane and one drop every two hours. I also place one drop on tongue after being in large groups. I have also used the beadlets for this.

ENERGY - When diffused, dōTERRA On-Guard helps to purify the air, and can be very energizing and uplifting.

If this sounds like something you would like to try, feel free to message me or you can click HERE to purchase On-Guard Essential Oil Blend

To view the entire On-Guard Product Line click HERE

If you would like to learn more about essential oils, please fill out either of these surveys and I will response accordingly.

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Canning Split Pea Soup

Anyone ever have a large ham bone with lots of meat still attached after a Sunday Ham dinner? Yeh me too. This is like the holy grail for making pea, potato or bean soup loaded with flavor. I recently pulled out one such item out of my freezer and made a large batch of split pea soup, and oh man did it turn out great!

Ingredients:
1 large leftover ham bone or ham hock (the more meat attached the better)
2-3 large carrots diced
1 large onion (diced) I have used red, white and yellow... I prefer red.
2 bags of dried split peas (rinsed and checked over for stones)
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of ground allspice
black pepper to taste

1 large stock pot
pressure canner
10-12 pint canning jars, lids and rims (I use wide mouth pint and a half jars, but you can use anything from pints to quarts)
sharp knife
canning utensils

Place the ham bone with meat attached into the stock pot and fill the stock pot with water and set it over medium heat to boil. You are going to let this boil down until you have reduced the water to about 1/3 left. (This is going to take a while and your kitchen will be warm and muggy which is why I tend to do this in mass during the cooler months.)

Once you have reduced your liquid to about 1/3 full, remove the meat and bones. With a sharp knife cut/cube the ham that you want to go back into the soup. I usually chop up about 2 cups or so, sometimes more. 

NOTE: There are times where I will have too much meat and I will throw that into 1-2 pint jars and pressure can that right at the same time along side of the soup (this makes great ham mac n cheese and ham n scalloped potatoes) because the processing time is the same as the soup. Other times I will not have enough meat so I will just grab a jar of canned ham from my pantry and it does the trick. See my post on Why I Can Meat

Add the spices, chopped onion, carrot, minced garlic and peas. 

Fill the pot with about 8 more cups of water. (I usually eyeball it and fill my stock pot about 2/3 full)

Let boil until peas are almost tender. (Note I usually leave them just a bit under cooked because they will continue cooking in the pressure canner)

Remove the bay leaf.

Ladle hot mixture into hot jars leaving 1 in head-
space. Wipe rim and add lids and rims. Tighten to finger tip tightness. 

Process jars 1hr 15 min for pints and 1hr 30min for quarts. (You will need to adjust the pressure for your altitude. For my altitude I use 10 lbs of pressure)

Once done, let jars sit for 24 hrs. Lids should all be sealed. If not, I place mine in the refrigerator and consume within 2 wks. 

My soup tends to be thick and that is how I like it. When I am ready to serve it I can add a cup or 2 of water to thin it out to the consistency desired. 

If you try this please share in the comments below or show me pictures of your canning success!

Tea Tree (Melalueca) Essential Oil

Melalueca or commonly known as Tea Tree Oil is another of my top 5 go to oils. I can't even put it away because it gets used so frequently in our house. I run out of it regularly. It is just one of those really practical oils to have on hand and it is another one that goes in the camping first aid kit.

SKIN - prevent & reduce blemishes by using nightly with coconut oil.  Helps to heal and prevent acne. I recently had a friend who burned her arms (youch) and I gave her a blend of Lavender and Melaleuca for some relief and healing aid and the next day she came up to me and was super thankful for it. It gave her quick relief and allowed her to get some sleep!

(link lavender)

NAILS - Drop on nail beds for healthy nails and rub on toenails after shower. Place a drop inside shoes to purify.

IMMUNE SUPPORT - Antibacterial. Place on cuts to heal them quickly or on tongue if you feel a cold coming on. You can also use this as a deodorant. Melaleuca is one of those oils that I keep in a first aid kit. It is like a jack of all trades when it comes to uses. I put it in ALL of my healing oil blends, ointments, and balms.

SCALP - Add to shampoo and conditioner for good scalp health and a refreshing shower. You know that Tea Tree Oil Shampoo that they use at the barber/salon? Yeh, I love it too. Put 5-10 drops of Melaleuca in your shampoo and in your conditioner for that spa sensation without spending those big bucks! It feels SOOOO good.

LIP BLEMISH - reduce length of sore by dabbing on area. You know when you buy those medicated lip balms, a lot of the time this is the oil they use in them. No joke. So why use a lip balm with chemical filled ingredients when you can you a natural and effective option?

CANKER SORES – Tea Tree is one of those oils that is just great at healing. When I get one of those pesky canker sores on my gums I will use a q-tip with a little Melaleuca oil on it and dab it on the affected area for some quick relief and healing.

If this sounds like something you would like to try, feel free to message me or you can click HERE to purchase Melaleuca (Tea Tree) Essential Oil.

If you would like to learn more about essential oils, please fill out either of these surveys and I will response accordingly.

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