Ham and Potato Casserole

YUM

Think scalloped potatoes with ham.  This is a simple and hearty meal.  Good for those cold nights during the winter.  I am finding myself wanting comfort food more and more and this one definitely hits the spot.  Trust me, your husband will thank you...if you don't wait til 845 to serve it like I did.  This is a quick meal to put together but it takes a while in the oven.  My recipe served 4 as the main course.  I made it in a small pyrex dish, (think half size of normal casserole dish) but you could easily double this recipe to serve more.

What you need:
-about a half pound of ham, cut up (I had leftovers from a whole ham, but you could use a hamsteak cut up or even sliced ham if you wanted)
- 3 medium potatoes, washed and sliced thinly (if you have a food processer, use it...takes about 15 seconds)
-  1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 cup of milk
- dash of Worcestershire sauce
-black pepper
1/2 block of cheddar cheese, shredded
-cayenne pepper

What you do:
Preheat  the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl mix together soup, milk, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Spray pyrex with cooking spray (or if you are naughty like me, coat with butter. Butter makes everything better!).  Layer 1/3 of the potatoes so they overlap slightly, 1/3 of the soup mixture, 1/2 ham and repeat until used. On the top of the last layer (should be cream mixture) sprinkle cheese and cayanne.  Cover with tin foil (tip- spray tin foil with cooking spray so cheese doesn't stick) and put in oven for an hour.  Uncover after an hour and test potato tenderness with a fork, let cook on a high shelf (if your oven has a top burner) for 15 to 20 minutes.

Enjoy!
-Hayden

mashed sweet potatoes

Wow. It has been a while since I posted anything.  Can we say slacker?  I had a good reason for a while, we were packing up our house, moving, and then remodeling our kitchen.  But the kitchen remodel has been done for a few weeks now, so I have no excuses. I am back on the wagon with this really easy and delish side dish.  Makes around 6 servings.

What you need:
4 sweet potatoes
3/4 c milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp brown sugar
dash cinnamon
salt to taste

What you do:
Bring around 6 cups of lightly salted water to boil, while the water is boiling peel and cube the potatoes into dice sized pieces. Add potatoes, boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender.  Drain water, mash potatoes slightly (i used a hand mixer but you could certainly use a stand mixer) add butter and all sweeteners and mix some more, then slowly add milk until it is the desired consistency, you may need a little more than 3/4 cup but I found that was about right for the amount I had. Serve warm!

 These were very good and I will definitely be making them again. Look for more recipes soon! I have a few stored up, many without pictures but I am going to post them anyway bc they were so good.

Enjoy!
-Hayden