Budget Meals with Spiral Hams

So, in today's economy we have to truly save a penny, to earn a penny. When the words spiral ham, come to mind you probably don't think of a budget friendly meal. You need to change the way you think about it though. I just bought one on Saturday at Wal-mart for $10. It was a Sam's Choice Spiral Cut Double Glazed Brown Sugar Premium Smoked Ham that was just over 10lbs and was on sale for $0.99 a pound. Steal of a deal to begin with right? It just gets better. I really learned this trick from my Mom and it totally makes eating well possible on a budget! :)

Sunday afternoon I cooked the ham, well really since it was already fully cooked I just heated it up, for about 2 hours. I followed the instructions on the package for glazing it and heating it. Then I served it for dinner last night. My husband and I ate like and King and Queen with spiral ham, stuffing and mashed potatoes. (For some reason I didn't do a veggie for a side.) Then I refigerated the sliced meat, and cut the rest of the ham off the bone. I put about 1/3 of the ham in the freezer not cut, to save for later. I personally think it is easier to cut cold ham than warm ham, but this is a personal preference of course.

So today, Monday, I pulled out the ham from the fridge to prep it for meals. I saved a few slices for sandwiches for my husband. Then I cute up the rest into cubes, and put them in a mixing bowl for keeping while I was finishing up. I set about one cup of meat aside for the casserole I'm made for dinner tonight. Then when I was finished cutting up that meat I got a measuring cup and some baggies out. Then I filled 5 bags with One Cup of cubed ham, sealed them and put them in the freezer. Then the next time I want to make a quick casserole that takes ham, the ham is ready to go! You won't even have to measure it!

After I put those in the freezer I went ahead and put together the casserole for dinner. I made one of my family favorites Ham and Potato Bake. It's my mom's delicious recipe though, so I can't share it. But just know that it's amazing and takes 1 cup of ham, just like a bunch of other casseroles out there. :)

So remember, you don't have to each junk on a budget. You can have healthy, happy and delicious meals on a budget. As you saw in this article my family of two will get at least 10 meals out of this 10#, $10 Spiral ham. So search out those sales on meat in your area! They are well worth it! :)