Plan ahead for easy meal time

Want to make meal preparation as easy as possible?

Bake a large ham when you have extra time, have a meal of baked ham and slice up and freeze the remaining ham in freezer bags in one to two cup portions.

With cooked ham in the freezer you have so many options for different recipes you can quickly make. It's like having money in the bank.

Baked Beans with Ham

Servings: 8

1 16-ounce bag Great Northern beans

3/4 pound cooked ham, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 cup brown sugar

Salt and pepper, to taste

Dash Cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Water

Rinse and sort beans. Put in a large pot. Add 8 cups of cold water. Let stand overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse beans and pour back in large pot or bean pot. Add ham, onion, brown sugar, salt, pepper, Cayenne and parsley. Generously cover with water. If baking in a bean pot, bake for 3-4 hours at 300 degrees or until beans test done. If cooking beans on top of the stove, simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours until beans are tender. Add more water if necessary during cooking time. Add more salt, pepper and brown sugar if necessary, to taste.

Crockpot BBQ Ham

Servings: 8

5 cups shredded baked ham

2 cups barbecue sauce (can mix in a little Ketchup with it)

Put ham in crockpot, pour barbecue sauce over it. Cook on low for a few hours, until flavors blend, checking to make sure it doesn't burn. Serve open faced on bread or in a hamburger bun. Freezes very well for future use.

Freezer Quiche

Servings: 8

1 cup cooked ham

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter, melted

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon dillweed

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Cook ham in skillet over medium heat until lightly browned; set aside. Saute mushrooms in butter in skillet over medium heat until tender. Sprinkle mushrooms and ham evenly into a greased 10-inch quiche pan. Combine eggs and next eight ingredients in container of a blender, process until smooth. Stir cheese and parsley into egg mixture, pour over ham and mushrooms. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. You may make up the quiche and freeze before baking the quiche as raw eggs have a tendency not to freeze well. First thaw the quiche and then bake.

GARY'S TIP: When measuring honey for a recipe, first oil the measuring cup. The honey comes out easily and you get the full measure of honey without the messy process.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth -- humor.