Comfort Food on a Cold Winter Day

It’s a very cold day in what is supposed to be sunny Florida. I need something hot and hearty for dinner tonight, especially after all the party food we ate during the Christmas holiday. To me, comfort food has to be easy to make, inexpensive, and involve cheese. I decided upon my favorite crock pot concoction; ham and au gratin potatoes.

I’m always trying to come up with inexpensive, hearty meals particularly dishes that my daughter, as a small child, would eat. Potatoes, cheese, and ham were foods that both she and I agreed were acceptable ingredients for dinner. Coupled with a salad, my ham and potatoes au gratin proved to fall into the “make again mommy” category. I hope you like it too.

Ham and Au Gratin Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 5lbs potatoes

• 1 medium onion

• 1 thick sliced pre cooked Ham

• 2 cans Cheddar Cheese Soup

• 1 Cup Milk

Directions:

1. Peel and thickly slice 5 lbs of potatoes and one medium onion.

2. Dice one thick slice of pre-cooked ham.

3. Mix potatoes, onion, and ham together in crock pot.

4. Mix together Cheddar Cheese Soup and Milk.

5. Pour sauce over potatoes; stir a bit to combine.

6. Cook on low in crock pot for 8 hours.

Game-Day Corn Chowder

Game-Day Corn Chowder

My friend, Electa, brought a crock pot cookbook to work this week. All of us are trying to eat better and cut out all the fast food. Fast Food places are so convenient. By the time I leave work, drive home, and cook dinner, we end up eating at 8PM. Too late for my sensitive stomach. I copied some of the 5 ingredient crock pot recipes from Electa’s book and this is the first one I tried. Libby, my daughter, deemed it a “make again.” It’s called game-day corn chowder and was submitted by a woman named Laura Fuller from Fort Wayne, IN.

Game-Day Corn Chowder
1 Lb smoked pork sausage
3 cups frozen hash browns with onions and peppers
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
15 oz can creamed corn
10 ¾ oz can cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup
2 cups water

Brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat, drain and cut into bite-size pieces
Place sausage in crock pot; top with hash browns and carrots
In a medium bowl, combine corn, soup, and water. Mix until blended.
Pour over sausage mixture.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Serves 6.

In keeping with my family tradition of using what is available in the pantry, I did not have pork sausage or the hash browns. So, I Mommy McQuivered, and used Lite Turkey Sausage, diced up 5 real potatoes and 1 small onion. Libby calls my culinary talent for coming up with edible dinner concoctions Mommy McQuiver meals. Based on the economy and my finances, we have many, many Mommy McQuiver meals. Some work, some don’t; this one paid off.