Ham and Potato Casserole

Even though Connie invented these ;)  I got this recipe from Six Sisters Stuff.  In my family we always called these "Funeral Potatoes" but it never had ham and my mom always puts crumbled potato chips on top (very yummy). I've made this twice now and LOVE it!  (I really like using the stuffing mix on top.  Any excuse for more stuffing.)  I haven't actually tried this in a crock pot.  I baked it in the oven.  Also, the second time I made it I only had Cream of Mushroom soup and no ham.  It was still really good!

(Penny wanted to use a picture of HER plate)

Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
1 (30 oz) package frozen hash brown potatoes, cubed or shredded (I used frozen shredded)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 (10.75 oz) can reduced fat cream of chicken soup (like I said, if you only have cream of mushroom, it will still taste great!)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I'm sure anything would taste good - we used the Kraft blend that has 4 different kinds of cheddar...so good)
2 cups cooked chopped ham (ham leftovers are perfect for this recipe!)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (6 oz) package, herb-seasoned stuffing mix (I bought the Stove Top in the canister)

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Combine hash browns, dried onion, salt, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese, and ham and place in slow cooker. Sprinkle stuffing mix over top, then drizzle melted butter over stuffing. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high 2-4 hours.

Or spray a 9x13 and bake at 350 for 45-60 min. 

Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

I had a great picture to go along with this, but we had some technical difficulties :)  Penny really wanted to show this to Bobby, but oh well.  I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond, foodnetwork.com).  It's super easy and delicious!  It has a kick to it, but all three of us loved it!  In the original recipe she bakes it in the oven.  I used the crock pot.  It only took me less than 5 min to throw it together this morning.  I can handle that.

The other thing I did differently was a trick I learned from watching Rachael Ray.  When we buy a can of chipotle we usually only end up using a little bit, then the rest sits in a baggie in the fridge and we forget about it.  Her trick is to puree the whole can, use what you need, then put the rest in a baggie in the freezer (like we do w/ green chiles).  Since it's already pureed, you just break a piece off or grate it in.  I had about the right amount frozen so I just threw it in there.

We cut the recipe in half (since we're a small family) and served it up on some mashed potatoes.  OJ actually got them all peeled, cubed and cooking before I got home!  What a sweetie!  We were in the mood for something rich so we used butter, milk and Laughing Cow soft cheese.  Mmmm....it was so nice to have such a wonderful dinner come together with so little effort on my part :)

Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

from Ree Drummond

2 onions, peeled and quartered
1 whole pork butt (pork shoulder roast)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 11-ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 cans Dr. Pepper (we use diet or Dr Pepper TEN)
4 packed tablespoons brown sugar

Corn Chowder

There's nothing like soup to warm you up on a cold snowy weekend.  I found this on Pinterest, for the original recipe click here.  It was a great use up for ham I made the other night.  The only thing I changed from the original recipe is that I used frozen diced potatoes instead of fresh.  That made this simple soup even easier.  We loved it and I hope you will too!

Corn Chowder

• 6-8 potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 1 Can cream corn
• 1 Can whole kernel corn
• 2 Cups chicken broth
• 8 Ounces diced ham
• 1 Cups diced onions
• 1/4 Cups butter
• 2 Cups half and half

1. 1. Step One:  Place potatoes, both cans of corn, chicken broth, ham, and onions into the slow cooker.

   2. Step Two:  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

   3. Step Three:  Mash the mixture to your desired consistency and then add the butter and half and half.

   4. Step Four:  Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high, and you are set!