Doin' Some Cookin'... Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

Christmas and Easter are the only holidays I bake a ham and this Easter I finally found an easy recipe that yields a moist and juicy ham. All you need are a couple of ingredients and some patience while it bakes slowly in the oven making for the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

Being an adult who has no family in State means holidays are no longer the same. As the years have gone on and my siblings have all moved in different directions with grandparents passing away the big family get-togethers don't happen anymore... or maybe they do and I'm just not invited, ha!

With having a little one it's my job to make the holiday as memorable as possible. The Easter bunny dropped off the basket and hid eggs in the apartment since we don't have a yard and I made a big traditional Easter dinner for us.

Little Man requested ham, roasted asparagus, and macaroni and cheese. Not what I grew up with but this is what he deems to be his "traditional" Easter dinner and I'm happy to accommodate.

Sadly, this year he decided that he knows I'm the Easter bunny but he still wants to believe. Thankfully this did not bring up Santa or the Tooth Fairy... yet.

Back to the ham... this is a "cheater" recipe. A precooked smoked ham is topped with the brown sugar glaze it comes with that is enhanced with a couple additions. I'm shameless. It makes for better quality time with Little Man.

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

Adapted From: Yummy Healthy Easy

Stars of the Show:

• 9 lb smoked precooked ham with brown sugar glaze packet
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves
• 3/4 tsp dried mustard powder
• 1 tsp water

And Action:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line pan with foil and place the ham on top in the middle.

In a small bowl, combine the glaze packet, preserves, mustard, and water mixing until incorporated.

Rub mixture all over the top of the ham and cover ham completely with foil. Place in oven for 1 1/2 hours. 

Pull foil off of ham and bake another half hour. 

Slice ham and serve. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Paleo Mustard Glazed Chicken

Little Man has been looking forward to watching The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60 and wanted to have a "special" meal for it. His only request was for my roasted broccoli. He didn't have an opinion on the protein so I suggested chicken. "Sure!"

I bookmarked this recipe for Paleo Mustard Glazed Chicken while I was on my first round of Whole30 and knew this would be perfect to go with the requested side dish and I had all of the ingredients on hand.

These were so good, super simple to make, and approved by Little Man.

Paleo Mustard Glazed Chicken

Adapted From: Joyful Healthy Eats With A Side Of Sweet

Makes 8 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp stone ground mustard (gluten free)
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• black pepper
• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

And Action:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

In a mixing bowl, combine melted coconut oil, mustard, pepper, salt, and sage.

Place chicken in an oven safe dish and brush the mustard over them.

Bake for 45 minute or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cooking... Glazed Meatloaf

Little Man's only request this week for dinner was totally random. Meatloaf. Where the hell did he get this idea from?

"Really, meatloaf?!!" I cringed.

Serious faced and waving his hand at me, "You don't know what meatloaf is? It's just a burger patty with ketchup on it."

I have never made meatloaf and still have a bad taste in my mouth for it since my childhood. Maybe because Grandma overplayed the dried out loaf. Sorry, but the lady could not cook and it showed up on our plates every Sunday when we visited her. Nothing comforting about it.

This is much more sophisticated than what I recall. I pulled out a big girl kitchen appliance to whip this up. Hello food processor! You should have seen my counter top which had ingredients from one end to the other, but don't let the long list of ingredients discourage you from giving this recipe a try.

Seasoned ground beef and pork gets shaped into a log with the help of a small baking dish and gets basted with a slightly spicy ketchup glaze and baked for 40 minutes.

My mind has been forever changed on meatloaf. Might even live life on the edge and try a meatloaf sandwich for the first time tomorrow. Thank you Little Man for the great dinner idea!

Glazed Meatloaf

Adapted From: Eatocracy

Makes 6-8 Servings

Stars of the Show:

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce

For the Meatloaf:

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 17 saltine crackers
• 1/3 cup 2% milk
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• splash of soy sauce
• splash of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/3 cup dried parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste

And Action:

To make the glaze, combine all glaze ingredients in a saucepan over medium and stir until brown sugar dissolves and sauce thickens. Turn to low until ready to use.

Add all of the meatloaf ingredients in the food processor and pulse until well combined. 

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray and spread the meatloaf mix into the dish. Broil for 5 minutes. Brush about 2 tbsp of the glaze on top of the meatloaf and broil another 2 minutes.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees, top the meatloaf with the rest of the glaze, and bake until meatloaf registers 160 degrees, about 40-45 minutes. If time permits, transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Slice and serve.