Bunnies and Eggs and Ham, Oh, My!
It’s almost that time of year again. You’re standing, dumbfounded, in front of a mound of hard boiled eggs, sliced ham and chocolate Easter bunnies. You wonder "what am I going to do with 6 dozen eggs, 6 lbs. of ham and 25 chocolate bunnies". The stress of it is almost enough to send you to bed for a week–or at least tear most of your hair out. Here are a few ideas and recipes to help you avoid both of those.
First the bunnies:
Take a rolling pin and crush the life out of them! Then use the crumbs to:
- sprinkle on ice cream
- use in milk shakes
- stir a few in a mug of hot chocolate
- use in place of chocolate chips for making cookies
- melt for dipping fruit and candy
- If your kids didn’t receive an excess of bunnies this year, buy solid bunnies after Easter on Clearance and use in place of chocolate chips for baking. You can usually get them for 1/4 the price of chocolate chips.
Next the eggs:
- Deviled eggs
- slice them on tossed salad
- Egg Salad
- Golden Morning Sunshine
If you’re wondering how to cook a delicious Easter Ham, here is an easy recipe:
Use the extra ham:
- diced in omelets and chef salads
- added to Golden Morning Sunshine
- sliced thin for sandwiches
- Cubed ham with cubed fruit such as Mandarin oranges, pineapple, bananas, strawberries or kiwi on skewers to make fruit kabobs.
- Top a tortilla with ham, salsa, and cheddar cheese and warm, for a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
- Save bone for bean or split pea soup.
- Sheala’s Ham and Noodles
- Ham and Potatoes
- Ham Casserole
- Ham Salad
Chop ham and freeze to use in:
potato salad, green beans, scrambled eggs, omelets, potato soup, scalloped potatoes, au gratin potatoes, pasties or pizza (with pineapple) or to top baked potatoes.
Deviled Eggs
6 hard boiled eggs
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. prepared mustard
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. vinegar (optional)
Paprika
Parsley, chopped
Shell hard boiled eggs and cut in half. Remove yolks and mash; add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Heap into whites and sprinkle with paprika or chopped parsley.
Garlic Deviled Eggs
Add 1 clove garlic, pressed to deviled eggs.
Egg Salad
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 small stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped, or 1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Mix all ingredients. Best if chilled for 1 or 2 hours. Makes 4 sandwiches.
Golden Morning Sunshine
(You can use more or less sauce and eggs to taste)
2 cups white sauce
4 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
Make white sauce. Once the white sauce has thickened, add eggs. Serve on toast.
White Sauce
(Recipe makes 1 cup. Double recipe to use in Golden Morning Sunshine)
1/4 cup dry milk
2 Tbsp. flour
dash salt
1 cup cold water
1 Tbsp. margarine
In a covered jar, combine flour and salt and mix well. Add water. Shake until all the ingredients are dissolved. Melt margarine in a 1 quart sauce pan. Stir in flour-milk mixture and cook over low heat until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Keep stirring until thickened completely. Makes 1 cup.
Slow Cooked Ham
1 ham
Cover the bottom of a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Bake ham at 250° for 1 hour. Reduce the heat to 175° and roast another 12-15 hours. This is great because you can put in the oven overnight and it will be ready the next day for the noon meal. The cooking time can go for longer if needed to fit your schedule since it is at such a low temperature.
1 ham
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. cloves
Mix ingredients. Score the top of 1 Slow Cooked Ham. Pour mixture over ham and begin basting the ham 3 hours before serving. Baste every half hour or so with ham juices.
Ham and Potatoes
6 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 -1 lb. ham, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
Layer the potatoes, then some cheese, then some ham and then chopped onion. Continue to layer to 3 inches from top of crockpot. Then pour cream of mushroom soup on top. Let simmer for several hours on low until potatoes are cooked through.
Ham Casserole
1 lb. noodles, cooked
1-1 1/2 cups ham, cooked and cubed
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup peas, drained and cooked
2 cups white sauce
1 bouillon cube
Add ham and peas to cooked noodles. Dissolve bouillon into 1/4 cup boiling water. Mix the bouillon and salt in the white sauce. Bake covered at 300° for 20-30 minutes.
*12 oz. of tuna may be used in place of ham.
Sheala’s Ham and Noodles
8 oz. pkg. egg noodles, cooked
1/2 lb. ham
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Mix first three ingredients together in a casserole dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes until warmed. Top with cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
Ham Salad
leftover ham
hard boiled eggs
mayonnaise
mustard
Grind ham and eggs in a meat grinder. Moisten with mayonnaise and small amount of mustard (approximately 1 Tbsp. for an entire ham). Serve on bread or toast.
Photo By: jenis running
My family would select a child’s bunny and my dad chop up at the dinner table and eat it together as dessert for the days it lasted. It was something like communion. My dad had a great sweettooth. After he died I passed around a box of chocolate covered cherries. That was like communion too.
Jill and Tawra, Here is a recipe for a lovely looking Easter Bread. It’s called “Quick and Easy Easter Egg Bread Braid”
Thaw out frozen bread dough
Divide into thirds
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a 24 inch rope. Braid. Then place in a lightly greased baking sheet and form into a circle. Pinch ends to seal. Tuck Colored RAW eggs carefully into circle, spacing them. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Make an egg wash and brush top of bread part only. Not eggs. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden in color. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. While the bread is cooling slightly, combine in a bowl, 1/3 cup confectioners sugar and 2 teaspoons milk until blended. Food coloring may be added. Several colors may be used separately to decorate bread in Easter colors. Brush or drizzle icing on bread. Be careful not to drizzle on eggs.
TO COLOR EGGS USE EDIBLE FOOD COLORING BECAUSE THE RAW EGGS WILL COOK WHILE BAKING AND FOOD COLORING MAY STAIN BREAD, SO USE EDIBLE COLORS ONLY.
Oh my gosh you are AWESOME! I seriously would never have thought about crushing those cute bunnies, but what a great idea! I can’t wait to try your recipe for white sauce – I have so many ideas of how to use that. As always, thank you for all you do. You have helped me and my family save $, but more importantly, you have helped us change our thinking on the gifts God has given us and taught us to use them wisely. Have a Blessed and Wonderful Resurrection Sunday! He is Risen!
Thank you Ann Marie. I love to hear when someone has changed their way of thinking. We can give all the tips and ideas in the world but until we learn to think differently and look differently about our money they aren’t near as much use. So glad to hear are saving.