Team Ham

Busy lives!  Aren’t we all busy, busy, busy?  Bring out the crockpot or slow cooker and you can make some tasty, economical meals for your family and cut down your kitchen time too.  For these recipes, all you have to do is add a salad, perhaps a bread, and you’ve got dinner.  Dessert can be elaborate or as simple as sugar-free cookies or a bowl of sugar-free ice cream.

PORK ROAST WITH ONIONS AND POTATOES

This recipe requires a 4-quart slowcooker for best results.

Approximately 3 lb boneless pork loin roast, trim off fat

1 large garlic clove, sliced

5 medium potatoes, washed, cubed, unpeeled

1 large onion, sliced

3/4 cup water (or tomato juice, if desired)

1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cold water

Make slits in roast in insert slices of garlic.  Place roast under broiler to brown.  Put potatoes in slow cooker.  Add 1/2 the onion slices.  Place roast atop vegetables and cover with remaining onions.  Combine water or juice with soy sauce and pour over roast.  Place lid on slowcooker and cook on low about 8 hours.  When ready to serve, remove roast and vegetables from cooker.  Combine cornstarch and cold water.  Add to the liquid in the slow cooker.  Turn cooker to high until liquid is thickened.  Slice meat and serve thickened liquid over the meat and vegetables.

This recipe has a few more protein grams than carbs so it is excellent for diabetics who want to enjoy some good old “meat and potatoes”.

COWBOY CASSEROLE

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/4 lbs 90% lean ground beef

6 medium potatoes, unpeeled, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

16 oz can kidney beans

15 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground beef, rinse with hot water and drain.  Mix flour into diced tomatoes, stir until flour is smooth.

Layer into slow cooker in the following order;  onion, beef, potatoes, garlic and beans.  Pour tomatoes over all and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on low 5 to 6 hours or until potatoes are tender.

It’s time to bring out the economical family recipes to help struggling families with their food budgets.  Here is a menu that will allow you to feed your family without busting your food budget.  We start with Pork Chops with Tomato-Rice.  In this one dish you have your meat, grain, and a vegetable.  Add Homemade Russian Salad Dressing to salad greens with a shredded carrot, and finish off your meal with a dessert of Applesauce-Raisin-Cinnamon bundt cake which adds fruit to your menu.  There you have it–an easy, tasty, economical meal for your family.  And the whole menu is diabetic friendly.

PORK CHOPS WITH TOMATO-RICE

4 thick pork chops

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 can (16oz) can stewed tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

In a large, heavy, deep skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, brown chops on both sides.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add tomatoes and water; sprinkle with rice.  Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for 50 to 60 minutes or until chops are tender.  Add more water if necessary later in the cooking process.

HOMEMADE RUSSIAN SALAD DRESSING

1 cup olive oil

1 cup catsup

1 cup Splenda

2/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, chopped

Place all ingredients in blendar jar.  Pulse until well blended.  Store in refrigerator in a cruet or jar with lid.

APPLESAUCE-RAISIN-CINNAMON CAKE

3 cups water, divided

1 1/4 cups raisins

2 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

3 eggs, beaten, or 3/4 cup egg substitute

1 1/2 cups Equal Sugar-Lite

1 cup canola oil

3 cups self-rising flour

3 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp vanilla extract

Non-stick vegetable oil spray

In a large heavy-duty saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups water and the raisins; bring to a boil.  Continue boiling until water is gone.  Remove from the heat.  Add applesauce, eggs, Equal, oil and remaining water.  Stir to combine well.  Sift together flour, cinnamon, and soda.  Gradually add flour mixture to the applesauce mixture, stirring after each addition. 

Spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray.  Spoon batter into pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Cool on a wire rack.

Cake should be cut into 28 thin serving slices.  Diabetics should only eat one serving per day.

For all the busy cooks out there, here are a couple of recipes to help you put dinner on the table quickly, easily, and economically.  With a crockpot entree of meat and potatoes, add a make-ahead green bean salad and you are ready to feed your family a nutritious dinner in no time at all.

PORK ROAST WITH ONIONS AND POTATOES

This recipe requires a 4-quart slowcooker for best results.

Approximately 3 lb boneless pork loin roast, trim off fat

1 large garlic clove, sliced

5 medium potatoes, washed, cubed, unpeeled

1 large onion, sliced

3/4 cup water (or tomato juice, if desired)

1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cold water

Make slits in roast in insert slices of garlic.  Place roast under broiler to brown.  Put potatoes in slow cooker.  Add 1/2 the onion slices.  Place roast atop vegetables and cover with remaining onions.  Combine water or juice with soy sauce and pour over roast.  Place lid on slowcooker and cook on low about 8 hours.  When ready to serve, remove roast and vegetables from cooker.  Combine cornstarch and cold water.  Add to the liquid in the slow cooker.  Turn cooker to high until liquid is thickened.  Slice meat and serve thickened liquid over the meat and vegetables.

This recipe has a few more protein grams than carbs so it is excellent for diabetics who want to enjoy some good old “meat and potatoes”.

GREEN BEAN SALAD

2 cans French-style green beans, drained

1 small can of peas, drained

4 celery sticks, diced

1/2 medium bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

1small jar pimento

Dressing:

1 1/2 cup Splenda

1 cup cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp water

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the vegetables together.

To make the dressing, in a seperate mixing bowl combine, all the dressing ingredients together.  Pour dressing over vegetables, toss to mix well and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  One and a half hour before serving, drain vegetables.  Note:  This is a great dish to make ahead for convenience later.

 Enjoy!

Try this menu for your family dinner or even to entertain friends.  It is tasty, easy and economical.  Start building your meal around this entree of Oven Barbecued Pork Chops which are quick to get together and into the oven.  During the approximate hour they are baking you will have time to prepare the rest of your meal, set the table, assist with homework, throw in a load of laundry or whatever your busy schedule may demand.  This is a good meal to try our Three Cheese Pasta Shells as they can be put into the oven to bake along side the pork chops.  Add some steamed broccoli spears or a green salad.  Then you have an easy, delicious, comfort food meal that is healthy, too.  Note:  This is a great meal for diabetics, too.

OVEN BARBECUED PORK CHOPS

6 trimmed loin pork chops, not thin sliced

3/4 cup catsup

1/3 cup hot water

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp Splenda

3 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chops in an oblong baking pan. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chops.  Bake, uncovered, for about an hour-until chops are tenderq and cooked through.

NOTE:  This recipe contains a minimal amount of sugar which is counteracted by the protein in the meat.  However, keep this in mind when planning your meal.

THREE CHEESE PASTA SHELLS

1 lb pkg pasta shells

1 egg

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese

1 lb process American cheese, cubed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook shells according to the package directions.  While shells cook, in a blender, combine egg, sour cream, and cottage cheese.  Cover blender jar and process until smooth.  Transfer to a large bowl; add cheeses.  Drain pasta; stir into cheese mixture until evenly coated.  Transfer to a greased shallow 3-quart  baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes; stir.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until bubbly and edges begin to brown.

Serves 8 to 10

Enjoy!