Chicken Cordon Bleu

We first had this dish when we went to our friends' house for dinner shortly before we moved. We absolutely loved it and so I, of course, asked for the recipe. It has been a favorite ever since that I sadly don't make often enough.
It's a great recipe because it's easy to change the quantity and it uses ingredients that we often have on hand. To halve the chicken breasts I typically slice them as you would cut a deck of cards. I find the ratio of chicken to ham and cheese is pretty good that way.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
6 chicken breast halves
6 slices ham
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1 can cream soup (or use homemade)
1/4 cup water (not necessary if using homemade soup)
2+ cups croutons
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
   1.  Place chicken breast halves in a 9x13 pan. Place one slice of ham over each chicken breast. Dividing the cheese among the six chicken breasts, sprinkle cheese over ham.
   2.  Mix soup and water; pour over chicken.
   3.  Mix croutons and butter; place on top of chicken.
   4.  Bake uncovered at 325 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Ham & Peach Grilled Sandwiches

The first time we had these sandwiches my husband was very skeptical. He wasn't sure about the idea of putting fruit on a sandwich and then cooking it on top of that. Well, he has since changed his mind! We love these sandwiches; all the flavors complement each other so well and are just wonderful.
I've found that it helps speed up the process to prep all the ingredients (especially slicing the cheese and peaches) before you're ready to make the sandwiches. After that it's a simple matter of assembly.

Ham & Peach Grilled Sandwiches
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Yields: 1 sandwich

Ingredients (per sandwich):
2 pieces bread
butter, slightly softened
mustard
honey
*or in place of mustard and honey use honey mustard
sliced ham (we typically  use lunch meat but slices from a ham would work as well)
3-4 peach slices
4 thin slices Cheddar cheese
peach or apricot jam

Directions:
   1.  In a small bowl mix mustard and honey until desired consistency and taste.
   2. Preheat griddle or fry pan.
   3.  Spread butter on outside of each piece of bread. Spread honey mustard on inside of one slice of bread. Layer ham, peach slices and cheese on top. Spread jam on inside of second piece of bread.
   4.  Place sandwich in preheated pan (I usually start with the cheese side down first); cook until slightly brown. Flip; cook until brown. Flip (back to cheese side); cook until cheese is melted.

Source: All You

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats and Joy in my Kitchen.

Broccoli Ham Quiche

 

When I went to make dinner I knew I wanted to make some sort of egg dish in a pie shell but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was going to turn into. I pulled out a couple of egg recipe I already had and in the end decided to adapt my Cheese Quiche recipe. That turned out to be an excellent choice as we loved this dish!
Since the ham and green pepper I used were both from the freezer there was very little prep work involved in making this dish. Also, this recipe can definitely be adapted even more to accommodate whatever is on hand.

Broccoli Ham Quiche
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped, cooked ham
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
pie crust

Directions:
   1.  In a medium bowl mix eggs and milk. Add broccoli, green pepper, ham, onion, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and 3/4 cup cheese.
   2.  Pour into pie crust and top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
   3.  Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Let set 5 minutes before cutting.

 

This is linked to Joy in my Kitchen.

Ham & Peas Mac & Cheese

Be careful! This recipe might turn your family into mac and cheese snobs! We used to enjoy the boxed stuff but now, after having this version, find the boxed stuff to be acceptable but not all that great. This mac and cheese though is beyond acceptable and really great!
The addition of the ham and peas really puts the mac and cheese over the top. This works well to use any small amount of leftover ham you might have. It's a perfect make-ahead meal that I've often made in the morning or during nap time and then had it quite easy come dinnertime.

Ham & Peas Mac & Cheese
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Yields: 8-12 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta
2 T butter
2 T flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
~4 cups shredded cheese
1 cup peas
1/2 lb ham, diced 

Directions:
   1.  Cook pasta following package directions.
   2.  While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup milk until smooth. Whisk in remaining milk; cook until smooth and thickened, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in spices. Whisk in 2 cups of cheese until smooth.
   3.  Mix together pasta, cheese sauce, and 1 cup shredded cheese. Stir in peas and ham. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Scatter remaining cheese over top.
   4.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until warmed through. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes:
   ~I often will put this in two smaller pans and freeze one.
   ~To cook from freezing let it thaw overnight in fridge; follow directions as normal. 

Adapted from: Family Circle

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats and Tasty Tuesday.

Sweet Hawaiian Pizza

Growing up when we ordered pizza we always got a supreme and a Hawaiian. To us, that meant simply green pepper and pineapple. It was definitely a family favorite so making this pizza took me back to my childhood.
When I made the sauce for this pizza I used my normal recipe but was extra generous on the sugar. Also, if you choose to use chunk pineapple I would recommend either cutting it or pulsing it in a food processor a few times.

Sweet Hawaiian Pizza
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Yields: 4 servings of 2 slices each

Ingredients:
pizza sauce (not pictured)
pizza dough (not pictured)
1/2 can pineapple (crushed, tidbits or chunks), drained
1 green pepper, diced
4-6 slices ham, diced
cheese

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 450.
   2.  Roll out pizza dough to size of pan. Spread sauce across dough.
   3.  Top with pineapple, green pepper, ham and cheese.
   4.  Bake at 450 for 11-14 minutes.

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats.

Stromboli

 

Soon after my husband and I were engaged we went to his sister's house for dinner. She made Stromboli and my husband decided he loved it. I made a version the first year we were married but haven't made it since.
Last week I looked at a few different recipes, combined parts from each and came up with our version of Stromboli. It's really quite a simple dish to make and will likely make frequent appearances at our table!

Stromboli
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Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
pizza dough (not pictured)
1 cup peas
8-10 slices ham lunchmeat
~40 pieces pepperoni
1 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (not pictured)
black olives

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 375.
   2.  Roll out pizza dough to a large rectangle, no longer than your baking sheet.
   3.  Sprinkle approximately 1/4 cup shredded cheese over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border.
   4.  Add ham, pepperoni, peas and olives. Top with remaining cheeses.
   5.  Roll up, starting with the long side; tuck ends in and pinch seams together.
   6.  Place seam side down on baking sheet; bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Broccoli Ham Pasta

When I was looking at this recipe I thought, "Well, it's pretty simple, just pasta, meat and veggies but that's always good." This time was no different. We all loved this dish, especially my one year old who knew she wanted more!
I can't personally speak about the ease of making this as my husband made dinner this night. (Wonderful!) However, he did tell me it was simple to make and he didn't have any problems. He even made an addition to the recipe and shredded colby jack cheese over the whole dish when it was done. It was a wonderful finishing touch!

Broccoli Ham Pasta
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound short cut pasta
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 T butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup cooked ham, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded colby jack
salt
pepper

Directions:
   1.  Cook pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli for last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain and return to pot.
   2.  While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and saute until softened, about 3 minutes.
   3.  Add ham and cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in cream; simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
   4.  Pour cream mixture over pasta. Add Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with shredded colby jack.

Source: All You