Slice o' Ham

It seems ridiculous for a single person to buy a whole ham, or even half a ham, except for one little secret: the meat department will slice the ham for you, creating a series of dinner slices.  Just ask the meat counter to slice the half ham in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices.  Each slice will give you a couple of dinners.

When you get home from the grocery store, you will need to separate the slices and freeze them individually.  I now use a vacuum sealer, but the person who taught me this used the following method.  She would put wax paper (two pieces work better) between the slices, wrap them up together in freezer paper, and then wrap them the package in aluminum foil.  I bought a large food storage box and put the freezer paper-wrapped package into that.  I've also put the individual ham slices straight into a freezer-weight zipper seal plastic bag, removed as much air as possible, and frozen them that way.

Freeze the end of the ham separately.  It can be cooked with beans or used to make soup. 

Ham that has been sliced at the store must be cooked.  Here is how to cook ham slices:

Materials:

Microwave
Microwavable plate or bacon tray, larger than ham slice.
Large baking pan
Aluminum foil
Standard Oven

Ingrediants:

Frozen Ham Slice
5 or 6 cloves (optional)
1 can pineapple (optional)
Small slosh of water
Oven gloves.

Method:

Set oven to 325 degrees and turn on.

Remove the ham slice from packaging and place on microwavable plate. (Note:  ham in vacuum seal bags can go straight in the microwave and no plate is needed.) Set the autodefrost function on the microwave to 1 lb.  If there is no autodefrost function, then set the power to 30% and run the microwave in five minute increments.  The ham need to be softish rather than completely thawed.

Put the ham slice (remove from vacuum seal bag if it is still in it) in the large baking tray and add the water.  If you want cloves, poke the stalks into the meat, no closer than two inches from each other.  Cover the pan  loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the thickness of the slice, until hot. If you want, in the last ten minutes of cooking, pull back the aluminum foil and pour the pineapple over the ham.  Replace the foil and continue cooking.  While wearing the oven gloves, remove the pan from the oven and let the meat sit for ten minutes, then serve.

At this point, you are asking, have I ever been so stupid that I would reach into a hot oven and try to grab a pan without oven gloves on?  Well...  After doing something like that, you should immediately run cold water over your fingers, then put a cool gel pack on them for a few minutes.  Take some aspirin to reduce the burn.  Does that answer your question?

After eating, refrigerate leftovers in a tight-fitting container.

Microwave Rice

Rice is a fairly cheap staple, and what it doesn't go with, it goes under.  The easiest way to make rice is in the microwave, but you will need a microwave rice cooker.

Materials:

Microwave
Microwave rice cooker
Measuring Spoons
Measuring Cups
Running Water

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

Wash hands with soap.  Put water, salt and rice into microwave rice cooker.  (NOTE: If using long grain specialty rice, such as Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice, increase water by 1/4 cup and rinse the rice off before adding it to the cooker.) Cook on high for 11 minutes.  Let sit for an additional ten minutes.  Open the cooker and serve.  Refrigerate the leftovers with any meat leftover from the meal.

Note: every rice cooker I have owned has spilled over in the microwave.  You may need to clean the microwave tray afterwards.  One way to avoid this is to cook for six minutes, wait thirty seconds, then cook for another five minutes.

Oven Fried Cajun Chicken

Oven frying is a easier, healthier, and less messy way to fry meat. It can be adapted for other meats. The technique involves spraying the meat with a non-stick spray or wiping the meat with oil, then coating the meat with the spices and breading.

 Materials:

Running water.
Plastic bag for breading the chicken. You can also use a large bowl.
Measuring spoons and cup
Aluminum foil for easy cleanup
Shallow baking pan, such as used for brownies
Traditional oven
Oven gloves
Plastic storage container with tight-fitting lid

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Cajun Spice Mix
1 cup flour
Cold chicken pieces, enough for two or three meals
Oil or Non-stick spray coating

Method:

Turn on oven to 400 degrees. While the oven heats up:

Wash your hands with soap and water. Put the salt, Cajun Spice Mix, and flour into the plastic bag.  The amounts do not need to be exact.  Use more or less spice depending on your tastes.  Rinse off the chicken and put into the bag.  Wash your hands after handling the raw chicken.  Close the bag and shake until the chicken is well covered.  Put the bag down and let the chicken sit in the flour while you line the pan with aluminum foil, shiny side up.  Remove chicken and arrange it in the pan. If the oven is hot, put the pan in the oven. Wash your hands.

Cook for 40 minutes if chicken pieces are large.  20 minutes if chicken pieces are small.

While wearing oven gloves, remove pan from the oven and let cool for ten minutes while you finish up the rest of your meal.  Put one meal's worth of chicken on your plate.  Put the rest in the plastic storage container and loosely cover.

After your meal, seal up the container with the rest of the chicken and put it in the refrigerator.  You can heat it up for dinner the next day, or, once it is cold, move it to the freezer where it will keep for up to two weeks.