Love it? Share it!

If you can get a ham on sale it can be one of the thriftiest meals with meat you can get. Priced at $0.99 a pound we have had ham for three meals and counting. I thought I would share the simple leftover ham recipes I used to stretch our grocery budget. First off, my in-laws BROUGHT the ham so that stretched the budget. Next I figured out what I have in my cabinets that would be a perfect fit for the ham and streeeeeeeeetch it’s use.

A great addition to ham is BEANS. My family doesn’t care for beans but tough luck. I had lentils and I know how to use ’em. Plus beans are fairly inexpensive. Funny thing is they actually liked the soup and the rich ham flavor made those lentils delicious.  I also used 2 carrots that were starting to look a little sad and an onion that was two breaths away from the trash can. Instead of using cheese in the eggs I used the last few spoons of sour cream that needed used up. It makes a creamy and delicious addition to scrambled eggs. Finally I used up some potatoes that are about to sprout right through the bag. Vegetables that might not be so great at starring on their own tend to be destined to the soup pot in my house – cuts down on waste, which is basically throwing part of the grocery budget away.

leftover ham recipes

Next project is to use every bit of that ham – from the juice to the bone.

Meal 1: Ham, sweet potato fries, steamed cauliflower (4 adults, 3 children)

Meal 2: Scrambled eggs with ham, onions, sour cream, and cauliflower (3 adults, 1 child)

Meal 3:  Ham and Lentil Soup (4 adults, 3 children and leftovers for 1)
Tip: Use the ham juice sparingly as it is strong and salty.

Meal 4: Grilled ham and cheddar sandwiches with fresh veggies and fruit

Meal 5: Ham, potato and vegetable soup slow cooked with the ham bone and frozen for a quick meal
Tip: The longer you you cook the ham bone the richer the flavor.

Five meals, 10 pounds of ham at $10.  Add to the fact that most of the ingredients I used were running out of shelf life and I stretched our grocery budget by quite a few dollars.  If you aren’t huge ham eaters but eat it occasionally, package it up in a few different types of meals and freeze it. Ham thaws beautifully and quickly.

Thank you for joining us on this Fabulously Frugal Thursday. When linking up make sure to link back to this post so your readers can read more frugal posts.

Your co-hosts –
Heather ~ Real the Kitchen and Beyond
Barb ~ A Life in Balance



Love it? Share it!

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *