It has been miserable here. We are on day 33 on 90+ degree temps and brutal humidity. Despite my best efforts, my yard is dying, my garden is shot and well, I feel grumpy. Grumpy might be an understatement. In fact, I'm sure if you were to ask hubby or baby girl, they could come up with other not so nice words to describe me. Watching the weather channel tells me that the Ohio Valley isn't the only area of the country suffering. The heat wave is covering much of the United States......So, I was thinking if y'all are like me, the thought of preparing big, heavy meals every night is overwhelming. It makes the house hot to use the stove and oven and then more heat is produced by running the dishwasher. Needless to say, cooking hasn't been happening so much.
This past weekend, I stopped at my favorite local butcher and took advantage of several sales. Considering the fact that I am 35 miles away (gasp if you want, but I am 30 miles from everything), I usually only go about once per month. They happened to be having a sale on honey ham and I had them chip two pounds for me. I very seldom keep lunch meat at home...I usually bake a whole turkey or ham and do my own thing. The 98 degree temps have changed me. Extreme heat has a way of pushing thoughts of excess sodium and preservatives out of my brain. I simply didn't care....
For our family of three, two lbs of meat is a lot. Luckily, it freezes beautifully and there are a million and one different ways to use honey ham...and the meat was a steal at 2.59/lb. The tightwad in me couldn't pass it up!!! Now, I will not say that they are especially nutritious or low fat, but they fill the bill when the family is hungry and something light and easy are needed. Here are some ideas that our family loves.
Hot Ham and Cheese
I realize this is a staple, but use a good quality Swiss cheese and make mini-sammies with King's Hawaiian bread and you have a pretty good sandwich. We prefer the savory butter variety for hot ham and cheese.
Omelette's
Breakfast for supper is always an easy and well received meal. Our fav combo is honey ham with sauteed shallots and baby bella mushrooms. American cheese doesn't hurt anything either. Serve with fresh fruit and you have a complete meal...pretty inexpensive too.
Ham Rollers
My daughter loves to make her own sandwich with tortillas, ham, cream cheese and thin tomato slices. Simply layer, roll and slice into 1 inch rounds.
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Even though this is baked, it is baked for a short period of time and is fairly simple and great served with a side salad.
Really, there are so many meal ideas. You can take a simple tossed side salad and add ham and make a complete meal....I could go on and on. Hopefully some of these meal suggestions will help you beat the heat and keep your cool.
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